This thoughtful unit explores the history of school desegregation legislation, including a discussion of the impact of the Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education decisions. A six-week plan of lessons, along with other sample...

These four lesson plans integrate the life of Davy Crockett and the tall tales that were created about him. Includes a printable rubric, lesson extensions, links, and much more!

By building a basic thermostat, students will explore basic circuitry and electricity. The thermostat built out of a breadboard, temperature sensor chip, amplifier, and battery creates a linear relationship between temperature of the...

In this instructional activity, students explore solid waste and its effects on the environment. They will collect classroom trash for analysis and build model landfills in order to understand the process and impact of solid waste...

CLN "Theme Pages," focus on specific topics within Media Literacy/Studies. CLN's theme pages are collections of useful Internet educational resources within a narrow curricular topic and contain links to two types of information....

For students that have already been introduced to the water cycle, this lesson is intended as a logical follow-up. Students will learn about human impacts on the water cycle that create a pathway for pollutants beginning with urban...

There are 4 "Guiding Questions" which reveal the content of the lesson plan provided in "Dr. King's Dream:" "What do we mean by the term 'civil rights'?" "Who was Martin Luther King, Jr., and how did he fight for civil rights?" "What can...

Students explore how different materials (sand, gravel, lava rock) with different water contents on different slopes result in landslides of different severity. They measure the severity by how far the landslide debris extends into model...

This lesson plan helps students understand the factors that affect water quality and the conditions that allow for different animals and plants to survive. Students will look at the effects of water quality on various water-related...

Students learn the two main methods to measure earthquakes, the Richter Scale and the Mercalli Scale. They make a model of a seismograph - a measuring device that records an earthquake on a seismogram. Students also investigate which...

The lesson introduces students to the steps of the water cycle and rivers. They think about the effects of communities, sidewalks and roads on the natural flow of rainwater. Students also learn about the role of engineering in community...

Help your students learn how to overcome issues independently by integrating problem-solving skills into your lesson plans. This article will help you teach your students how to understand, identify, and resolve issues that they are...

The Library of Congress provides teachers with a framework that will help integrate primary sources into all areas of the curriculum. Sections include "Why to Use Primary Sources," "Citing Primary Sources," and "Finding Primary Sources."

This unit has students design and build foam tubing roller coasters. The design process integrates energy concepts as they test and evaluate their designs that address the task as an engineer would. The goal is for students to understand...

This very thorough unit plan focuses on the literature of the Civil War for 4th and 5th graders. It includes both a student and teacher bibliography.

In this activity, students investigate the life cycle of an engineered product and how the product impacts the environment. They analyze a product using a simple life cycle assessment that assigns fictional numerical values for different...

Students research and create a brochure project on an endangered species of their choice integrating aspects of math, science, social studies, art, reading and writing. This project allows the students to make connections across the...