Earthquakes, hurricanes, volcano eruptions, and more. To enrich their study of nature's big events, kids map tectonic plates and major earthquake locations, identify emergency response agencies, and storyboard a film about volcanos.

Make sound visible with an activity that provides directions for how to build a vocal visualizer meant to create light patterns. Making noise into the visualizer causes a mirror to vibrate, reflecting a laser beam, and creating...

How well can you launch a ping-pong ball? Small groups design launchers that can launch a ping-pong ball 20 feet into a target. The teams follow the engineering design process as they develop a solution that meets the design...

Students make a striking visual display showing the distribution of water on earth.

Learners study how shapes can be divided into equal parts, that each part be equal to its counterpart, and combining parts equals one whole. They make the shapes out of modeling clay and take digital pictures of its parts to create an...

This lesson asks young readers to predict what will happen to Harry Potter. While the question has been answered by the last book and film in the series, the concept and links provided by The New York Times’ Learning Network are...

High schoolers with mild to moderate disabilities discuss human reproduction and the importance of preventing pregnancy. They review reproductive anatomy, sexual decision making, and what birth control is. The instructional activity...

Kids love to pretend. Use this imaginative energy to develop their understanding of characterization. Class members dress up as a character from their novel-writing project and sit for a filmed interview. In responding to questions about...

This dance makes me want to just get up and start moving right now. This dance is done to the song "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins. The lesson includes not only step-by-dance step instructions but also a video. There is a lot of movement in...

The Galapagos Islands inspired Darwin to develop his theory of evolution. These wonderful islands will also be the topic of a lesson plan on habitat and conservation. In small groups, learners will collect and synthesize information...

Can school children change the world? With a social or environmental issue in mind, 5th graders use what they know about advertising media to make t-shirts that have something to say. They research the issue they'd like to focus on,...

Here is a game intended for use at home that could easily be adapted to the school environment. The class reads an informational story about emperor penguins and then they watch a clip from the film, March of the Penguins. They focus on...

Help your class come up with a procedure for comparing the dissolving rates of colored candy coating in different temperatures of water. If you are placing importance on controlled variables with your class, make sure that they use equal...

Ratatouille, the sauce not the animated Disney film, is the focus of this foods instructional activity. Class groups prepare either a classic tomato ragu or a ratatouille to take home and share with their families.

Young geologists begin exploring volcanoes of different structures and states: active, extinct, or dormant. During the lab, they make three models and compare different types of volcanoes, including composite, cinder cone, and...

Historically, Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis has been difficult for many readers to grasp. From the difficult translation issues to the complex plot and themes, the novel's message and story can be lost when learners...

The ambiguity in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre makes the novel a perfect choice for a shared inquiry discussion. Readers respond to open-ended questions with evidence drawn directly from the text. 

Everything scholars will need to know about universal gravitation in order to be prepared for the AP Physics exam. is provided in this fast-paced video. Test taking tips and common misconceptions are also addressed in the film.

In an age of fake news, alternative facts, and biased reporting, it is more important than ever that 21st century learners develop the critical-thinking skills necessary to recognize, analyze and resist the propaganda techniques used in...

Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie captured the hearts of readers around the world in the late 20th century. Revisit Morrie and his captivating stories with a crossword puzzle review activity.

We're all in this together! Show young scholars that peace is a process and having the support of like-minded people can make it happen. 13th in a series of 15 peace building activities, groups conduct research on a peace organization,...

Clothes might not make the man but they certainly do help an actor create a character. How costume designers employ the same elements of design found in sets (line, color, texture, shape) to realize a character is the focus of a lesson...

Mean girls and bully packs are favorite topic for films and TV shows that focus on the destructive power of cliques. High school freshmen are asked to reflect on both the positive and negative aspects of cliques by reading a short...

Are you looking for background information on Cervantes and his Don Quixote? How about a study guide and discussion questions or project ideas? Even journal prompts, tests, and quizzes? A 98-page teaching guide simplifies the quest with...