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Still-Life Painting: Arranging Nature—Lesson 2
Learners choose meaningful objects for a still-life arrangement and paint it using watercolors. After reflecting on their choice of objects and composition, students begin to write an artist's statement.
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Don't Type To Strangers
Students create Web advertisements to protect young people from online predators. For homework, they write letters pitching their ads and analyzing their effect. They discuss their own use of the Internet and how to protect young people.
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Check the Mates
Students explore John Edwards, the running mate for 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. They research the ways in which vice presidential candidates have impacted presidential elections in modern United States history.
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Ooh, You're in Trouble!
Students consider disruptive school behavior and how school districts in several states are turning to the juvenile justice system for help. They debate this issue from a variety of perspectives, and write a paper.
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The Will to Drill?
Students read a New York Times article about plans for oil drilling in the Arctic. They examine and debate both sides of the plan to explore for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
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Trading Up?
Young scholars explore the benefits and drawbacks of free trade from the perspective of the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Mexico. For homework, they each write a letter to the editor expressing their...
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Cranberry Bog
Young scholars explore cranberry farming in Massachusetts and the rest of the nation. They research on challenges facing cranberry farming industry and then write reflection papers on optimum pest control methods from the perspective of...
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Mmmm, Mmmm ... and Good
Young scholars consider their own diets and examine an op-ed article about organically produced foods. They research alternatives to various foods for the creation of a supermarket and reflect on their own diets after keeping a food...
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Challenges and Rewards
Students are to research a specific disaster after seeing the Challenger explosion. They are to create a collage for the disaster they are choosing to show.
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Let's Get Carried Away
Students discover how seeds travel from their parent plants in search of water, sunlight, and nutrients, and conduct experiments in which they note characteristics that encourage seed dispersal by means of wind, water, animal carriers,...
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Food Chains
Fourth graders study food chains, producers, consumers, and decomposers. They play a food chain game and create food chain mobiles or posters. They take a nature hike around the school and observe various parts of a food chain.
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Flight of the Imagination
Young scholars study the success of video games by reading an online article. They work in groups to design settings, storylines, characters and technical features for their own fantasy video games. Finally, they write scripts for...
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Pathfinders: Using Information Resources
Eighth graders gather and use information on a chosen topic for a hypothetical research paper. They use organizational features of printed text, the Internet, and other media to locate information and choose a specific topic.
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Sporting Tolerance
Students investigate African-American baseball players from the early 20th century. They read an article, answer discussion questions, write a journal entry, and create a poster-size baseball card for an athlete.
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To The Rescue!
Learners study the trial of an automated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) machine. They investigate and role play first aid responses to a variety of emergency scenarios. They write entries for a first aid guide.
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Giving It the Old College Try
Young scholars discuss opinions they have about entering college. Reading an article on advice from parents, they discuss what their own parents are telling them. They role-play different conflict resolution scenerios. They also write a...
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Special Effects-Titanic and Beyond
Students view a video clip about special effects. They use geometry to determine how it changes one's perspective. They work together to construct their own room and comparing their room with other groups, noting the type of...
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What Is Energy? Short Demos
Students engage in three short, hands-on, in-class demos which expand students' understand of energy. First, using peanuts and heat, students see how the human body burns food to make energy. Then, they create paper snake mobiles to...
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Who Gives a Hoot?
Students look at owl migration and its impact on the environment and the food chain after reading an article from The New York Times. Students then apply this information to and research different food chain situations for other species...
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The Art of Speech
Young scholars discuss President Bush's goals for his second term in office. After reading an article, they identify the major themes of his second inaugural address. In groups, they brainstorm ideas and create murals to illustrate them...
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Gunshots by the Numbers
Students analyze the incidence of gun injuries among children and what can be done about it by reading and discussing the article "Keeping Guns Out of Children's Hands." They convert statistics about gun injuries into visual...
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All Aboard the Innovation Train
Young scholars read "Next Stop for the Subway, a Fully Automated Future" from The New York Times and consider the effect of technology on their town or city. After discussing arguments for and against the new computer-based subway...
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My Way or the Highway
Students read "Saudis Uneasily Balance Desires for Change and Stability" from The New York Times and discuss Saudi Arabia as it considers a change from monarchy to democracy. Students work in groups to research and create timelines on...
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The Aftermath of War
Learners share their opinions on the war in Iraq. After reading an article, they identify the thoughts of President Bush on the conflict. In groups, they share their opinions for and against current United States policy in Iraq and the...