The story "Santa's Dirty Socks" provides learners an example of a search algorithm that uses a divide and conquer system similar to a binary search algorithm. The included questions expand upon the concepts that follow the story.

All of the people in your class would agree that life would be different without the invention of the telephone! Study Alexander Graham Bell's most famous and influential invention through the primary source document of his...

Let's talk about earthquakes .... Using the Internet, pupils research what causes earthquakes, how scientists measure them, their locations, and their effects. The resource is not only informative, but it also builds crucial...

Investigate desert biomes by creating food chains and food webs. Groups first research feeding habits of organisms in the Sonoran Desert. This information helps pupils draw food chains and webs to determine relationship between organisms.

Students investigate U.S. Geography by creating a map in class. For this natural resource lesson, students create a map of the United States and research the Northeast based on their resources and recyclable materials.  Students...

Students create an action plan to learn how to preserve natural resources for future generations. In this environmental conservation lesson, students research the topic of preserving the natural environment and write a definition for...

Your class is getting ready for its first big research project. While they know how to use the Internet, do they know how to find academic information? Do they know how to find credible sources? Give them this packet and bring them to...

Space, the Final Frontier. The nine NASA-created challenges in this unit are designed to teach class members the engineering design process. Each challenge comes with teacher and student pages that can be used individually or as a...

How many humans does it take to power a light bulb? The 10th part of a 25-lesson Energy Systems and Solutions unit has learners conduct an experiment to calculate power. They then use the results to determine how many classmates they...

Students explore collections of materials and pointers to other related materials to help them to quickly and easily find and retrieve information needed. This lesson was originally written for librarians with little or no net experiences.

What is technical knowledge? The class explores what technical knowledge might mean to an Olympic athlete. They catalog the different types of information that athletes would need to compete in various Winter Olympic sports and develop...

Students explore several different types of biographies to determine their area of interest, choose one notable person they would like to explore, complete online tutorial on biographies, and use written and Internet resources to...

Start your own virtual library with this JavaScript programming project. Create arrays of book objects, and fill the shelves with different books, different colors, titles, authors, etc. Let coders create their own unique display. 

Don't cast a great hands-on resource aside! Scholars learn about the process of casting by actually trying out an example. Plaster of Paris and cookie cutter molds help them complete the activity.

Middle schoolers are shown how to create their own database using different field types. They are taugt how to design their own layout-chaning font or size and color of text, adding background color and clipart. Students interrogate...

If you are taking your class on a library tour, use this scavenger hunt activity to spice it up. Although this hunt isn't actually attached (like the instructional activity says it is), you will get a good idea of how to implement a task...

Learners research the Internet using hotlists to find two different versions of a fairy tale after watching a teacher presentation of two versions of The Three Little Pigs. They design a PowerPoint presentation that shows the comparisons...

Students examine the definitions and characteristics of plasma. After reading an article, they analyze new technologies to study plasma. In groups, they create a poster on how the different types of plasma work and write letters to their...

Students develop an understanding of environmental laws and regulations.  In this research lesson, students utilize information that involves controversial issues of wildlife and society. 

Young scholars explore the world of work and the opportunities that exist in today's world. They identify specific careers and colleges that match their interests and abilities and investigate various corporations and businesses that...

Working with a map that does not have a coordinate system on it, small, collaborative teams must come up with a coordinate system for their map. Groups then explain their coordinate structure to the class.

Green roofs aren't just eco-friendly — they are literally green with trees. Groups learn about the concept of green roofs in order to be able to design one. The groups design a 5,000-square-foot green roof for a fictional apartment row...

Sugar isn't good for you, but it's great for yeast! Scholars design an experiment to investigate how variables affect the rate of sugar consumption in yeast. The last installment of a nine-part Life Science unit considers how scientists...

Students participate in a scavenger hunt to locate various sections and items in the library media center. Using a "Media Center Hunt" worksheet, they locate letters that correspond with items and sections in the library and match them...