Depending on your eating habits, you just may not want to know the answer to the inquiry-based question! The task is to determine the number of sugar packets in one 20-ounce soda. Learners use nutritional information from the sugar and...

What was life like during the Victorian era? Images of crowded factories and lavish palaces may come to mind—and both would be accurate. Learn more about Britain during the 64-year reign of Queen Victoria with a series of informational...

Lorenzo de Zavala and José Antonio Navarro were both native Mexicans and leaders of the Texas Revolution, but with different backgrounds and careers. Compare and contrast the two influential men with a research assignment in which...

This isn't your typical basic lesson—it's more acidic! Learners use pH information to determine the hydroxide ion concentration of different substances and then use these values to analyze information. The calculations require...

An ecosystem is really just the flow of energy through many different living organisms. A study of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book leads to an environmental science activity in which learners study how various factors can affect...

Is the gestation length of an animal a predictor of the average life expectancy of that animal? Learners analyze similar data for more than 50 different animals. They choose a data display and draw conclusions from their graphs.

Should gray wolves be removed from Yellowstone National Park? After researching the complex relationships between the various habitats and species at Yellowstone National Park,  including humans, class members take a position...

The Berlin Blockade may not take up as much space in the history books as other events of the Cold War, but for the citizens of west Berlin in 1948—and the events to follow between the Soviet Union and the United Stattes—those 318 days...

When it comes to the environment, no variable is constant. Class members graph behavior over time for the thneeds produced over truffula trees chopped down over the course of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax. 

Global warming is leaving coral reefs in hot water. What does that mean for their survival? Find out as scholars use authentic satellite data to explore the issue. Learners look for global trends in the data and research the effects the...

The ultimate legacy of Emmett Till's violent death is its role in the non-violent roots of the Civil Rights Movement. A lesson compares contemporaneous articles with the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "The Death of Emmett Till" and prompts...

Historical fiction novels give readers a chance to step into someone else's shoes. An educator's guide from Penguin Common Core Lesson Plans provides resources to accompany three historical fiction novels written by Ruta Sepetys: Between...

Is progress progressing too fast? So believes the Lorax, the eponymous character from Dr. Seuss's The Lorax. Young environmental science young scholars read the book and debate the arguments of the Lorax and the Once-ler regarding...

Why is there more daylight in June than in December if you live above the equator? How does the angle of sunlight shift throughout the year? Answer these questions and more with an interactive article about the sun, its path through the...

Writing funny poems is the best part about learning poetic forms! Young poets learn all about clerihews—humorous four-line poems about people—with an explanatory lesson.

Though December 7th, 1941 was a day "which would live in infamy," World War II had provided many infamous days, events, battles, and atrocities in the years before. So why were American forces so surprised when Japan attacked Pearl...

Everyone knows that the Declaration of Independence is important, but what does it actually say? Members of American history classes analyze the Founding Fathers' arguments against British tyranny and for a more perfect union with a...

Rain, rain, go away—wait, there it is again! Elementary scientists learn how rain works its way through the stages of the water cycle with a series of classroom lessons and hands-on activities.

Modern readers apply classic themes to Victor Hugo's masterpiece, Les Miserables. After they discuss tricky vocabulary and plot elements from the novel, class members compare Hugo's written work to a stage or film adaptation of the...

Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, considered by many to be a seminal piece of American literature, contains many complex literary themes that carry through United States history. Use a series of discussion questions and classroom...

A strong community acts as a family during difficult times. The evidence for the family aspects of Maycomb is abundant in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and it is the focus of a lesson on the importance of setting as it relates...

Weathering is not necessarily a result of the weather. Scholars conduct an experiment to explore the effect of surface area and volume on the weathering process. They create their own sugar cube rocks using the same number of cubes—but...

Make young citizens aware of their environmental impact early. An inquiry-based instructional activity helps learners analyze their own water usage patterns and understand the effects of their habits. Individuals look at data to spot...

Nature is good for the soul. The final activity in the fine-part Family Nature Program series discusses the benefits of having an active connection with nature. Learners complete an imagery activity that relates nature to a calming...