Curated OER
Arbor Day
First graders study the importance of trees to our environment. they make their own version of the story by completing the following sentence and then completing an illustration for their writing. "A tree can be ______."
Curated OER
Feet Are Neat
Students describe several types of bird feet and explain how each type helps a bird survive in its habitat. Students then match birds to their feet and mold bird feet out of clay.
Curated OER
Science: Where the Worms Live
Young scholars build mine-earthworm habitats to discover their niche in them. They make predictions about what the niche looks like in a week and draw a picture of it. Students notice the tunnels in the soil and how the sand and dirt...
Captain Planet Foundation
Sorting Out Soils
Sift through soil and learn about why it's important for organic processes. After discussing what makes up soil, such as the living organisms and what types of soil have more nutrients, kids sample layers of mulch and deeper soil to...
Curated OER
Historic Cemeteries: "History Written in Stone"
Learners explore the history of their community through researching grave markers. They visit a local cemetary, partcipate in a cemetary scavenger hunt, conduct a survey for various graves, and write an essay describing their cemetary...
San Francisco Symphony
Prehistoric Music
What was music like during the Stone Age? Learners listen to a CD entitled, Art of Primitive Sound as they consider the culture of people in the Stone Age. They use objects found in nature to create instruments, and then...
Teach Engineering
Dress for Success
Dressing for success is not always about looking sharp. Sometimes it is about staying warm and dry. Present your class with an activity that challenges groups of pupils to design a layered material for blizzard conditions. The teams test...
Virginia Department of Education
Grade 8 Writing Prompts
Imagine four pages of writing prompts. Although designed specifically for eighth graders, the topics could be used for upper-elementary and high school writers as well.
Curated OER
Shoes and the Backyard Landscape
Your shoes get a lot of mileage in familiar places. Represent the places you have traveled the most with an art project based on a print of Indian People Wear Shoes and Socks by Juane Quick-to-See Smith. Kids trace their shoes and...
Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation
Greenhouse Gas Game
You will need to gather a number of tokens, bags, and other various game components in order to incorporate this activity into your curriculum. Different tokens represent carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Printable 8.5"x11"...
Curated OER
How to Beat the Rainy Day Blues
With a little ingenuity, lively exercise can occur despite the weather.
Curated OER
Get Your Pupils Moving While Learning
Use these teaching strategies to get the wiggles out and keep the learning in!
Curated OER
Sea Turtles
Students investigate eight different species of sea turtles while being involved in classroom lecture and video presentation. The characteristics used to identify sea turtles is taught to help students identify unknown species.
Curated OER
What is Ride Sharing?
Third graders discover the concept of ride sharing. They discuss how it helps the environment. They use the internet to gather information as well.
Curated OER
Finding Yourself in a Landscape
Students view landscape paintings. They recall a landscape that has meaning to them and describe it to the class. They complete a worksheet.
Curated OER
Buildings, Buildings Everywhere
Young scholars gain awareness of shapes in architecture by creating a painting of their school and writing a reflective summary of their study of architecture.
Curated OER
City Wildlife in a Vase
Students examine a still-life painting. They discuss the observation of nature by scientists and artists and explore the symbolism of biological life cycles depicted in a painting.
Curated OER
Finding the Animals: A Visual Exploration of Art
Students participate in a thirty-second look, followed by a class discussion about Jan Brueghel's painting The Entry of the Animals into Noah's Ark. They use description words and sentences to write about their favorite animal in the...
Curated OER
Ozone Pollution: Smog Alert
Learners simulate the development of smog. They discover how it forms naturally in nature. They read news articles about the ozone and pollution. They discuss what they can do to lower the pollution they generate.
Curated OER
"Approaching Walden: From Emerson to Thoreau"
Students examine selected local leaves in greater detail in the classroom by using more analytical drawing techniques. They use Thoreau's drawing of a Scarlett Oak as their model. Students choose a leave from a box of leaves removed...
Curated OER
Survivor
Seventh graders investigate changes in the ecosystem within the school year. They see that ecosystems, communities, populations, and organisms are dynamic and change over time. They, in groups, collect data in quadrants in the fall,...
Curated OER
Sunshine and Shadows
Students measure their shadows early in the morning, record direction of shadow, make marks in ground with chalk or tape, measure with ruler, and record results. Students repeat process at noon, and then later in afternoon. Students...
Curated OER
Bats Migrate South
Students examine the life of bats in Illinois. Using the internet, they research the history of the bat in Illinois and describe the way they find prey by using echolocation. They report their findings to the class and answer any...
Curated OER
If You Were Katy: Let's Play a Game
Pupils simulate sound effects from Katy and the Big Snow. They read and discuss Katy and the Big Snow, create sound effects for the objects in the book and practice sounding out beginning sounds for words. After sounding out the words,...