Mold your learners into materials engineers. Using glue, Borax, and water, scholars create a viscoelastic material. But your class might know it by another name—Silly Putty.

Jell-O® can help model the transmission of light through fiber optic cables. Young scientists use the jiggly dessert to make a waveguide to transmit a laser beam from one point to another. Their models help them learn the function...

It's all about the scale—they're not just wires, they're nanowires! The second lesson of the series builds on the oxidation-reduction experiment in the first lesson. Scholars synthesize a sample of nanowires using electrolysis. As they...

Appreciate the chance to get out of the classroom. Scholars take a field trip to a solar cell or solar panel facility to learn about the manufacturing aspect of the business. They also hear from a guest speaker and ask questions about...

Time for statistics and learning to overlap! Learners examine Venn Diagrams as a means to organize data. They then use the diagrams to calculate simple and compound probabilities.

If basketball players make more than teachers, why shouldn't learners all aspire to play in the NBA? Unraveling the cost and benefits of education and future economic success can be tricky. Economic data, real-life cases, and some...

Students participate in an extended laboratory research to experience how scientific information is obtained, upon which we build scientific knowledge and understanding.

Identify contributions that Martin Luther King, Jr. made to society through assigning a research project! Third and fourth graders write about how it felt to be discriminated against during the game. They describe something they can do...

Students make a striking visual display showing the distribution of water on earth.

Whether or not it's a presidential election year, this debate activity will spark research on current political issues. Split your government scholars into 4 groups and assign each a political party. One person will be the "candidate"...

Middle schoolers explore and experience jazz through collage. They listen to improvisational jazz, discuss the origins of jazz, then design and create a collage that shows jazz being played. This project will result in amazing works of...

Fourth graders tour the Carlyle House and Gadsby Tavern while working on worksheets covering both places. They are to write an essay and thank you notes to finish the lesson.

After reading Where the Lilies Bloom and researching the wildflowers and herbs mentioned in the novel, class members create a mural that reflects the setting of the novel. Groups design the background, the houses of the characters, the...

Students examine the economic, health and environmental risks of being a one-crop country. They explain the risks of relying on one crop. They also identify the factors that resist change.

Here is a fun way to encourage a cooperative classroom, drawing skills, and creative expression. Each child draws a design or shape on his paper, then he rotates to the next child's paper where he adds to the previous design. When the...

Learners examine the serigraph, "Wynton's Tune," by artist Faith Ringgold. They discuss the painting, listen to jazz music, create a drawing that tells a story inspired by their favorite music, and write sentences describing their artwork.

A special education classroom examines a variety of literature from Latin American authors. In groups, they read excerpts from many autobiographies and compare them with their own life. After writing their own autobiographies, they...

Students examine role of Naval blockades in Union war strategy, and analyze primary source image "On Deck of a Union Warship" and make detailed observation about people and activities shown.

Third graders explore the capillary action of plants. They discover what makes paper "grow" when water is dropped on it. Pupils observe how paper reacts as it absorbs water. Students use a variety of saturate solutions to grow crystals,...

Ninth graders examine how the U. S. was aided by the Allies in World War II before the U. S. declared war. They analyze the evolution of U. S. foreign policy from the beginning of WW II through U. S. Declaration of War

Learners plan appropriate diets for themselves and others using the USDA Dietary Guidelines. They indicate their average cost of food at home on a thrifty plan and prepare a one-week menu plan including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a...

Students, after reading Chapter One in the book, "What the Land Means to Americans," research from a variety of resources Tlingit totem poles. After their extensive research, they create a totem pole to present to their peers to...

Bring a time machine into your classroom with this writing lesson, in which young writers project themselves back in time and have a variety of choices from that point forward. They either write a conversation with a historical figure,...

Students explore how math can be used to calculate and analyze how electricity causes air pollution. Students design a campaign to educate family members on ways they can save electricity. They create a graph that compares two electric...