Institute for Teaching through Technology and Innovative Practices
The Right Number of Elephants
How can you tell if a number of items is reasonable? Combine math and language arts with a fun lesson based on Jeff Shepard's The Right Number of Elephants. After reading the book, kids discuss amounts of other items and create...
Curated OER
Texture Hunts and More: Madonna and Child with Saints
Students investigate different painting techniques by studying classic works of art. In this art history lesson, students observe the famous Madonna and Child with Saints painting and describe the texture and images they notice....
National Security Agency
Starting a Restaurant
Through an engaging unit, chefs-in-training will sort and classify data using tally charts. Learners will also create bar graphs to display restaurant data and interpret data from bar graphs using a variety of categories....
Improving Measurement and Geometry in Elementary Schools
Rep Tiles
In addition to the catchy title, this lesson plan provides upper graders an opportunity to more closely scrutinize the attributes of plane figures. In particular, they focus on the similarity of different shapes. Both whole-class and...
Curriculum Corner
“I Can” Common Core! 1st Grade Math
Any first grader can master the Common Core math standards with this checklist! With each standard rewritten as an affirmative I can statement, children are provide with clear goals to work toward throughout the school...
Curated OER
"Old 300"
Fourth graders combine art and history to assess the importance of the "Old 300." They explore a group of colonists that Stephen F. Austin brought to Texas as the first settlers and then create a time line of major events leading to the...
Curated OER
Pottery with Artist Kerry Moosman
After watching a video of Native American artist Maria Martinez create art out of clay, learners will create burnished coil pots similar to those made by artist, Kerry Moosman. This lesson plan includes a supply list, web links,...
Curated OER
Water Pressure Blaster
Third graders complete an experiment to introduce them to the concept of water pressure. In this water pressure lesson plan, 3rd graders create pressure in a water bottle and observe the force of water that is created.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pendulum Time
Take your time with this lesson. Junior engineers read about different types of clocks and then work together to build a pendulum time-keeper. There are no hints as to how they might go about accomplishing this complex task, so you may...
Michigan State University
Gases Matter
Young scientists learn that seeing isn't necessarily believing when it comes to the states of matter. After performing a fun class demonstration that models the difference between solids, liquids, and gases, children complete a series of...
Florida International University
Designing an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV): Concepts in Lift, Drag, Thrust, Energy, Power, Mass, and Buoyancy
Engineer an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to study concepts of physics. Using household materials, collaborative groups design and build an AUV and then test Newton's Laws of Motion as they apply them in underwater environments...
Curated OER
Grouping Buttons
Looking for a good lesson plan on counting and sorting? This lesson plan is worth a look! In this classification lesson plan, learners sort buttons by color, shape, shiny verses not shiny, or number of holes.
Skyscraper Museum
Building a Skyscraper
Creating buildings that reach hundreds of feet into the sky is no easy task. The third instructional activity in this series begins with four activities that engage young architects in exploring the major challenges that are faced when...
Alabama Learning Exchange
What do Plants Need?
Learners plant seeds and watch them sprout. Once growing plants are placed in different conditions and students record data about their growth. They graph the data.
Curated OER
Identifying Figurative Language
Students explore figurative language. In this Fahrenheit 451 lesson, students read the Bradbury novel. As they read, students note the simile, metaphor, and personification examples that they encounter.
Curated OER
The Strongest Shape
Students work collaboratively to design and construct a roof out of Legos for a house that was built in a previous instructional activity. The roof must be structurally sound and pass certain criteria determined by the teacher.
Curated OER
Measurement
Students experience a positive science experiment and study fundamental concepts of measurement.
Curated OER
Introducing Temperature Measurement
Students explore temperature and use Celcius thermometers to measure and graph the temperature in the classroom daily. They estimate what they think the temperature might be and then find the actual temperature in the room.
Curated OER
Car Maze competition
Students use graphs to calibrate an RCX car. They must then program the car to traverse a maze using their calibrations
Curated OER
Draw To Scale The E-Z Way
Fourth graders draw a rough floor plan of a house to scale without using a ruler to determine measurements. They see how architects use scale to draw blueprints, and solve math problems using scale.
Curated OER
Russian Dolls Investigation
Students measure a set of Russian dolls using the metric system. For this measurement lesson plan, students identify certain relationships between sets of measurements by measuring a set of Russian dolls and presenting their findings to...
Curated OER
Daily Life in the Fur Trade: Communications & Resourcefulness
Student complete a number of activities using computer based resources and primary sources to research the fur trade. They answer questions using the computer research.
Curated OER
Design-A-Room Project (Part 3 of 3)
Students culminate a unit on measurement with a focus on area and perimeter. They design a floor plan of their dream room on graph paper showing the proper area and perimeter. They plan the budget for their room and make a 3-D scale...