Students observe, record, and present knowledge of their local built environment while conducting a walking tour of their community. They develop written and photo journals, drawings, time lines, graphs, and charts to engage in...

Fifth graders answer questions such as: Where does my family come from? What was it like for my ancestors to grow up as America developed? What differences in society were present then? What was similar to today? students conduct...

Encourage your middle and high schoolers to share their memories of a recent event. After reading a New York Times article, they discuss Elie Wiesel's memoir, Night. They write their own memoir about a significant event that affected...

Clever! Collaborative groups of environmental scientists create a museum exhibit and presentation for an energy-using activity such as heating a home or transportation. They must compare past to present use of energy for that particular...

How do we predict future population growth? Young researchers investigate various factors affecting the size of our population. As they calculate and interpret graphs to determine factors that could potentially affect increases...

First graders work together to sort, categorize, and order collections of objects through activities that help build number sense. 

Differentiate instruction with this crafty approach to demonstrating comprehension. Learners choose a fictional book at their reading level, and afterward create a quilt square. The square is "decorated" with words, illustrations, and...

Probability, especially conditional probability, can be a slippery concept for young statisticians.  Statements that seem self-evident on the surface often require a daunting amount of calculations to explicate, or turn out to be...

Explore the makeup of the earth's atmosphere. Using the set of specific experiments, pupils examine the main elements and compounds present in the atmosphere. Their study extends to investigate the effects of atmospheric...

Students create a brief report summarizing their experience on a field trip or community based instruction trip. After returning from their experience, they jot down several points of interest. Students draw a picture that focuses on...

A "Magic Minute" activity asks class groups to develop a commercial to advertise a way to turn a time-waster into a time-saver. Ad groups begin by brainstorming time-wasters and then problem-solve was to turn them into time-savers. After...

Do figures of speech enhance a play or story? In small groups, learners locate and describe figures of speech they find while reading a reader's theater play. After making predictions, they describe how the figures of speech make the...

To complete a study of the importance of developing a positive self-image, high school seniors complete an "Action Plan for Maintaining Who I Am" worksheet. They then submit their finished worksheets for inclusion in their Personal...

Life is like trying to juggle three tennis balls! That's the big idea in a lesson that asks freshmen to consider that sometimes juggling the areas of their lives (social/emotion, academic, and career) runs smoothly and sometimes not so...

A "My Self-Concept Report Card" worksheet launches a lesson about the importance of positive self-talk. After completing the worksheet, individuals make a list of the things they would do to improve or maintain a positive self-concept.

STAR deputies unite! Scholars gather in small groups to solve problems using the STAR method. Pupils read a card that describes a situation that requires problem-solving. They role-play the scenario in front of their peers.

Scholars become STAR deputies in a lesson plan that encourages them to be problem-solvers. Small groups gather to complete a worksheet by answering questions. A discussion presents a scenario in which a problem occurs on the playground....

Encourage your young writers to thoughtfully plan and organize their work. First, model how this is done and vocalize your thought process as you work. Next, create a class list of strategies that they can use during independent writing...

This is not your ordinary farm! Using a case study, small groups study two proposed locations for a wind farm. After researching all the information about the sites, the groups choose a site. Each team member writes up the proposal...

What would the Mona Lisa say if she could talk? Scholars create a digital story within the Scratch block-based coding program. They make famous paintings talk and move when viewers click on them to complete the third of eight parts in...

Strut your stuff, just on a computer and not on a fashion runway. Scholars program a fashion show animation using block-based computer coding. They learn how to apply different code blocks in writing their programs.

Logos just make a club seem more fun. Scholars incorporate knowledge from previous lessons in the unit to write a computer program in the Scratch block-based language. Their program should help design a logo for the CS First studio. A...

How is sea coral like a thermometer? Part three of a six-part series from NOAA describes how oceanographers can use coral growth to estimate water temperature over time. Life science pupils manipulate data to determine the age of corals...

Students explore the concept of philanthropy, and identify specific philanthropic agencies in their community. They participate in philanthropic opportunities, and develop persuasive arguments to encourage others to give of their own...