What does it mean to be a good steward? Middle school environmentalists learn to care for their state's waterways through research, a guest speaker, and poster activity. Groups must locate and learn more about a river basin and the human...

Students research and design a playground for a park or school in their community. They explore the physics concepts that are present in the design and, if applicable promote their ideas to city or school officials.

Students discover the dangers posing our environment.  In this environmental awareness lesson, students investigate problems like global warming and pollution and discuss ways their generation can solve these issues.  Students...

Learners discuss the effects of earthquakes. In this earth science instructional activity, students create earthquake models and earthquake-proof buildings. They construct their own seismograph.

First graders practice oral and silent reading using beginning  comprehension and decoding strategies. In this guided reading lesson, 1st graders take a picture walk and make plot predictions prior to reading the book Rain by Robert...

Students construct DNA fingerprints. In this genetics instructional activity, students watch an on-line gel electrophoresis animation, then they work in groups to use a restriction map to create a restriction enzyme and use that to...

The six instructional shifts in this workshop definitely move math and science teachers' understanding of instruction. The workshop, 13th out of a series of 15, asks participants to examine sample tests and to look at how the six...

A poignant 20-slide show introduces high schoolers to the amazing accomplishments of genomics and raises the question of eugenics. This lesson is only for mature audiences, as it deals with rape and other sensitive topics, but it is...

Students examine the ways that government works to help improve aquatic habitats. In this water habitats instructional activity students view a video and plan a school restoration project. 

Third graders see how to do a research project. They understnad how to categorize information about themselves and relate it to information on sea animals for a future research project. This lesson fits in nicely with any unit on animals.

Students research the science of ancient Native American people. They compare native science to the present time. They create a project that they can present to their classmates. The project could be a report, poster, Power Point...

Students work in teams to complete an alternative energy project. In this alternative energy lesson, students are assigned a city and decide on the most appropriate alternative energy source for their city. Students use maps from Google...

Students utilize a digital camera to record interesting objects in their environment.  In this ecology lesson, students participate in a mini-field trip around their campus as they take 2-3 pictures of the school environment....

In this art and science activity, students fill in the blanks to the sentences about art and science by choosing the correct word. Students complete 15 sentences.

Help young readers find, identify, and use their voices with a set of empowering activities based on Peter H. Reynolds' trilogy of books. Sky Color, Ish, and The Dot focus on recognizing moods and treating each other...

Thor, Loki, Iron Man, and Captain America. As part of their study of Greek and Roman gods and heroes, middle schoolers compare the characters in The Avengers to Greek counterparts. Individuals then create their own superhero,...

This project provides students the opportunity to investigate parasites as a possible cause of the observed frog deformities. It asks students to view web-based evidence and interpret whether it supports the parasite hypothesis. Students...

What exactly does an engineer do? Learners find out through a lesson that asks them to solve a problem that affects a target population. Aspiring engineers learn the steps of the engineering design process as they apply it...

Clamp onto the resource and don't let go. Future mechanical engineers produce a pipe clamp from a sheet of metal. This idea is to use the pipe clamp to affix a pull-up bar in a doorway.

Take two pills and call me in the morning. The first activity in a short unit of four introduces class members to delivery methods of medicines. The instruction introduces the question of which delivery method is best to get you feeling...

Young chemists create gold nanoparticles as they learn to measure accurately with the metric system. They create an advertisement for the application of nanotechnology to complete the first lesson in a series of six.

Symmetry, line, shape, art, and math are all connected through a fun hands-on craft. Included are instructions to a classic activity, where learners create butterflies to show symmetry in nature and then discuss symmetry in math. It is...

Imagine a learning community committed to using Costa and Kallick's Habits of Mind as the basis of curriculum design. The resource book is packed with lessons that are designed for and identify the standards and...

Learners select a biology-related career for research. They use school and community resources to gather information for this career. Students complete a college application. They share their findings with classmates.