As a prequel to a research assignment, class members explore writing citations in the modern Language Association (MLA) and American Psychological Association (APA) formats. In pairs, or individually, researchers use books and magazines...

Individuals complete a pre-assessment to gauge their ability to determine the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction text. They examine a new piece of nonfiction reading by looking at the table of contents, headings, and index...

Discuss how political postcards affected everyday people's thoughts and beliefs. Pupils continue a unit on the Dreyfus Affair as they engage in class discussion, watch a video, view a PowerPoint presentation, and fill out worksheets to...

Explore the science behind Earth's amazing diversity of life with this lesson on genetics. Looking at specific traits in piebald deer, carnations, and roan cattle, young scientists use Punnett...

Students research countries participating in the Olympic Games. They create a database which includes graphs for comparing population density, the number of athletes, per capita income, etc. for each country. This project is completed...

Learners use a light microscope to observe the organisms living in a sample of ocean or fresh water. Students create a drawing of the organisms that they observe. Learners then discuss the different body plans of the organisms and the...

Students explain why rain forests have great biodiversity, and list each layer of a rain forest and tell an organism that lives in each. They identify the cause of acid rain and its affect on a rain forest. Students hypothesize the...

Students discover the causes and effects of air pollution. In this stewardship lesson, students explore the Air Quality Index, research pollutants, and present their findings.

Investigate nutrition and the food pyramid. Fifth graders will use computer software to write a paragraph about nutrition. They will then diagram the food pyramid and gather and organize a collection of healthy recipes.

Employ this resource to expand efficient ideas on how to present and organize activities that describe how researchers can implement their research by using direct quotes, paraphrasing, and summarizing—without plagiarizing. Activities...

'Tis the holiday season and the Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Nutcracker Prince come alive with a teaching and study guide for Tchaikovsky's famous ballet. Background information, activities, games and puzzles are all included in...

Learners determine the approximate time a cell spends in each phase of mitosis by counting cells in each phase from a prepared slide. They use a few simple calculations to estimate how long cells spend in each cycle in the body.

Young scholars discuss methods used by forensic scientists and the basics of DNA and how it can be used to identify an individual after reading an article from The New York Times.

A class discussion on reference materials opens up a instructional activity on how to use these important resources. They discover that dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses are called word reference resources, and they practice...

Historical events do not occur in a vacuum. Such is the case of the Dreyfus Affair, where the connection between Captain Alfred Dreyfus, Emile Zola, and Hannah Arendt is fused by the events of the early 20th century. The informative...

Students identify both the traditional myths and historical facts that are associated with geographical locations in ancient Greece. They create a "Travel to Ancient Greece" display to present their findings.

Students identify the adaptive forces in the life cycle of plants, animals, and humans, isolate and identify the role that change and adaptation play in extreme environments and research and write a short term paper using MLA citations.

Students research a website to look for potential topics for a research paper. They develop a narrowed prioritized subject list on an index card (3X5) using word processing program.

Learners compile baseline population information on a local species. They design and conduct a scientific investigation of a local species. Students interpret, analyze and communicate results based on sound scientific and mathematical...

Students survey and describe a stream ecosystem. They sample the benthic macroinvertebrate populations of a given stream and determine community structure through the use of the Chandler Index and a species diversity index.

Students evaluate maps using the TODALSIGs basic map analysis system, explained on the worksheet. They create a map of Alaska using TODALSIGs. Students brainstorm the elements of maps.

Students determine what grammar is and how they have learned it. In this creative writing lesson, students read "Style' Gets New Elements," and respond to the discussion questions. Students then present grammatical rules to one another...

Fifth graders examine text features and create a PowerPoint presentation. In this text features lesson, 5th graders go over Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures and text features before they choose one to include in a book and...

Students plan and conduct an expedition through their neighborhood based on the techniques used by the Harriman Expedition to Alaska in 1899. They research the Harriman expedition on the internet and then create a route and collection...