New York City Department of Education
Myself and Others
Self reflection is an important skill to reinforce in our children, and it's especially helpful to help them realize who they are in the context of their environment. A collection of lessons about self image and community encourage...
Curated OER
What Are You Looking For?
Second graders research textbooks and weblinks for information related to objects in a time capsule. They use the information to construct a timeline of the events and people connected to the objects in the time capsule.
Curated OER
What We Leave Behind
Students analyze primary source documents from the 1830's. They examine how records, memoirs and artifacts preserve history and discuss what should be placed in a time capsule for future generations.
Curated OER
Life in Ancient India
Students study Ancient India and the vocabulary, language, and everyday life associated with India. They build a time capsule representing their own world for future civilizations to discover. They create labels for each item, giving a...
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Looking to the Future
New Horizons set forth on a mission to Pluto in 2006. Ten years later, the spacecraft is still on its way. Here, enthusiastic scholars predict what they will be like—likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc.—when New Horizons arrives at its...
Fusco’s English Class
Journal Writing Prompts
Inspire thoughtful journal entries with these detailed journal writing prompts. The resource includes 24 prompts that require learners to write expository, persuasive, and sometimes creative journal entires.
Chandler Unified School District
Ben Franklin Aphorisms
Benjamin Franklin's famous aphorisms are a perfect time capsule of colonist values in the mid-18th century, as well as a clever reminder of the way life still works today. Middle and high schoolers select one aphorism to interpret...
Curated OER
Putting Away Your Inner Editor
Personify your Inner Editor. After making a richly detailed paper doll of your Inner Editor, put him or her in your locker, under your bed or buried in a time capsule in your backyard, but not near where you like to write. Refuse to...
Curated OER
The Museum as a Time Capsule: Mongolian Example
Students make defensible inferences based on observation of perceived evidence. They use observation and inference to recognize the validity of alternative approaches or solutions.
NASA
Egg Drop Lander
You have to crack a few eggs to make a good engineer! Working in small groups, young scholars design, build, and test devices that protect an egg from breaking when dropped from a ladder.
Curated OER
Artistic Symbols
Students compare and contrast symbols used in African and Plains Indian art. In this visual arts lesson, students compare symbols of 2 cultural groups found in their art. Students write a description of what items might have been left...
Wish for the Future
Wish for the Future
What would be your class's ideal world 30 years in the future? What about 100 years? Use a series of activities to discuss globalization, sustainability, scientific contributions to society, and the global community of which your...
Curated OER
social Studies: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorow
Sixth graders take an Internet trip back in time to explore ancient cultures. Working in teams, they assume the roles of theologian, cartographer, economist, political analyst, and anthropologist. The same groups then create time...
Curated OER
Social Studies: Peru Archaeology
Sixth graders examine the archaeology of Peru, focusing on the Incan civilization and several lesser known ones. They discuss the importance of the archaeological finds and create newspaper headlines and articles about them. Students...
Curated OER
My Family: Past, Present,
Second graders explore the lives of actual people who make a difference in their everyday lives. They differentiate between events that happened long ago and events that happened yesterday by studying their family histories. The unit...
Curated OER
Portfolio Power
High schoolers explore how portfolios are a marketing tool for job seeking. In this employment lesson, students identify parts of a professional portfolio and the importance of having one as a perspective employee.
Curated OER
Stardust Delivers Comet's Clues
Students explore the NASA test center and comet facts through an interactive program. They examine the idea if comets are predictable. They finally analyze the materials that combine to make a comet.
Curated OER
Generate a Calibration Curve for Chlorophyll a
Students measure and graph the absorbance of light by chlorophyll at a specific wavelength versus chlorophyll concentration. They are given an unknown and determine its concentration from their calibration curve. Students become familiar...
Curated OER
Ancient Book Found in Ireland
Students discuss items archeologists search for during digs and read a news article about a 2200-year-old religious book found in Ireland. They examine the article for examples of the passive voice. They make lists of items for a time...
Curated OER
Encapsulating Moments in Time
Students look back at this year in history and evaluate important events, discoveries and people from 1998. They, in groups, create 1998: Year in Review. While 1998 has come and gone, the idea and intent for this lesson can be used now.
What affects Frog metamorphosis?
In this lab, students explore pollutants which affect frog metamorphosis using household pollutants (vinegar, oil, and bleach) and sponge capsules.
Curated OER
Trekking to Timbuktu: Trade in West Africa (Lesson 2)
Middle schoolers examine the importance of trade in West Africa. Using a virtual time capsule, they travel back to ancient times and travel along with a caravan. They answer specific questions related to the journey and items they are...
Curated OER
Applying Letter Writing to Daily Life
Here are some ideas to get your students writing letters with a purpose.
Curated OER
Who Am I?
Students create a graphic timeline depicting who they are, where they've been and where they think they are going in their lives. They analyze and reflect upon the important events of their lives, and then use this as a starting point...