University of Southern California
Discovering Plants
Students construct a small greenhouse and plant lima beans. They read books about plants, tend the lima bean seedlings, observe and record plant growth, taste a variety of plants and maintain plant journals.
Curated OER
Lessons from The Lorax
Students read and watch a video of The Lorax by Dr. Suess. As a class, they answer a set of questions about how the environment was affected by industries. They also brainstorm a list of possible solutions to help curb the pollution.
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Poetry and Observations
Students compare poetry and the night sky. In this poetry lesson, students read poetry and compare the imagery from the poem with the night sky. Students explore how science and poetry relate to one another.
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Visualizing Trees
students draw what they visualize after the teacher reads a page from the book Oak Trees. They share their pictures and compare how they visualized the tree being described.
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Because of Winn Dixie: Water Management Practices
Fourth graders read the book Because of Winn Dixie and define the characters, setting, and plot. In this Winn Dixie lesson plan, 4th graders also identify quality water management techniques addressed in the story.
Curated OER
Edible Coal Mining
Learners explore the concept of bituminous coal and the role it plays within our world. In this economic and earth science lesson, students discover and model the extraction methods with hands-on activities. Learners also...
Curated OER
Celebrating 100 Years of Flight
Learners practice reading comprehension, note taking and writing skills. In this literacy and writing lesson, students read about the invention of airplanes, women pilots and the space race before writing their own news article on "100...
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Go Fish!
Students practice their reading comprehension by participating in a fictional fishing exercise. In this children's literature lesson, students read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss, and discuss the...
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Life Giving Rivers
Students examine the world's rivers in this six lessons unit which mingles science with social studies. The dynamic forces that create erosion in nature are also seen as habitats and ecosystems that are affected by environmental and man...
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Seashore Sweep
Students gather information about sea animals. In this ocean lesson, students read a story about the ocean and seashore. They discuss the needs of seashore animals and create a Mystery Ocean Animal riddle book. Students also discuss...
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Coral Reef Ecology
Students explore coral life cycles. In this coral ecosystems lesson, students view videos explaining the life cycle of coral, including examples of sexual and asexual reproduction. Students read a related article cooperatively in groups,...
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Investigating Jack London's White Fang: Nature and Culture Detectives
Students explore images of the Klondike and read Jack London's White Fang to become culture and nature detectives. In this novel analysis lesson, students analyze the setting of the novel and the ways London portrays nature and...
Curated OER
Phase In, Phase Out, the Magnificent Moon
First graders discuss why the moon appears to change shape. They use flashlights and balls to simulate the sun's light shining on the moon during its different phases. They read books, paint pictures and write sentences about the moon.
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Starlight, Star Bright
First graders read books and use the Internet to identify several constellations and stars in the night sky. They make star pictures and write a class report about the night sky including a title, complete sentences and a cited reference.
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Drawing Birds
First graders discuss what they know about birds and share picture books. They read text on the page and discuss the question and draw the flying bird on their paper by having them look at the color drawing of the bird.
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Predator-Prey Relationships
Students explore the interrelatedness of predators and prey in four different activities. They simulate an aquatic insect, fish, and osprey food chain during a poker chip game, play an M&M game to simulate the relationship between...
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Back to the Past
What was the Untied States like in 1938? What were the concerns of Americans in the post World War I era? What were their fears? What were their sources of news and entertainment? To understand the reaction to Orson Welles' radio...
Curated OER
Firebird
Elementary schoolers read the Firebird reading list of fantasy and complete discussion questions about fantasy. In this fantasy books lesson plan, students read a list of books and pick one to read.
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Haiku
In this poetry worksheet, students read about how to write a haiku poem. Then, students write a their own haiku and a reflection about their poem.
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The Praying Mantis
In this praying mantis reading comprehension worksheet, students read a 5 paragraph non-fiction selection about the insect and test their reading comprehension as they answer 7 multiple choice questions based on the reading.
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Nelson's Dream
Students explore fatal diseases by researching Africa. In this AIDS lesson, students read fictional stories about African men and women who are infected with AIDS and very sick. Students define several disease related vocabulary terms...
Curated OER
Cloudy Days Are for Reading and Writing
Students consider a variety of well-known proverbs that refer to the weather. They research the scientific validity of these proverbs, conduct interviews about public perception of the proverbs and summarize their findings in writing.
National First Ladies' Library
Science: The Purloined Letter
Young scholars examine Edgar Allan Poe's "the Purloined Letter" from the perspective of a profiler. To sharpen search procedures, they examine the text and make lists of items and places in the house that were searched. Then students...
Learning Station
Point of View—Picking Favorites
For this writing worksheet, learners discover how a story can change depending on the point of view the writer has chosen. Students read several excerpts from stories and respond in writing to how they are different.