Curated OER
UFOs
Students, in groups, construct a catapult. Then they conduct a series of experiments by catapulting a marshmallow, using different lengths of spoons, across the room. They predict, measure, and record the measured distance on a worksheet.
Curated OER
Summer: Getting the Bugs Out
Students compare and contrast classification systems used throughout the world. They also examine the importance of preserving biological diversity.
Curated OER
Exploration of Light
Fifth graders observe the video, Exploring Light and Color. They access a website to create their own light show. They conduct lab experiments to investigate refraction, reflection,and other light-related topics.
Curated OER
Career Exploration
Students complete a unit about career choices. They conduct research on a selected career that interests them, conduct an interview, explore various websites, create a five-page HyperStudio stack, and write ten checks that relate to...
Curated OER
How Things Fly
Students will examine the physics of flight through using experimental inquiry. In this lesson plan, you'll introduce your students to the four forces of flight--drag, lift, thrust, and weight--through a variety of fun-filled flight...
Curated OER
Earth is Round?
Third graders discuss how Aristotle concluded that the Earth was round. As a class, they review theories about the Earth's shape and describe how life on Earth would be different if it were flat. Individually, they make a moon book in...
Curated OER
Ranging the Triple M's
Fifth graders explore collecting and analyzing data. In this mean, median and mode lesson, 5th graders use real word data to determine the mean, median and mode. Students are given sets of numbers on index cards as asked to find the...
Curated OER
The Great Depression
Students are be able to analyze primary sources (photographs and letters) for evidence of difficulties children faced during the Great Depression. They are asked how the government tries to help people with problems that people face to...
Curated OER
Why is this lesson constructivist?
Students formulate a definition of tessellations by comparing and contrasting different patterns and shapes of real objects. They discuss the relatioship between shapes and patterns as well as their function in the real world. Students...
Curated OER
Protecting Our Planet
Students examine the impact of pollution. In this pollution instructional activity, students watch Protecting Our Planet, then participate in a simulation of the effect of pollution on a variety of organisms.
Curated OER
A School Yard Journal
Fourth graders create journals with explicit descriptions of objects found on the school yard. In this descriptive writing lesson, 4th graders read some of Lewis and Clark's journal entries before they explore the school yard, then...
Curated OER
History of Television
Young scholars investigate the history of Television by using the Internet. In this timeline lesson, students discuss and take notes on the 10 main events in Television history and create a timeline through education software....
Curated OER
Life Underground
First graders build a terrarium in order to observe animal and plant life dynamics. In this biology lesson, 1st graders compare how organisms survive in different environments. They write their observations and analysis in their journal.
Curated OER
Space Science
Eighth graders study the objects in our solar system. For this space lesson students identify and describe planets, then classify them as terrestrial or gaseous.
Curated OER
Sing Out Loud: The Slave Spirituals Historical and Cultural Implications during Reconstruction
Students identify, summarize and present facts about cultural, educational and political inequalities of Reconstruction, explain hidden codes of slave spirituals and their importance in slaves' communication, and create poetry based on...
Curated OER
The Grand Canyon
Young scholars act as scientists investigating the damming and experimental flooding of the Colorado River by the Glen Canyon dam that took place in 1996. They write a proposal as to whether or not more experimental flooding should be...
Curated OER
Archaeological Inquiry
Middle schoolers describe what they see as they observe an "artifact". They draw conclusions based on the information gathered to identify what the artifact might be used for and determine how old it might be.
Curated OER
Plant and Animal Cells: Alike and Different?
Seventh graders create a mneumonic device and a graphic organizer about the parts of plant and animal cells. In this biology instructional activity students are introduced to the parts of the cells and then work in groups to create...
National First Ladies' Library
All the News That's Fit to Draw: Political Cartooning and the Presidency
Students research, analyze and study the history of political cartooning in the United States. They recognize a political cartoon, be able to identify the main idea, the symbols and the exaggeration and caricature in political cartoons....
Curated OER
Machines All Around Us
Students identify simple machines. In this physics lesson, students explore different rooms in the school building, looking for simple machines. Students use a digital camera to take pictures of the simple machines.
Curated OER
Scientific Inquiry
Students create a poster. In this recycling lesson, students discuss pollution and the ways humans negatively affect the environment. Students describe examples of litter or pollution they have experienced. Students collect litter from...
Curated OER
Origin of the Modern Summer Games
Middle schoolers discover the origin of the modern summer Olympic Games. In this history lesson, students compare and contrast the modern and ancient Olympic Games as they create a timeline.
Curated OER
Introduction to Minerals
Young scholars discover how crystal structures go together to create minerals. In this earth science lesson plan, students work in groups to create 3-dimensional shapes of crystals that they then put together in a compact structure.
Curated OER
Digital Cloud Riddle Book
Students examine clouds. In this technology skill instructional activity, students identify different cloud types, observe and photograph clouds in nature, and print and write a riddle about the objects they see in the clouds.