PBS
Paper Table
What is black and white and re(a)d all over? Class members build a table out of rolled newspapers. Pupils follow the design process to design, build, and test their paper tables in the second challenge in a series of five.
Energy for Keeps
The Energy Times
Extra! Extra! Read all about past and present energy use in a classroom-made historical newspaper. Useful as a cross-curricular assignment between science, history, and language arts, the project is sure to get young journalists...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Recent Weather Patterns
Decide whether weather is changing! A two-part activity first challenges classes to review the differences between weather and climate. Once finished, individuals then analyze historical data to determine if climate change is happening...
Curated OER
Will There Be a White Christmas This Year?
Young scholars examine historical weather data, and create map and color key that illustrates the likelihood of a white Christmas in different locations across the United States.
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Weather Timeline
Students create a timeline of historical weather events in Bedfordshire, England. In this local weather instructional activity, students interview elders, research the Internet and newspapers to gather information about weather events of...
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Meteorology
Fourth graders study how atmospheric conditions change while naming the things that make the weather change. They investigate the affects of air masses, weather fronts and high/low pressure by looking at weather maps from newspapers.
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Meteorology
Seventh graders examine the job of meteorologists. They decide which characteristics of the atmosphere that meteorologists focus on. They use local weather maps from newspapers to predict weather in their area.
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The Delicate Balance - Iowa's Natural Resources
Discover the natural resources in Iowa by studying it's history. In this environmental instructional activity, your students will observe a topographical map of Iowa and identify where its most valuable resources are. They complete an...
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Housing: Types of Shelters
Students experiment with the construction of shelters and the various types of architectural designs. In this shelters instructional activity, students draw the building they live in. Students compare and contrast buildings...
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Get Ready to Rumble
Students use the Internet to examine earthquakes. They discover the theory of tectonic plates and analyze faults throughout the world. They also examine the science of seismology to explain how earthquakes are measured.
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Inventions Change the World: The Enigma Machine
Third graders explore WWII by analyzing technological advances. In this invention instructional activity, 3rd graders discuss the use of the Enigma machine which decoded private German messages that communicated with U-boats. Students...
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What's Cooking - A Colonial Recipe
Eleventh graders explore Colonial and modern techniques, vocabulary, and ingredients of cooking and recipes. They gain understanding of the challenges of cooking in colonial times and modern adaptations.
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Environmental Education (Grade 4 - Lesson 2)
Fourth graders discuss ways in which the environment is helpful to humans. They discover how their actions affect the environment. They identify how animals and humans are subjected to the same environmental conditions.
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Introduction of the Lunar Relief Map Project
Students investigate the geographic features of the surface of the moon. In this lunar relief map lesson plan, students watch and discuss the Apollo II Moon landing and make preliminary plans for their lunar maps.
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A Whale Of A Study
Students get some training as a whale biologist, and study about the kinds of things these researchers do and see over the next four months in their study of humpback whales. Some excellent websites are imbedded in this plan.
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Life In the Flood Zone
Students discover how floods occur by visiting the Weather Channel's website. They examine the areas of the United States which are more vulnerable for flooding. They research the history of previous floods and how to protect themselves.
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Energy and the Environment
Fifth graders define terms associated with renewable and nonrenewable resources. They identify materials that are renewable and nonrewable. They categorize a list into the correct type of resource.
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Medical Research and Your Future
Young scholars are asked to investigate current and sometimes controversial medical research in order to address what medical breakthroughs potentially exist in their futures. They create small posters on sheets detailing their support...
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The Day the Water Ran Out
Pupils explore ecosystems by researching desert characteristics. In this drought lesson, students identify the potential impacts of a drought on their home state and interview people who are familiar with water studies. Pupils...
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Household ProductsPast to Future
Third graders research and explore the development of household inventions. Groups create timelines which must display the date of each contribution, the inventor or inventors of each contribution, and the cultural background of each...
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Environmental Education (Grade 4)
Fourth graders examine environmental concerns that affect their community. They work together to develop possible solutions and share them with the class. They ask questions to end the lesson.
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The Demographics of Mortality
Students view the Dynamic POPClocks on the U.S. Census webpage and discuss their meaning. They explore age-related death rates of the human population and collect information about the deaths of humans and organize them into a life table.