Council for Economic Education
Morality in Markets: The Two Faces of Adam Smith
Economist Adam Smith supported free enterprise, he but critiqued mercantilism. These two ideas—seemingly contradictory—may be difficult for some young historians to grasp. A reading that explores these ideas guides scholars in unraveling...
University of Pennsylvania
Evolution by Natural Selection
A diagram, data table, and reading passage top this resource. Through it, biology beginners are introduced to the concept of natural selection. They answer some questions and then participate in a simulation using fabric as a habitat and...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Making of the Fittest: Got Lactase? The Co-evolution of Genes and Culture
Got milk? Only two cultures have had it long enough to develop the tolerance of lactose as an adult. Learn how the responsible genes evolved along with the cultures that have been consuming milk. This rich film is supplied with a few...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Using DNA to Explore Lizard Phylogeny
In a fun and interactive two-day lesson, learners sort anole lizard pictures by appearance. Next, they watch a video about the anoles and re-sort based on the information in the video. In addition to physical characteristics, budding...
Saint Louis Zoo
Introduction to Natural Selection: Darwin & Lamarck
Charles Darwin and Jean Baptiste Lamarck are credited for developing the theory of natural selection. After teaching your beginning biologists about acquired characteristics, they read the included selection and answer questions that...
Consortium for Ocean Leadership
Nannofossils Reveal Seafloor Spreading Truth
Spread the word about seafloor spreading! Junior geologists prove Albert Wegener right in an activity that combines data analysis and deep ocean exploration. Learners analyze and graph fossil sample data taken from sites along the...
Computer Science Unplugged
The Poor Cartographer—Graph Coloring
Color the town red. Demonstrate the concept of graph theory with a task that involves determining the least number of colors needed to color a map so that neighboring countries are not represented by the same color. Pupils...
Illustrative Mathematics
Regular Tessellations of the Plane
Bringing together the young artists and the young organizers in your class, this lesson takes that popular topic of tessellations and gives it algebraic roots. After covering a few basic properties and definitions, learners attack the...
Curated OER
The Old Man and the Sea: Questioning Strategies
Readers learn to ask questions about text with an activity based on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. As they read, class members craft questions based on Bloom's Taxonomy and then find the answers themselves.
Teach Engineering
Bubbles and Biosensors
Bubbles aren't just for children. In the third installment of a seven-part series, teenagers use bubble solution to create bubbles and observe patterns of refraction on the bubble surfaces. Application of this concept to thin films in...
Discovery Education
Weathering Cubes
Weathering is not necessarily a result of the weather. Scholars conduct an experiment to explore the effect of surface area and volume on the weathering process. They create their own sugar cube rocks using the same number of cubes—but...
Illustrative Mathematics
Reasoning about Multiplication
In critiquing someone else's theory, learners share insight into their own understanding of mathematical concepts. Fifth graders will explore the notion that products are always larger than their factors. While this statement is...
Colorado State University
If You Can't Predict the Weather, How Can You Predict the Climate?
Why is the weather man wrong so often? Young climatologists discover how chaos rules both weather and climate through a math-based activity. Using an iterative equation, the class examines how small day-to-day weather events total up to...
Kenan
Respiratory System
Explore the respiratory system with a model. First, pupils build a set of lungs to experiment how they inflate and deflate. Then, they delve deeper into the topic with a web quest to discover new information about the nose, trachea, and...
Colorado State University
What Causes Pressure?
Are you feeling the pressure? Let loose a little with a kinesthetic activity that models molecular motion in a closed space! The activity varies conditions such as volume and temperature and examines the effects on molecules.
Novelinks
Wildwood Dancing: Questions using Bloom’s Taxonomy of Thinking Process
Readers respond to a series of questions focused onJuliet Marillier's young adult novel Wildwood Dancing, and crafted to reflect the levels in Bloom's Taxonomy.
American Chemical Society
Energy and Entropy of a Stretched Rubber Band
Stephen Perry invented and patented the modern rubber band in 1845. Young scientists put his discovery to work as they use rubber bands to observe entropy and enthalpy. They determine the change in free energy to figure out if it...
Curated OER
Rain and Lightning
What are the chances that there will be rain and lighting today? Use this activity to study independent and dependent probabilities with your class. Learners explore the differences between P(A and B) and P(A or B) using mock...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Lactase Persistence: Evidence for Selection
What's the link between lactase persistence and dairy farming? Biology scholars analyze data to find evidence of the connection, then relate this to human adaptation. Working individually and in small groups, learners view short video...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Piaget's Theory: One Cup of Water Is Less Than One Cup of Water
In this human behavior science fair project, the student will learn about Piaget's developmental stages and the Theory of Conservation. The student will investigate the age at which children understand the equality of numbers and mass....
Amby Duncan-Carr
Prime Factorization: Amby's Resources
What is prime factorization? This site goes through a step-by step process explaining different ways to find the prime factorization.
Other
Ask Lois Math Terms: Commutative Property
What is the commutative property? Why not ask Lois. She knows all about math "lingo." A site where kids can find math definitions explained in "kid friendly" language.
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Divisibility Rules! Using Scientific Calculators
Concepts and skills covered in this activity include number theory, divisibility rules, multiples, factors, and problem-solving skills.
Other
Finite Geometry Notes: Diamond 16 Symmetry Puzzle
At this site see if you can solve the "Diamond 16" puzzle. Change the patterns to create ordinary or color exchange symmetry. This is just one of several challenging puzzles at this site. Links to similar puzzles and games.