How do cells know when to replicate, transcribe, and stop? James E. Darnell, Jr. shifted from studying medicine to biochemistry and decided to address this mystery. Learn about his research, discoveries, and the impact on future medical...

AP® exams don't need to be shrouded in mystery. The 2013 AP® Statistics free-response questions are available for instructors to reference. It includes questions on mean, standard deviation, normal distribution, confidence intervals,...

Tasking class members to analyze a poem can strike fear into the hearts of many learners. Here's a instructional activity that takes the mystery out of the process by providing questions about what to look for in the text and to the...

Build confidence about functions with the function builder. Pupils learn about functions and transformations using an interactive. A function machine transforms pictures, numbers, and equations based on a function rule. A mystery...

Who pilfered the pin? Scholars practice measurement skills as they solve the mystery of a stolen pin. They measure length, temperature, and mass and determine which of select suspects committed the crime. During the STEM hands-on...

Liquids are what's the matter with the lesson! Learners investigate properties of different liquids as they interact with various types of paper. They then use their observations to identify a mystery liquid to finish the sixth lesson in...

It's time to test observation and dissolving skills! After investigating the process of dissolving in previous lessons, pupils see if they can use their dissolving skills to identify substances. They dissolve known and unknown substances...

What's with all the numbers on plastic products? Learners complete an in-depth analysis of the physical properties of the different plastic types. They connect the properties of the plastics to uses and test their observation skills by...

Collect clues and unwrap a mystery in an intriguing study about air pollution and urban forests. Teams share information to explore abiotic interactions and forest health. Scholars create a concept map using newly acquired knowledge and...

Crack open the mysteries inside a genome. Participants view an animated video describing the relationship between DNA, genes, proteins, chromosomes, and an organism's genome. A post-video activity allows pupils to apply knowledge by...

Curious scholars make like Curious George and use their five senses to identify mystery objects. After a brief discussion, learners watch an engaging Curious George video in preparation for an activity. Scholars visit three tables that...

While much of prehistory is cloaked in mystery, ancient ancestors left evidence in DNA, languages, and materials from their time. Using photographs of items such as cave paintings and ancient tools, as well as maps of linguistic patterns...

Scholars examine a document from 1928 featuring a mystery invention. Following their observations and discussion, the document reveals the invention of the permanent wave machine by Marjorie S. Joyner. Class members read about Joyner,...

How does an author sequence events in a narrative so that the events build on one another and create a tone of mystery, growth, or resolution? As part of a study of narrative writing, class members work in pairs to examine the techniques...

Readers analyze David Mitchell's techniques for introducing and developing the mystery surrounding Madame Crommelynck in the "Solarium" chapter of his novel Black Swan Green.

Clear up the misconceptions about autism and individuals on the autism spectrum with an inquiry-based instructional activity. As ninth graders read the first four pages of Temple Grandin's Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of...

"True-crime stories, murder mysteries, up-to-the-minute online news reports, and (as always) rumor and innuendo grab our attention faster than any call for justice, human rights, or ceasefires." Or so says Walter Mosley in his Newsweek...

Remainders don't need to remain a mystery. The 16th of 18 parts in Grade 5 Math Module 1 continues the study of dividing decimals by a whole number. Scholars see how to rename the remainder to a smaller unit, such as when dividing 1.7 or...

Read an exciting science mystery about killer bees online, evaluate a list of clues, and try to answer the questions correctly. The story responds to the reader's choices and presents research material for the next step. Though the...

Students feel tree parts inside of 3 mystery boxes. Then they go outside and find the 3 trees the parts came from. They draw their favorite tree including details of the part they felt.

Pick and choose which activities to include in this crime scene investigation. Junior detectives can examine fingerprints, DNA, blood samples, or bone structure.  The plan suggests you have teams solve a mystery, but it does not...

Eighth graders participate in the Illinois Mystery Activity (from the ENTICE materials) to study additional interesting facts about Illinois. Using the DNR poster "Illinois' Natural Divisions" and printed materials from ENTICE, 8th...

Good endings are hard to find. And write. This, the final lesson in a six-part series devoted to study of the ingredients of a good story, focuses on crafting endings. Class members draft ideas about what should happen to each of their...

Fourth graders investigate the style of diary writing as its own genre of literature. They read Harriet The Spy in order to have a text for this literature study. Students use the skill of prediction to preview the story, and then...