Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 1
How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...
Cornell University
Polymers: Making Silly Putty
Putty is proof that learning can be fun! Share the wonderful world of polymers with your class through an experiment. Young scientists create their own silly putty, then examine its properties.
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Synthesis and Characterization of CdSe Quantum Dots
Does the size of a sample change the physical properties of that substance? It turns out it can! Young scientists combine physics and chemistry to synthesize CdSe quantum dots and record their color properties. Learners should...
5280 Math
Step by Step
One step at a time! A seemingly linear relationship becomes an entirely new type of function. Young scholars build their understanding of step functions by completing a three-stage activity that incorporates multiple representations of...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Mural / Poster Campaign
Every piece matters. A creative lesson provides an opportunity for scholars to create murals or posters that represent their views on social justice. Academics work on smaller posters or pieces of a mural that will ultimately be...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Puzzle Mural
Every piece of the puzzle is important. A lesson gives individuals the opportunity to create artwork that spreads a message of inclusion and tolerance. Class members work in teams to create pieces of the mural that form a larger picture....
Curated OER
ExplorA-Pond: 4th Grade Perimeter Estimation
Your geometers are used to finding the perimeter of a square or rectangle, so give them something different this time! With this lesson, small groups will receive a picture of a shoreline and calculate the perimeter. The website listed...
Curated OER
Centripetal Force
In order to investigate cetntripetal force and angular momentum, youngsters compare the motion of erasers hung from a string. It is not clear what type of Amish toy is needed in the warm up activity, so you may not be able to use it. The...
Curated OER
We're on the Map!
Students identify a variety of topographic map symbols. They make generalizations about an unidentified community by reading and interpreting map symbols.
Curated OER
Measure Twice, Cut Once
Elementary schoolers learn about metric units and how they are used by engineers. They learn how engineers use the units to measure mass, distance, and volume. Then, they estimate measurements of units, and compare them to actual...
Curated OER
Research, Production, and Presentation of Abstract and Pop Art
Students analyze Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. They view and discuss artworks by Warhol, Lichenstein, Pollack, and Kandinsky, research a specific artist, and create an art piece in the style of their chosen artist.
Curated OER
Natural Resources Product Booklet
Students conduct a research activity and create a base product booklet that helps them recognize the resources that are available to them from the natural resources in the area that they live in.
Curated OER
Hobbies
How many different hobbies can you name in French? Using this question, French classes are asked to list as many hobbies as they can. Although the activities themselves are not included in this teacher guide, you could create them...
Nuffield Foundation
Biodiversity in Your Backyard!
Take your enthusiastic ecologists outdoors to explore the biodiversity right in their own schoolyard! In preparing for this activity, it may be worthwhile to research websites with local flora to help in the plant identification...
Curated OER
Protecting the Environment
Students explain what biodegradable materials are and list examples of them. They design, with online partners' feedback and input, a product made of biodegradable materials and develop a marketing campaign to best sell their product.
Curated OER
The Front Page: Asking Geographic Questions
Students examine how to ask geographic questions. They read an article with details omitted, list possible geographic questions, and write a summary of the article.
Curated OER
Foreign Miners
Young scholars examine primary source documents from miners who went to California in the search of gold. They compare and contrast the letters they read and discuss what types of discrimination still exists today.
Curated OER
California Gold Rush
Students discover the people who lived in California before and after the gold rush. They use primary source documents to identify how the finding of gold changed the area. They also discover the discrimation that was present during the...
Curated OER
Kinetic Sculpture
Students discover the art of kinetic sculpture using found materials to create objects with human characteristics. Activities address inventive thinking, utilizing unusual materials and team building through the creation of robotic...
Curated OER
"Weighing the Elephant"
Can your class solve the problem presented in the Chinese folktale, "Weighing the Elephant?" Read your class the description before having them attempt to solve the problem. After they've come up with an answer (or attempted to!), finish...
Curated OER
Treasure Hunters
Students design an on campus treasure hunt to find various architectural vocabulary words which they then create definitions for on the blog page on the Environmental Design website.
Curated OER
Earthquakes and Seismic Waves
Students explore earthquakes and seismic waves. They investigate how energy is released in the subsurface to create seismic waves. Students explore the inner workings of a seismograph and how they are used to determine the location of an...
Curated OER
Radio Program #5: Moonshining
Learners interpret the conditions that surrounded the "moonshining industry" in southeastern Ohio. Interview people who may have been influenced by some experience with someone involved in this type of industry. Prohibition laws are...
Curated OER
Writing Chemical Formulas
Students study how to write chemical fomulas by reviewing the combinations atoms form into compounds. They write a procedure to test various substances and name the compounds and write formulas. As they construct models for formulas and...