Lesson Plan
DiscoverE

A Clever Way to Water

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Your plants will survive without you. Scholars create a device that can water plants using a coiled string. Along the way, they learn about adhesion and cohesion of water. The challenge is to keep the plants alive for at least a week.
Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Natural Selection and the Evolution of Darwin's Finches

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Darwin explained the connection between species of finches 150 years before scientists understood DNA. Technology and progressing science proved he was right, yet many struggle to understand how natural selection happens. Scholars use...
Lesson Plan
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education

Photoshop Scale

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Say cheese! Can your class take a great photo and size it to fit any need? A career and technology-centered lesson plan demonstrates the correct way to resize images in Adobe Photoshop. Scholars view a presentation and work individually...
Lesson Plan
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education

Lou-Vee-Air Car

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Who said teaching a STEM lesson had to be challenging? Incorporate a career and technology-centered car build into your upcoming force lesson plan, and your class will be moving down the road in no time! Pupils practice...
Activity
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network

Silver and Bandages: Assessment of Inhibition of Bacteria by Silver Colloid-Impregnated Bandages

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Silver: more than jewelry, it's also a natural antimicrobial agent. An inquiry-based lesson asks collaborative groups to design and implement an experiment to test this property. Using samples of silver nanoparticles and a strain of...
Lesson Plan
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US Institute of Peace

Perspectives on Peace

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Is peace simply the absence of war, or is there more to the story? Young social scientists define peace in the second installment of a 15-part series. Groups work together to explore cultural concepts of peace and the peacemaking process...
Lesson Plan
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network

The Effects of Colloidal Silver on Microbial Growth: Investigating Snake Oil Science

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Can your classes solve the problem of the smelly sweat sock? Young scientists complete a lab investigation that begins by using electrochemistry to generate colloidal silver. They use their solutions to test the rate of microbial growth...
Lesson Plan
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US Institute of Peace

Perspectives on Peace

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Much like a garden, once the seeds of peace are planted, they need to be tended! How can humankind make and keep peace? The second installment in a series of 15 peacebuilding activities focuses on different perceptions of peace. The...
Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

Making First Vote Your Vote: Designing a Schoolwide Election

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Encourage pupils to design an election plan for the entire school. They participate in a Board of Elections, create polling rules, discuss election controversies, write questions about the issues, run the election through an online...
Lesson Plan
Kenan Fellows

Least Squares Linear Regression in R

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The task? Determine the how effective hospitals are at reducing the rate of hospital-acquired infections. The method? Data analysis! Using an open source software program, individuals use provided data and create scatterplots to look for...
Lesson Plan
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University of California

Anti-Communism at Home

For Teachers 11th Standards
Have you ever been accused of something without cause? The sixth installment of an eight-part series asks scholars to create a museum exhibit on the anti-communist activities in the United States at the start of the Cold War. To make...
Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

Affrilachia

For Teachers 8th Standards
What makes a culture unique? Learners research life in the Appalachia region of the United States. Poetry, music, and oral history create Affrilachia, the term used to describe the lifestyle of the area. African-American mountain culture...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 9

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Here's a workshop for teachers that rocks the academic world! Using earthquakes as a medium for instruction, educators learn about crosscutting engineering with science. Fun, hands-on, collaborative exercises encourage participants to...
Lesson Plan
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California Academy of Science

The Heat is On: Cause and Effect and Climate

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
The higher the number of letters in the final word for the National Spelling Bee, the higher the number of people killed by venomous spiders. Obviously, those two facts correlate, but no causation exists. Scholars view data based on...
Handout
Saylor Academy

Persuasive Techniques

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Want to safeguard your students against peer pressure? Teach them all about rhetorical appeals, common attack methods, and various argument tones with a reference sheet on persuasive techniques.
Lesson Plan
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California Academy of Science

Rapid Brainstorming: How Can We Conserve Our Water Resources?

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
Water covers around 75 percent of the earth, yet humans struggle to find enough fresh water to live. The fourth of 10 lessons focusing on Fresh Solutions requires brainstorming. Young scientists consider various problems related to fresh...
Lesson Plan
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California Academy of Science

Rapid Brainstorming: How Can We Improve Our Global Food System?

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
In 2018, the average fast food burger cost $2.64 while a salad averaged $4.14. Does the price difference matter to public health? Scholars consider that question and others in a brainstorming session about improving our global food...
Lesson Plan
NPR

Lesson Plan: Trolls—Just Like You and Me?

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
Not all trolls hide under bridges; some of them hide behind computer screens! Learners explore the causes and effects of people leaving mean comments online. After learning vocabulary, watching and discussing a video, and responding to...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Decoding an Editorial Cartoon

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What advantages do political cartoons have over written editorials? Scholars discuss the topic by exploring editorial cartoons. Working in small groups, pupils analyze an Uncle Sam cartoon and complete a worksheet. As a fun extension,...
Graphic
Common Sense Media

Legit-O-Meter

For Students 7th - 12th Standards
Pop-ups, banner ads, grammar mistakes ... these are all signs of an untrustworthy website. With the handy Legit-O-Meter poster, scholars can now double-check their sources to ensure accurate, reliable information. The color-coded poster...
Activity
Americans All

A Simulation: The Peopling of America

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
What was it like to pass through Ellis Island? Learners move through the immigration process of the early 1900s in a simulation activity. A comprehensive activity includes role-playing profiles and other manipulative items such as...
Activity
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Cancer Discovery Activities

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Explore the genetic component of the second-leading cause of death in the world using a hands-on activity. After watching a video discussing the basics of cancer, learners complete activities that study the genes involved in cancer. The...
Activity
College Board

Evaluating Sources: How Credible Are They?

For Teachers 7th Standards
How can learners evaluate research sources for authority, accuracy, and credibility? By completing readings, discussions, and graphic organizers, scholars learn how to properly evaluate sources to find credible information. Additionally,...
Lesson Plan
University of Minnesota

Caeno-WHAT??

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Can you feel that? Can you smell that? Since pupils can't ask worms about their sense of smell and touch, they design and complete an experiment to answer these questions. Individuals expose nematodes to different stimuli using their...