Lesson Plan
Curated OER

From Missions to Ranchos

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders examine the conversion of the California missions into ranchos. They develop a pros and cons chart, write a first person narrative describing the changing life from the missions to the ranchos, and create a poster of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Westward Expansion: Links to the Past

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars investigate the impact of Manifest Destiny. In this California history lesson, students conduct research on the settlement of the state between 1849 and 1900. Young scholars use their findings to create scripts that link...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

California Biodiversity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine several maps of California exhibiting features such as precipitation, topography, and vegetation. They look for patterns that might be the source of or influence biodiversity in different regions. They pay particular...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

California Mission Slide Show

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders research the details of a California Mission. They design a slide show to present their research.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

California Trail and Native Americans

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders identify the American Indian tribes who lived on the lands in which the California Trail went through. They investigate and describe the impact of western expansion on the American Indians.
Writing
1
1
Oklahoma State Department of Education

Narrative Prompt

For Students 8th Standards
Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Channel Islands Film

Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 1

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plate Tectonics

For Teachers 4th - 6th
In this geology worksheet, students will cut a map of California along the San Andreas fault line to see how California might change in the future. Then students will compare a world map from 50 million years in the future with a present...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Getting Ready to Write

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students watch an online slideshow that shows Cornelia Funke's transition from an illustrator to a writer. They discuss her writing process from the way she gathers ideas to how and where she writes. Next, they work in groups to choose a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

California Artists

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders identify and compare works of art from various regions of the United States. Telecollaborative partners, from different states, work together to complete this assignment. Using the internet, 5th graders research a specific...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

From Genes to Jeans

For Teachers 7th - 9th
This unit of lessons is designed for 7th through 9th graders. They are introduced to the world of agriculture and the genetic research and various technologies that are associated with agriculture. Pupils work together to come up with a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pre-AP Strategies for Spanish Literature

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Take a break from vocabulary development and have your Spanish scholars immerse themselves in Spanish culture. What are common Spanish proverbs? In short sessions over the course of a few weeks, the class will learn about different...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Laws of Motion

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Do you need some new ideas for teaching Newton's Laws of Motion? This series of activities will spring your curriculum to life! Choose from five activities to demonstrate or have your science stars perform. As a result, they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Evolution and the Fossil Record

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Engage young biologists with four laboratory activities that explore the fossil record. Learners examine fossil images, a fossil kit, the rock record, and geologic time scale. They even experiment with the oxygen production of an Elodea...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Air Resistance and Friction

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Physics learners experiment with three laboratory activities to learn about air resistance and friction. First, they use a hair dryer to move different sized spheres to determine the relationship between cross-sectional area and air...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Coulomb's Law and Induced Polarization

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Engage your aspiring physicists in a series of lab activities directied at demonstrating the behavior of electric force. In completing these exercises, learners will explore Coulomb's and Gauss's Laws. Well-written directions to four...
Lesson Plan
Forest Foundation

The Sustainable Forest

For Teachers 5th - 7th
As part of their examination of forest ecosystems, class members examine how foresters, biologists, botanists, geologists, and hydrologists work to together to develop a management plan for sustainable forests.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

ISTEP + Grade 6 Item Sampler

For Teachers 5th - 6th
In this cross-curricular sampler of worksheets, students determine the meaning of specialized vocabulary and to understand the precise meaning of grade-level-appropriate words, describe and connect the essential ideas, arguments, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Do We Explore Strange Environments?

For Teachers K - 4th
Students identify and label the different parts of a robot, rover, or a spacecraft. They discuss and record all of the features their robot will need to accomplish its mission and be able to explain why they chose these features to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Volcano Contour Models Activity

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students experiment with water levels and plastic topographic volcano models to determine the contour lines that would be used to create a topograpohic map of a volcano. They use the traced lines to actually develop the map.
Lesson Plan
4
4
University of California

Roots of the Cold War

For Teachers 10th - 11th Standards
When and how did the Cold War begin? To answer this question, you will not find a better-organized, in-depth, activity- and inquiry-based resource than this! Executing best teaching practices throughout, each portion of this inquiry...
PPT
National Energy Education Development Project

Introduction to Wind Energy

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The U.S. produced enough wind energy in 2015 to power all of the homes in Alaska, California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Gobal Oneness Project

Passionate Pursuits

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Not all technology is digital. Teach learners about the low-tech maker movement with a photo essay about six artisans from California and two articles about the local creator movement. After tackling the photo essay in small...
Unit Plan
2
2

Making Evidence-Based Claims: Grade 7

For Teachers 7th Standards
The most effective way to support an argument is with clear and relevant evidence. As seventh graders read and listen to Cesar Chavez's California Commonwealth Club Address, they work through five sections of a textual analysis unit,...