Code.org
Routers and Redundancy
How are messages to the right recipient? Introduce the concept of routing Internet traffic by drawing a comparison to sending a letter. Groups use the Internet Simulator program to send messages to others using the same router...
Voyage Solar System
Round and Round We Go — Exploring Orbits in the Solar System
Math and science come together in this cross-curricular astronomy lesson plan on planetary motion. Starting off with a hands-on activity that engages the class in exploring the geometry of circles and ellipses, this lesson...
Radford University
Exploring Coal Pillar Mining
Coal mines can be a gold mine of math applications. After reading some basic information on coal mining, learners draw blueprints of a coal pillar in the shape of a composite figure. They find the volume of material from the coal pillar...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Waves and Whistles
Wave goodbye to the same old demonstrations for alternative energy sources, and wave hello to this one investigating ocean waves! Using a water bottle to create an oscillating water column, learners see and possibly hear how the...
Inside Mathematics
Functions
A function is like a machine that has an input and an output. Challenge scholars to look at the eight given points and determine the two functions that would fit four of the points each — one is linear and the other non-linear. The...
5280 Math
Step by Step
One step at a time! A seemingly linear relationship becomes an entirely new type of function. Young scholars build their understanding of step functions by completing a three-stage activity that incorporates multiple representations of...
Radford University
The Ultimate Kitchen Renovation
Cook up a nice new kitchen. Future designers apply quadrilaterals to design a new kitchen floor. They create a tessellation and determine the area of the pattern. As an added component and real-world application, they must stick to a...
Teach Engineering
Hydrogen-Oxygen Reaction Lab
High schoolers conduct an experiment using the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. After pairs balance the chemical equation for making water, they mix different ratios of hydrogen and oxygen in a chemical reaction. Classmates...
Trash For Teaching
The Light-House Project
Groups work together to design a lighthouse, from designing and drawing the wiring diagram, to creating prototypes of the switch and circuit, to envisioning and building a scale model along with a blueprint. By including different...
Teach Engineering
Protecting Our City with Levees
Teams use the design process to design, build, and test a model levee to protect the town from a wall of water. A handout provides a price list for the materials learners can use to build their levee within a budget.
EngageNY
Graphs of Exponential Functions and Logarithmic Functions
Graphing by hand does have its advantages. The 19th installment of a 35-part module prompts pupils to use skills from previous lessons to graph exponential and logarithmic functions. They reflect each function type over a diagonal line...
Teach Engineering
Constructing Sonoran Desert Food Chains and Food Webs
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.
Discovery Education
Cool It!
Adjust the melting time of ice without varying the temperature! Learners experiment with different materials to decide how the materials affect the rate an ice cube melts. They then connect their findings to the conductivity of each...
Illustrative Mathematics
Regular Tessellations of the Plane
Bringing together the young artists and the young organizers in your class, this instructional activity takes that popular topic of tessellations and gives it algebraic roots. After covering a few basic properties and definitions,...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Solving Inequalities
What does translating points on a number line have to do with solving inequalities? Young mathematicians first learn about translations of points on a number line, and then use this information to solve linear inequalities in one variable.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Historical Climate Cycles
Scientists use ice core samples to obtain temperatures of the earth from 400,000 years ago! The third of five lessons instructs pupils to interpret historical climate data to see changes over time. In part I, participants interpret...
Cornell University
The Physics of Bridges
Stability is key when building a bridge. Scholars explore the forces acting upon bridges through an analysis of Newton's Laws and Hooke's Law. The activity asks individuals to apply their learning by building a bridge of their own.
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Understanding Wave Motion - Slinky vs. Snaky: Which Spring is Dominant?
Ride the wave to an understanding of refraction! The first in a series of two inquiry-based lessons challenges learners to create transverse waves with two different types of springs. As their wave hits an object, they observe the change...
Washington Township Public Schools
Using Paired Text
Paired reading passages frequently appear on standardized exams, but finding text sets to use in the classroom is sometimes a challenge. A lesson plan on using paired texts includes a selection of passages and a graphic organizer for...
Teaching Tolerance
Identity Portraits
When you look at me, what do you see? Young learners answer this question by creating a portrait that reflects the identity of one of their peers. First, class members create interview questions. Then, they interview classmates to...
Curated OER
Scale Model of the Solar System
Pupils explore the size of the planets. In this science lesson plan, students create a scale model of the solar system. Pupils determine a scaling factor and calculate the size of their planets. Students create a scale drawing of the...
Curated OER
Shapes to Forms
Here is a math lesson that is really a visual arts lesson in disguise! In it, pupils utilize their knowledge of geometric shapes and forms to create a detailed version of a cylinder. The instructions on how to go about the task are very...
Curated OER
Chemistry Comes to Life
Although biochemistry of the human body is a vital topic, it doesn't have a chapter dedicated to it in many biology textbooks. If that's the case with your text, you can use this resource as a guide for designing your own lecture and as...
Curated OER
Coming to America: U.S. Immigration
Analyze primary source documents relating the conditions under with prompted American immigration. Learners will analyze information in order to create a six-panel pamphlet. Much of the lesson is not available but the key objectives are....