Fascinating reading about nanotechnology, nanoscale properties, and liquid crystals precedes a fun activity for young engineers. They measure their hands in nanometers, research, and then investigate how heat effects a sheet containing...

The Environmental Protection Agency monitors sensors to track air pollution and set clean air standards. Enthusiastic young scientists use similar sensors to gather data in their area and then apply the gas laws and conservation of...

Voices from the past. Young scholars listen to a podcast interview with a historical re-enactor as they continue their research in the eleventh instructional activity of this unit on colonial trade. Applying their close reading skills,...

The tale of "Lon Po Po" is a Chinese story, very similar to the European tale of "Little Red Riding Hood." Learners make cross cultural comparisons between the two tales, focusing on themes common to both. They review story elements such...

There are so many different ways to help learners make text-to-self connections. Here, fifth graders will create tableaus that show an event from a chapter in the class reader. They'll discuss why they chose that event to dramatize and...

Use a familiar song and adorable baby animal pictures to teach youngsters about genetic variation. Begin by listening to "Twelve Variations on 'Ah vous dirai-je Maman,'" which you will need to find online (there are several versions...

As they investigate scaling figures and calculate the resulting areas, groups determine the area of similar figures. They continue to investigate the results when the vertical and horizontal scales are not equal. 

Water, one of the basic needs of humans, is found in all three states of matter on Earth; no other planet—that we know of—possesses this quality. Here is a unit that allows learners to explore through experimentation what it...

Why are Torrey pines only found in La Jolla, California and on Santa Rosa Island? Class members examine images of Torrey pines from these two locations, noting the similarities and differences, and then develop a demonstration model that...

Define the meaning of a cognate and use the concept to help Spanish-speaking ELLs connect their first language to English. Middle schoolers explore Latin roots to find cognates in both languages. They relate the Spanish and English word...

Examine and distinguish between words that have similar definitions but different connotations. Middle schoolers define connotation and denotation and participate in a "shades of meaning" contest in small groups. Groups use the...

Middle schoolers engage in a lesson which reminds them that root words indicate the base meaning of a word, and that those roots are found in many different words that have similar meanings. Pairs of pupils use construction paper and...

Explore the wonders of the life cycle by first focusing on the growth and development of the green turtle. The class will discuss the life cycle of different plants and animals, then turn their attention to the green turtle. They view a...

Progress from proportional relationships to linear functions. Pupils first review concepts of proportionality covered in earlier grades. They then extend these concepts to linear functions, such as determining the slope of a...

The sky's the limit of what you create when combining functions! The module begins with a review of transformations of parent functions and then moves to combining different function types using addition, subtraction, and...

How did the Ebola virus first infect humans? Young virologists examine genetic sequences from the 2014 Sierra Leone outbreak to find similarities during a riveting activity. Following similar methods used by MIT and Harvard, partners...

How do you find the measure of an arc? Learners first review relationships between central and inscribed angles. They then investigate the relationship between these angles and their intercepted arcs to extend the Inscribed Angle Theorem...

Students sort teddy bears according to types and then graph the results. They each bring a bear to class and then discuss their similarities and differences. Once the bears have been sorted into groups according to size and color,...

Seventh graders solve and graph 10 different problems that include various questions related to data on a graph. First, they create bar graphs to display the data given. Then, pupils determine the random sample of a population listing...

Learners of all ages investigate area and perimeter through pentominoes. In this geometry lesson plan, young scholars calculate the are and perimeter of different geometric shapes and describe the properties of similar and congruent...

Scholars play a sorting game designed to encourage safe medication handling. They browse pictures of candy and medication, then decide which of the two they're looking at by raising a card labeled candy or medicine.

Organizing data in a statistics class is often a challenge. A veteran statistics teacher shares data organization tips in a lesson resource. The instructor shows how to group data to link to individual calculators in a more efficient...

Eighth graders write a Compare and Contrast essay comparing the lives of similarly aged students at different Latitudes. They share their essays with epals, via e-mail. They may include digital photographs in their correspondence as well.

Who doesn't love learning about the ocean? And who wouldn't want to help create an ocean themed mural? Little learners make lobsters out of recycled egg cartons, pipe cleaners, and paint. These are then used as part of a larger 3-D ocean...