September's "Banned Books Week" brings attention to the number of books that are challenged, censored, or banned each year. After watching a video about banned book week, reading articles about the history of book banning, and examining...

Find an answer to the age-old debate of whether life exists on Mars. Groups determine criteria to help look for signs of life on Mars. The activity has the class simulate testing Martian soil samples for signs of life before drawing...

Upper graders solve math problems involving multiplication using specific strategies. They will use base-ten blocks, hundreds charts, and number lines to solve multiplication problems. Then they will practice several of the strategies...

Listening to poems about feeling lonely and feeling like an outsider set the stage for a group activity that focuses on Stevie Smith's "Not Waving But Drowning." Groups examine the three stanzas of Smith's poem separately and identify in...

Everyone should take an interest in the fate of wild cats. A thorough lesson explores the habitat changes of native North American wild cats and asks learners to make connections to human development. They consider the implications of...

In order to truly understand The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, you'll need to provide middle schoolers with background information about the Holocaust. After contributing as many words as they can associate with the Holocaust, such as...

Playing with values in this fruit salad problem allows learners to find out how many cherries were mixed in. Your middle schoolers can organize their thoughts in a chart before going into the equation. Eigth graders can skip the chart...

When physical science classes are becoming familiar with the periodic table of elements, you can use this set of printable cards to help them memorize some of the members of the metals, metalloids, and nonmetals groups. There are 24...

There's no need to run around trying to plan a unit for the book Maniac Magee, the work has already been done for you. Through a series of whole class, small group, and independent lessons and activities, students practice...

What do physicists and musicians have in common? A lot more than you might think. After first viewing a slide show presentation and completing a series of skills practice worksheets on the physics of light, sound, and...

Bring history to life for your young scholars with a Fourth of July lesson series. After a class reading of the Declaration of Independence, students translate this pivotal document into layman's terms before working in small...

How can you safely model exponential growth and decay? A hands-on activity uses candies to model not only exponential decay, but also exponential growth. Exponential equations are fitted by hand and by use of a calculator...

Discuss Archimedes' Principle and fluid forces with your young scientists as they describe the relationship between mass, volume, and density during a series of engaging activities. They use the Participle Theory of Matter to explore the...

Rolling for momentum. As part of a study of mechanical energy, momentum, and friction, class members experiment rolling a ball down an incline and having it collide with a cup. Groups take multiple measurements and perform...

Generating a system of shapes. Groups work together to create a number system using three different shapes as symbols. The groups should come up with the rules that generate all the possible permutations of the three shapes.

Class members are challenged to design a device that will move a circus elephant into a train car. Groups brainstorm ideas that use simple machines to load the elephant. They then choose one of their ideas, sketch a plan, and present it...

Try to figure out what happens with shadows as a person moves between two light sources. A formative assessment lesson has individuals work on an assessment task based on similar triangles, then groups them based on their...

You'll find everything but the kitchen sink here ... or just a carbon sink. In the activity, pairs or groups of middle school learners go outside and measure a tree's circumference and height to estimate its carbon storage potential and...

Transform pupils into mathematicians as they create their own definitions and formulas. Scholars examine an assortment of triangles and create a definition and formula for determining the sharpness of the vertex angle. The groups of...

Green roofs aren't just eco-friendly — they are literally green with trees. Groups learn about the concept of green roofs in order to be able to design one. The groups design a 5,000-square-foot green roof for a fictional apartment row...

How can organisms light up in water? Bioluminescence is light produced in a chemical reaction that can occur in an organism's body. First, learners determine what happens to light/color as you move into the deep ocean. In groups, they...

Plankton are so abundant in the ocean they outweigh all of the animals in the sea. In this three day activity, groups discuss and become familiar with plankton, capture females, and look for egg production on day three. 

The last activity in the series of four has individuals determine steps they can take to reduce their carbon footprints and then analyze their schools' recycling programs. Through a sustainability audit, they identify how and where their...

Working together isn't as easy as it looks! Small groups of classmates try to keep a balloon in the air using only a straw, their breath, and team communication.