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Prairie Adaptations
Twelfth graders consider the survival of prairie plants. They examine how some tallgrass prairie species are adapted to the conditions of their ecosystem. They make a prediction of how a species might change given new conditions.
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Biodiversity
Fifth graders visit the playground to look for signs of life. They search for insects, birds, animal tracks, feathers, nests, trees, soil, etc. They then compose a class list that shows all findings in the schoolyard and post it in the...
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Shape Hunt
Explore the world of shapes! After free tangram exploration and pair share time, learners describe various patterns and shapes in both the natural and designed world. They investigate the use of tangrams to create patterns and shapes.
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Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Fourth graders participate in a play to work on seeing events from a different perspective. Some of them are reporters, some cameramen and women, and others are interviewed. They put themselves in the shoes of the people in the book...
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Backyard Critters
Students explore the characteristics of invertebrates in their backyards. They observe, describe, and classify specimens. They conclude with a "snail race."
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Searching for life
Students explore the possibility of life on Mars and what that might look like. In this planetary instructional activity students complete several activities on looking for life on Mars.
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Mesoamerican Carving Project
Third graders are introduced to the use of glyphs and relief carving by Mesoamerican cultures. They complete worksheets, view PowerPoint presentations, participate in a Webquest and create an original glyph carving in sandstone.
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Molecular Approaches to Evolution
Students examine the molecular studies of organisms that have led to a new era in their understanding of speciation and evolutionary relationships. Students study the allelic frequency of genes controlling specific molecules and assess...
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Activity Plan 5-6: Book-Character Homes
Students use their creativity to build character homes. In this early childhood lesson plan, students develop creative-thinking, social, language, math, and motor skills as they work together to create buildings for characters from...
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Changing Cicada
Students discuss inherited traits and relate to the inherited traits in a cicada. In this cicada lesson plan, students follow the life cycle of the cicada and observe the changes as it grows. Students discuss the characteristics of...
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Adaptations
Sixth graders identify plant adaptations. In this adaptations instructional activity, 6th graders use digital cameras to photograph plants found on their campus. Students describe the adaptations for each plant.
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What Plants Need in Order to Survive and Grow: Light
Students conduct an experiment to evaluate whether plants need light to survive and grow. They observe and gather data about plant responses to different growth regimes, analyze the data, and make conclusions about basic plant needs.
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What Plants Need in Order to Survive and Grow: Soil
Young scholars conduct an experiment to evaluate whether plants need soil to survive and grow. They plant two seeds, one with soil and one without, make predictions, and record and analyze the seed germination results on a worksheet.
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Water: The Flow of Women's Work
Students view photographs, read, and reflect on their own environments to gather information about gender roles in Lesotho and the United States. Students role-play gender role related scenarios and write about their reflections on the...
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Arctic Alliterations
In this poetry worksheet, students read a description of an alliteration with an example. Students practice writing alliterations with the help of a dictionary and illustrate one of their tongue twisters.
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Identifying My Spider
Third graders navigate the Internet and research spiders. In this spider lesson, 3rd graders view photos of spiders and use their characteristics to determine the variety of spider. Students complete a spider data sheet.
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Shape Hunt
Students explore two-dimensional and solid shapes. In this shapes and patterns geometry lesson, students work with a partner to create identifiable objects using tangrams. Students describe the attributes of their shape and their partner...
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Locating the Salt Front - Section 1
In this salt front of the Hudson River worksheet, 7th graders first read an excerpt about the lower portion of the Hudson River that is an estuary. Then they use a colored pencil to plot salinity data from the table shown on a graph,...
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Dry-Land Kalo-Growing New Plants from Stems
Students explore Hawaiian plants. In this Hawaii culture and botany lesson, students plant the haha(stem) of a taro plant. Students listen to Hawaiian myths about the taro plant and chorally speak a Hawaiian chant of protection. Students...
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Perimeter and Area of a Rectangle
Sixth graders fill out worksheets to find the perimeter and area of rectangles. In this perimeter and area lesson plan, 6th graders color in the area and measure the perimeters.
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Enrichment Activities - "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH"
Fifth graders read the novel "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." They discuss the various characters in the book, and the different types of conflict that take place within the book. They also research owls and rats to make comparisons...
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It's A Jungle Out There -Tempera
Sixth graders explore master paintings by Rousseau. They explain how the artist creates depth by overlapping images. They design and create an "imaginary" tropical landscape for a tempera painting.
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Predators and Prey
Students explain how the food chain works. They contrast predators with prey and describe their function in nature. Students discuss how the food chain aids in keeping nature balanced. In small groups, they play a game that simulates the...
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Heartfelt/Handmade Activities: Genre Painting
Students examine genre painting. They explore the Illinois State Museum website, identify how genre paintings were composed, analyze the activities of an Illinois farm in the 1850s, and create a genre painting of current everyday...