Curated OER
Intelligent Design
students research the "intelligent design" decision the Ohio State Board of Education reached in October 2002, following a lengthy debate. After analyzing what each side proposed, part of the class is assigned the roles of members of the...
EngageNY
Peer Critique for Organization and Style
Put another set of eyes on your class's historical fiction narratives with one of the final lessons in the unit. Fourth graders use feedback from their peers to annotate their drafts for revision, particularly their bold beginnings and...
Curated OER
Close Reading of “The Necklace”
Designed for teachers, this 12-page packet uses passages from Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" to model how to design activities that encourage close reading of complex text.
Curated OER
Hyperlinking Partnership
Students get involved in a unique collaboration that enhances their knowledge of architecture and design. Develop organizer resources with others. They are engulfed into a world of architects and museum specialists to facilitate the...
Curated OER
Product Design and Production in the Global Economy
Eleventh graders explore the design, manufacture and consumption of personal audio devices and cellular products. They examine the related issues, choices, and consequences in the global economy for such purchases. They research...
Curated OER
Designing the Future of Technology
Conduct research focused on improving a current technology by having students work in groups to investigate improvements that could be made to a particular piece of technology. They list the current problems and attempt to develop...
EnLiST
Trap Your Own Insects: What’s in Your Backyard?
Young entomologists construct three types of insect traps—pitfall, pollinator, and panel—before setting their traps out and observing what they caught. They then observe what types of insects the different traps attract.
Mascil Project
Packaging
Wrap up an engineering lesson with a worthwhile project. An engineering design task challenges groups to develop a package for a pharmaceutical company given constraints on the volume. Learners then create a presentation to highlight...
American Physiological Society
Feeling the Heat
How do the changing seasons affect the homes where we live? This question is at the forefront of engineering and design projects. Challenge your physical science class to step into the role of an architect to build a model home capable...
American Physiological Society
Thermal Insulators: Keep it Hot!
There's nothing like a cup of hot chocolate on a chilly winter's day. Except for when that hot chocolate quickly becomes lukewarm chocolate ... or even cold chocolate. What material provides the best insulation to keep the chocolate from...
American Physiological Society
It’s the Heart of the Matter
Get the class jumping for joy with a fascinating look at matters of the heart. Learners perform physical tasks, collect and analyze heart rate data, and study conditions that affect heart health. Use the action-packed lesson plan to...
American Physiological Society
Why is Kettle Corn Cooked in Copper Pots?
The kitchen — it's not just for eating anymore! Specific heat is often a difficult concept to grasp, so give it context by relating it to cooking. Learners gain experience in the principles of thermal energy transfer by designing an...
Curated OER
Changes in Draft Registration
Students evaluate the differences between the first draft registration and today's Selective Service form. They explore how changes in American society and culture influence changes in the draft system.
Dream of a Nation
Creating Awareness through Action Oriented Writing and Research
Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth graders...
PBS
Hemingway Educator Guide
A 17-page Educator Guide is designed to support classroom discussions of Ken Burns' documentary on Ernest Hemingway. The guide includes background information on Hemingway's life, the themes found in his works, essential and discussion...
Curated OER
Materials Engineering: Designing Walls
Students discover how the matierals in the earth can be used to make walls and buildings. They examine the Great Wall of China and its engineering. They complete the unit by creating their own wall from a design they drew.
Curated OER
Mexican Metal Tooling
Metal work can be a wonderful way to expose learners to Mexican folk art. This resource provides all the necessary steps for creating Mexican metal tooling with your art class. Images, web links, recommended books and products make...
State University of New York
Going Back in Time Using “George Washington’s Socks”
After reading Elvira Woodruff's George Washington's Socks, young readers and writers embark upon writing their own historically based story, with a focus on developing ideas and details throughout the piece. In small groups, class...
Curated OER
Radial Balance Geometric Shapes
Fifth graders create a radially balanced design using geometric shapes which exhibits their prior knowledge of symmetry. They use a kaleidoscope image to develop a design using markers or colored pencils.
Curated OER
Coast-to-Coast Book Design-Part 4: Let's Create the Pages!
Students work in groups to share their lists of A-B-C ideas they came up with from the previous activity. They review page layouts taught during lesson two. Students complete a rough draft of their page. They create a colored...
American Physiological Society
An Inquiry into Alcoholic Fermentation
Introduce life science students to their new "best buds" yeast! Using a wide variety of materials, lab groups design an experiment that illustrates how yeast acquires the resources it needs to undergo cellular respiration. The teacher's...
Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District
4th Grade Personal Narrative
Throughout 10 lessons, fourth graders learn how to plan, organize, write, and edit their own personal narratives. In the beginning, young writers come up with ideas of personal experiences and the emotions linked with those experiences....
EngageNY
Revising for Organization: Timely Transitions
During the eighth lesson in a historical fiction unit, pupils practice thoughtfully transitioning their ideas sequentially. After the teacher models how to add these transitions using the Wheelwright draft created in a previous lesson,...
Curated OER
Cell City Project - You are the Designer!
How can something as large as a city and as small as a cell have anything in common? That is exactly the question young scientists explore with this engaging life science project. Choosing to focus on a city, school, factory, or other...