Between the time scientists discovered Pluto and reclassified it as a dwarf planet, it did not even make one full revolution around the sun. In two activities, scholars investigate scale models and their properties. Pupils find that it...

Connect the size of a rolling cup to the size of circle it makes. Pupils view videos of cups of different sizes rolling in a circle. Using the videos and additional data, they attempt to determine a relationship between cup...

Thoroughly written, this plan walks you through every detail of having your high school astronomers design scale models of the solar system. Complete instructions on building to scale, instructional activity procedures, and associated...

Never trust an atom; they make up everything! Young chemists make modeling dough and add another ingredient to change the properties. Scholars then compare the properties of emulsion to composite materials. A reading passage and analysis...

"First Appearance," Mark Twain's tale about overcoming stage fright, serves as a model of a personal narrative and gets young writers thinking about milestones in their own lives. After examining student models and considering the...

Stars exist from a few million years to over 10 billion years, depending on their mass. Scholars perform a play acting as stars to learn about their different life cycles. They develop an understanding of many of the fundamental concepts...

What goes into a museum display? A secondary-level STEM project prompts groups to design a museum display for the Tech Museum of Innovation. They create an analogous, interactive model illustrating a science concept to complete the...

Since a field trip to the moon isn't possible, bring the moon to young astronomers! Participants use everyday materials to create models of the moon and represent the features on its surface. The materials serve as a tactile as well as a...

There is a specific zone, or distance from a star, that a planet must be in order to have water in a liquid form. The activity demonstrates how flux density depends on its distance from the source. A photovoltaic cell gets power to...

What an impressive task it is to make dental impressions! Pupils learn how dentists use proportional reasoning, unit conversions, and systems of equations to estimate the materials needed to make stone models of dental impressions....

To demonstrate their ability to comprehend complex text, individuals analyze the details, syntax, and diction John Steinbeck uses in a passage from The Grapes of Wrath to reveal the develop and evolution of Mae's character.

Scholars crave practical application. Let them use the different models of a quadratic function to plan the size and shape of a school playground. They convert between the different forms and maximize area.

Daily routines not only help to manage classrooms, they can also provide students with rich opportunities for learning. This activity supports young learners in developing their number sense by counting up the school days on a class...

Scientists know the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today is higher than at any point in the last 800,000 years. Scholars learn about the amount of thermic radiation absorbed by air and what happens to the rest of the...

Your pupils may believe that you and their parents are the oldest things in the universe, but surprise! There are elements of the universe that are even older. Elementary scientists create a class timeline to demonstrate the...

Students represent volcanoes with models and sketches. They research volcanoes and plan how to build a model. They, in groups, build a model volcano and cause it to erupt making observations before and after the eruption.

When it comes to rating educational calculators, this calculator is always near the top of this list. Now it's available as an app. There is a lot of calculator power wrapped up in this app. Not only is this a fully functioning...

Aspiring aeronautical engineers demonstrate different forces as they construct and test paper airplanes. This lesson plan links you to a website that models the most effective paper airplane design, an animation describing the forces...

Ready to integrate technology into your ELL instruction? Check out this reading lesson that has language learners using the Internet and apps, joining online book clubs, and creating blogs. A fine model of what can be done.

Despite the difficulty of travel, the US expanded significantly between the 1800s and the early 1900s. To prepare for a performance task assessment on the rapid expansion of the US in the 1800s, class members engage in a...

Energize biologists with colorful images in an activity that captivates the imagination while demystifying the subject of cellular respiration. Participants build comprehension skills and access core content knowledge by analyzing text...

Provide a meaningful context for learning about the division of fractions with this upper-elementary math lesson. Presented with a simple, real-world problem, young mathematicians work in small groups to develop visual models...

How can baseball and skeet-shooting be modeled mathematically? Sports lovers and young mathematicians learn how to use quadratic equations and systems of equations to model the flight paths of various objects.

Don't lose your marbles — you'll need them for a instructional activity on neurotransmission. Young scholars build a neurotransmission model using marbles, beads, rubber bands, string, and other elements. After studying specific...