Imagine dumping out a milk can and finding letters from one of the darkest moments in history! Scholars use Holocaust Reading Passages and research to discover how people recorded and hid history during the events of World War II. They...

Twelfth graders create a billboard design (on the computer) to promote and increase awareness of a social problem. Students conduct research of public service issues that are of interest to them. They collect photos and images through...

Fourth graders practice calculating area by creating a classroom quilt. Students are given a 6x6 inch square material they design based on a classroom theme. A sample of the class quilt is created using graph paper so students may...

Teaching tools designed to support student-centered literature study. Geared toward homeschoolers reading Harper Lee's book To Kill a Mockingbird, I would use these in my classroom. The materials are applicable to any text: graphic...

Scholars use their communication skills to express their take on climate change in the ninth installment of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series. They create ways to deliver their messages on a specific aspect of climate by...

Students measure a cover for a book and design a beautiful and practical book cover. They follow the directions to design a book cover, coloring one side of the paper with Crayola products using traditional batik patterns from various...

Let the good times roll as young thrill seekers build a roller coaster on school grounds. Future engineers design and build a roller coaster from flexible tubing. The roller coaster is for a marble, so there will be plenty of room to let...

A thorough set of activities, articles, and reference material can enlighten your class about the history of whaling in New England. Kids travel back to a time when whale products were valuable and hunting whales was a way to help the...

An ecosystem is really just the flow of energy through many different living organisms. A study of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book leads to an environmental science activity in which learners study how various factors can affect...

Sometimes engineering problems that seem easy prove to be more challenging than imagined. Present your class with the challenge to build a functional display tower to support a statue using only the supplies available in class while...

In this build a book learning exercise, students follow directions on how to build a book. Students use markers, tape, paper, and follow 12 directions.

Ask elementary students to explore shapes in everyday objects. They will discuss the elements of design and describe the shapes they see in visual images. Students will then design and "build" a new 3D shape. Finally they will show and...

Students investigate the broad range of jobs that can be found in the world of design. Students explore sound design, language architecture, etc. Students design a resource book and post it on a website for others to share.

Have your older middle schoolers assist young children with writing in this community service and literacy lesson. Middle schoolers become partners with a local elementary school. They assist the grade school children in writing a...

Students design and illustrate a pop-up book of their original writing after studying the book, The Jolly Postman: Or Other People's Letter's. They present their book and complete a self-assessment rubric.

Being raised by wolves has its advantages. An eBook gives readers the chance to experience Rudyard Kipling's classic novel The Jungle Book, a story about a boy named Mowgli who wants to stay with the wolves that raised him instead of...

Random sampling is as easy as choosing numbers. Teams use random numbers to create a sample of book lengths from a population of 150 books. The groups continue by developing a technique to create samples to compare from two populations...

Rome wasn't built in a day, but researchers can be with proper scaffolding. This writing unit has scholars write a research paper through scaffolding of various parts of the process. Learners begin with identifying a topic and crafting a...

Young scholars use previously prepared book reports about fish themed books to make a shoebox float that displays the theme of the book. Shoe boxes are decorated colorfully, using dolls or stuffed animals as the book character. They...

Learners explore the concept of design, and identify items in their lives that have been designed. They explore the concept of book design and create and arrange their own page layout.

Students brainstorm a list of personal information based on a variety of categories. After writing positive comments on their classmates, they spilt into two groups with one entering the information into a database and the other...

Students analyze elements of design and compare/contrast elements of price and design. In this design lesson, students consider the differences between high-end and low-end design. After completing an analysis of design in small groups,...

Students observe book ads from Reading Rainbow and decide on a book to write an ad for. They prepare an ad and produce it using a digital camcorder and software.

Andrew, Katrina, Irene. Recognize these names? They are all retired hurricane names. Investigating why these storm names were retired is just one activity in a 33-page packet designed to be used in conjunction with a study...