Eighth graders imagine they are getting ready to "take off." They may imagine themselves in any type of aircraft or spaceship. They may then sketch themselves as passengers anticipating this moment.

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...

Canadian winters, and its residents ways of dealing with winter are the focus of this four-lesson sequence. It them, high schoolers create works of art that reflect their perceptions of winter. They study how Canadian's have incorporated...

Can art play tricks on your eyes, and can a still painting really appear to vibrate? The second lesson in a four-part series discusses the way our beautiful brains translate visual images. It highlights the style of optical art and...

Fifth graders analyze a landscape depicting Yosemite during the time of the Wild West. They compare their perceptions of the West from film and television to this representation. They observe the use of scale and color to depict size and...

Students analyze a work of art.  In this historical context lesson, students research the time period in which the art they observed was created.  Students consider differing opinions about a work of art. 

Young scholars create a project poster displaying photos, drawings, and journal writings that incorporate the major themes of California's missions, and use perspective and point of view both visually and in writing.

A close study of two works of art provides the introduction to this cross-curricular writing assignment. After comparing the clothing, facial expressions, body language, setting, and color in the two 19th century paintings Tissout’s...

Students travel to Rome. In this geography skills lesson, students explore famous places in Rome with Google Earth tools. Students research the city of Rome and create touring brochures of the city from the perspectives of past emperors...

Students read myths and legends about celestial bodies, compare cultural perceptions of celestial personalities, represent "character" of sun, moon, clouds, or stars, and invent their own stories about their chosen celestial characters.

Learners access prior knowledge of the five senses and relate to students with disabilities. For this people with disabilities lesson, learners research and use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast famous people and their...

Why is arts education so important? It builds critical thinking, analysis and creative problem-solving skills. Learners review the life of Michelangelo Buonarroti, and then analyze his piece, The Pieta. After that, they'll sculpt a human...

Music reflects culture and culture is reflected in popular music. Reading an article on how hip-hop has affected the lives of two young men of different races launches an investigation of the development and influences of various musical...

Young scholars investigate and design various models of size and distance related to the solar system. They work together to build a solar system model. The models should focus on distance and scale. They don't include moons or...

Students will recognize objects in nature that are similar in shape to the letters of the alphabet. In this digital camera lesson, students will find objects in nature that look like letters of the alphabet. They will create a poster of...

Students explore the movement of air.  In this air lesson, students discuss and give examples of air ventilation.  Students compare outdoor and indoor air quality.  Students create mind maps as a visual representation of...

Tenth graders learn how the differences between Indian and British cultural perspectives, as seen in works of art. Students participate in discussion of the differences in how individuals are viewes by others.

Young scholars compare and contrast different perspectives of the French Revolution. In this visual arts lesson, students discuss the use of satire and caricature in history and create satirical cartoons based on contemporary issues.

Students listen to the story A Carp for Kimiko and discuss its theme/lesson. Then they identify and are introduced to the Japanese holiday, Children's Day, formerly known as Boy's Day. Students also design and create their own carp kite....

Can science ever go too far? Learners explore this topic with the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde study guide. They read about the connection between scientific experimentation in fiction and real life and then compare a scene from the novella...

Investigate the effect of one-axis rotations on geometric figures. Scholars learn to use snap cubes and the right-hand rule to draw figures after rotations about the x-, y-, or z-axes. They try their hands at examples created by the...

Eighth graders discuss the flight of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk. They study artwork of various sculptors showing the concept of flight. They write a paragraph and design a papier-mache' sculpture that shows movement.

Students view the comic "Time sliders" from the Celebrate the Stamp Unit from the 1980's. They discuss what the comic magazine contains. Students listen to a speaker from the post office discuss how stamps are selected. They use...

Students after researching the science and the controversy around stem cell research, students create brochures to display their knowledge and a point of view.