Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
The DNA Molecule Is Shaped like a Twisted Ladder
One of the first models of DNA appeared to be a triple helix. Young scientists learn about the many scientists who worked to find the shape of DNA. They observe multiple models, tests, and experiments to understand the conclusions. An...
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Chromosomes Carry Genes
Some traits only exist in males and some only in females. Pupils learn how the location of genes on sex chromosomes determines them using an interactive lesson. An animation illustrates how scientists know this to be true and shows how...
Teach Engineering
An Inflated Impression of Mars
Help your class understand the magnitude of the distance between Earth and Mars with an activity that asks small groups to use balloons to create scale models of the Earth, Moon, and Mars. Class members figure out the distances...
Wild BC
Is Climate Change Good for Us?
Is it really that big of a deal if the global climate undergoes a little change? Young environmentalists consider this very question as they discuss in small groups the impact of different climate change scenarios on their lives,...
Curated Video
Privacy Part 2
Why is online privacy so important? Explore privacy with a group assignment for which pupils create word clouds with words they associate with privacy. A discussion and online activity follow. Learners will read articles, explore the...
Smarter Balanced
Exploring the World
To prepare for the Exploring the World Performance Task, class groups generate a list of places they would like to explore, examine images of seven natural wonders of the world, and consider why these sites are wondrous. A map and images...
Do2Learn
Sharing Space
Interacting with peers can be difficult for many children and adults with autism spectrum disorder. Guide them through a collaborative activity, during which class members come up with self-care solutions to a scenario in which they...
Nuffield Foundation
Investigating the Effect of Temperature on the Activity of Lipase
How does temperature affect lipase activity? Young scholars conduct an experiment to collect data on the interaction of lipase at different temperatures. They add lipase to a solution of milk, sodium carbonate, and phenolphthalein and...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
American Indians and their Environment
People could take a page in ingenuity and survival from the Powhatans. Deer skins became clothes, and the members of the Native American group farmed the rich Virginia soil and hunted in its forests for food. Using images of artifacts...
Smithsonian Institution
What's the Code? Coding Robot Movements Using Sound
Tap into the desire to learn about computer codes. Pupils apply the Tap Code and the Polybius Square to send secret codes using sound. They design a code that tells a robot what movements to make and then test out their code using one of...
Have Fun Teaching
Brick Breaker: Initial Consonant Blends
Practice initial consonant blends with a fun, interactive game! Choose the sounds you'd like to practice, and then have kids place the appropriate pictures for their brick breaker boards. Spin the spinner to select a blended sound, and...
Shutterfly
Shutterfly Photo Story Lesson Plan
A reading of Peggy Parish's Amelia Bedelia launches a study of idioms. Groups then select several idioms, write the meaning of the expressions, draw or select images, and use GIMP or Photoshop to create an idiom book.
Museum of the Moving Image
AdMaker, Nixon vs. Humphrey, “Convention” (1968)
After viewing the infamous 1968 Presidential campaign ad, "Convention," groups use AdMaker to create their own 30 second ad that features Richard Nixon rather than Hubert Humphrey.
Museum of the Moving Image
AdMaker, Obama vs. McCain, “Fundamentals” (2008)
Truth is often left on the cutting room floor when political ads are produced. After viewing the 2012 backfire ad, "Fundamentals" that takes John McCain's comments on the US economy out of context, class groups edit the audio and...
Chicago Botanic Garden
What Can Tree Rings Tell Us About Climate?
Tree rings are slightly thicker on the south side of the tree because it receives more sunlight. Part two in a series of five lessons helps learners analyze tree rings to determine the environmental conditions that caused size...
Cornell University
Catapult
Studying levers couldn't be more exciting! Learners build their own catapults and test the results as they make adjustments to the fulcrum. They compete against other groups to create the most accurate apparatus.
Curated OER
Make a Social Skills Superhero Comic Book
Get creative as you teach a lesson plan on positive peer and social interactions. Discuss good social interactions through a scenario, brainstorm a positive response to the scenario, then creat a comic book superhero that exemplifies the...
Curated OER
How Do We Know These Beetles Are Safe to Use?
Students evaluate the impact beetles have on plants. In groups, they select plants to expose to leaf-feeding beetles and place those beetles on the caged plants. They observe the beetles and discuss the insect and plant interaction...
Curated OER
Idiom Quizzes - Animals
Following an exhaustive list of animal idioms, metaphors, and similes (categorized by animal), an online interactive quiz checks reader facility with their use. In each of 20 questions, a sentence has a definition for one expression in...
Curated OER
The assassination of the Archduke: Exploring Perspectives
Use political cartoons for a multiple-perspectives strategy, as pupils learn about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. After an anticipatory discussion, they are split into 2 groups. The class reads a primary source account...
Curated OER
Chemical Compounds
Your young chemists will find these slides very informative. Groups and periods of the periodic table are labeled and described according to the charge. Comprehensive explanations of physical and chemical properties and how they relate...
Curated OER
Naming a Police Dog
Students examine the role that police dogs do and assist a local police officer to name his police dog. Students participate in an online police station interactive activity, read facts about police dogs, and play an online police dog game.
Curated OER
English Vocabulary Skills: AWL Sublist 1 - Exercise 3a
In this online interactive English vocabulary skills learning exercise, students answer 10 matching questions which require them to fill in the blanks in 10 sentences. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Curated OER
English Vocabulary Skills: AWL Sublist 1 - Exercise 3c
In this online interactive English vocabulary skills worksheet, learners answer 10 matching questions which require them to fill in the blanks in 10 sentences. Students may submit their answers to be scored.