Students test the strength and speed of their Manduca. They keep their insect in a small dish and wiegh it down with pennies. They share their observations with the class.

Students work together to examine the concept of opportunity costs. They complete a practice problem and solve other problems during the class period. They share their solutions with the class.

Students work cooperatively to choose a theme, write a story, and produce a web site to display this story in this middle-level lesson on the career of a web designer. This excellent lesson ends with an organized, web site launch party.

Explore fantasy as a genre. After working in small groups to identify literary elements in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, class members share their work and then use the presentations to help them prepare to write...

Students in varying grades work cooperatively to create a living museum of items that have been "passed down" through generations. They give a brief oral presentation showing their object (or a picture of it) and describing its history...

Eighth graders take field trips to prairies, streams and forests in Illinois. During the field trip, they complete a worksheet to observe what they see and discuss it when they get back to school. They share their experiences through...

Focusing on the effect of oil spills on the environment, learners conduct experiments to explore this issue. First, they create an ocean environment using materials provided. Then, they make a simulated crude oil substance from vegetable...

Students hear the story, "The Sand Castle" and answer a given set of questions. They discuss their answers and then perform a skit of the story, "The Sand Castle." Students practice and sing a new song about sharing and caring.

Students discuss philanthropic behavior. In this philanthropy lesson, students read Shel Silverstein's Hug O' War and brainstorm ways of working together.

Students develop speaking and listening skills while evaluating a list. In this consensus lesson, students define consensus and discuss how it might be used at recess. After students understand how consensus works, students review and...

Students work in teams, participate in the "Lifeboat Game." Discussion following the game helps students process the activity to realize teamwork skills they used to facilitate meeting their game goal. Students identify and relate the...

Students write with controlled and/or subtle organization. They identify the main idea and explicit details. Students analyze paragraph and essay structure. They utilize context clues to identify organization.

Not all liquids are the same. Investigate the viscosity of different fluids with a series of activities designed for eighth grade science. As learners move through learning centers with different experiment setups, they determine...

Just as no man is an island, no country is totally independent of other countries. To understand the impact of individual consumer decisions on the global natural environment, class groups consider how the stuff they...

Here's a series of five exercises designed to help teens develop  the team work skills needed in the 21st century classroom and workplace. 

Welcome to the Great Marshmallow Challenge. To conclude a unit study designed to help scholars develop teamwork and collaboration skills, groups are charged with developing a free-standing structure using only one marshmallow,...

Students recall information from the story Snowballs to complete a story map. They also compare and contrast two Snow People and cooperatively create an original snow person.

Students work cooperatively in small groups to identify the purposes of local government. They review the five broad purposes of local government and match the services of government to the appropriate purpose.

Learners explore the concepts of community. In this communities lesson, students listen and respond to the story of The Little Red Hen and discuss ways to contribute to their own community. Learners recognize the importance of...

Students demonstrate their knowledge of rock formation processes in varied ways by sharing their cooperative research projects with the class. They generate well-framed questions in response to each presentation.

Students form cooperative groups to read, discuss, and respond to a novel. They select a novel from offered choices or by criteria given by teacher and complete a culminating project on the novel from such choices as: creating a...

Students explore the themes of the book Swimmy by Leo Lionni. In this literacy lesson, students dramatize a character from Swimmy and identify common themes such as cooperation and caring. Students create a new ending to the story.

Students explore the different habitats in the Balkan peninsula. In this ecology lesson, students research about a species and create a 3D diorama of its environment. They present project in class and share their research findings.

Students explore robots. In this robot lesson, students discuss what they know about robots and what kinds of jobs they have seen robots do. Students research robot books, chart their findings and share with the class. Students also...