Get young people thinking about their lives and current topics of social justice, advocacy, gender, race, and identity. After examining several works by Barbara Kruger, participants select a tag with one of the questions printed on it,...

Investigate sound waves with acoustic mirrors. Using audio software, groups make recordings of musical instruments, both with and without acoustic mirrors. They compare the recordings to see the effect of acoustic mirrors on sound...

Investigate the world of unknown quantities with a creative set of five lessons that provides problem situations for varying grade levels. Each problem presents a scenario of fruit with different weights and a balance scale. Using the...

Investigate the attributes of polygons. A thorough set of lessons presents problem scenarios for elementary through high school classes. The first lessons focus on basic characteristics of polygons, including the line of symmetry. As the...

Investigate the effect of one-axis rotations on geometric figures. Scholars learn to use snap cubes and the right-hand rule to draw figures after rotations about the x-, y-, or z-axes. They try their hands at examples created by the...

How did scientists discover what lies beneath the earth's surface? Dig a hole? X-ray vision? Guide your class through the types of seismic waves and how these waves helped shed light on Earth's many layers. The included resources provide...

Take a "conservative" approach to planning your next unit on mass and matter! What better way to answer "But where did the gas go?" than with a lab designed to promote good report writing, research skills, and detailed observation....

As part of their study of the restoration projects on Santa Cruz Island, class members demonstrate their understanding of the connections among plant life, animals, and the actions of humans by crafting a model that reveals these...

How do oceanographers make maps under water? Junior explorers discover the technologies and processes involved in creating bathymetric maps in part three of a five-part series designed for fifth- and sixth-grade pupils. The lesson...

Ahh, the rules of attraction...intermolecular attraction! Introduce your chemistry crew to the other forces that influence the behavior of atoms and molecules alike with a simple interactive. Pupils push and pull polar and non-polar...

Investigate a heated topic in environmental science. Scholars team up to play the parts of gas molecules in the atmosphere. As the teacher moves about, acting as the electromagnetic wave, learners react as their molecules would to the...

Who is the founding father—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or Benjamin Franklin? Scholars decide which of three early Americans, should be crowned the founding father of America based on research. Then, they compose a persuasive...

Eukaryotes include humans, animals, and plants. Scholars learn about the parts of eukaryotic cells. They design models of a store and match the correct function of each part to the function of a part of the cell. They review their...

Ethical concerns are not always black and white. A well-designed instructional activity presents learners with scenarios for which ethics may come into question. Scholars learn to consider the different sides of a situation and make...

Was it the War against Northern Aggression or the War to Unify the Union? Scholars investigate the key battles and strategies of the American Civil War to determine just why the North was victorious in the end.

Are video games sports? Pupils investigate this question as well as various nonfiction selections to learn more about claims and the support that defines them. All of the selections mimic the rigor on state tests and encourage close...

Is there a bank for the banks? Pupils analyze the complexities of the Federal Reserve system by breaking it down into easy-to-understand sections. Step-by-step investigation using flow charts and graphs of how the monetary system works...

The Olympics are about more than sports—at times, the games are also a place of racism and prejudice! Pupils investigate the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. They analyze the meaning behind the materials included in the United States...

Life's not fair, but dice games should be. After playing a two-person game with a pair of dice, scholars investigate the fairness of the game. They consider the number of possible outcomes using the fundamental counting principle and...

Of course, there might be a correlation! Young mathematicians investigate several different data sets, create scatter plots, and determine any correlation. They consider whether a causation exists between any of the variables in question.

First there was pi and now there's e. A discovery-based instructional activity helps learners find a pattern in compound interest as the compounding period changes. Their investigation results in the discovery of the number e. The...

Puzzle your way through to a new understanding of area. Scholars learn about the area of polygons through equidecomposability, the idea that polygons that can be decomposed into the same set of pieces have the same area. By using...

Remember the Alamo! Scholars investigate the Battle of San Jacinto during the Texas Revolution. Using models, maps, quotes, biographies, and the Oath of Allegiance, the Alamo comes to life as the stories of those who fought and died in...

Is a college education necessary for success in today's world? The class investigates the question, along with others at the end of the sixth workshop in a 15-part series. The instructional activity has four parts with multiple...