National Endowment for the Humanities
Writing a Diplomatic Toast
Here's to you! Using a role-playing activity and primary source analysis, learners discover the importance of diplomacy. Impersonating a diplomat from a great empire, they write a toast to another empire, analyzing the strengths and...
National Wildlife Federation
Understanding and Measuring School Electronics
Feel the power in turning off electronics. Using energy-monitoring devices, pupils find the amount of energy it takes to power a simple electronic when it is on and when it is off. They then calculate the cost for the entire year for the...
Nemours KidsHealth
Sports Safety: Grades 3-5
Two lessons examine the importance of safety while playing sports. After thoughtful discussion, partners complete a graphic organizer that details their favorite sport and safe ways to play it. Scholars examine winter sports and identify...
Bonneville
Unique Solar Cell Engineering Report
Highlight a unique solar cell with a report and a poster. Scholars complete the ongoing solar cells project by writing an engineering report in the last of 14 lessons in the Cost Effective Solar Cells unit. They also create research...
Nemours KidsHealth
Peer Pressure: Grades 3-5
Peer pressure is the focus of a lesson that challenges scholars to respond to several scenarios using responsible-decision making skills. Lesson one begins with a live-action example set by class members, followed by a discussion that...
Bonneville
Biolite - Fire to Phone Charging
Provide the spark to foster a love of science. Instructors perform a demonstration that uses a camping stove to generate electricity to charge a phone. Pupils use data from the experiment to the calculate the efficiency of the stove....
Bonneville
Solar Tracker Challenge
Follow the light—not with one's eyes—but with a special solar tracker. Future engineers design and build a device that tracks light. They must build circuits in which solar cells rotate to receive equal amounts of light.
Nemours KidsHealth
Getting Along: Grades K-2
Boost social awareness with two activities focusing on getting along. In the first activity, scholars brainstorm ways to get along with their classmates and create four rules for the classroom. The second activity asks pupils to track...
Health Smart Virginia
Social Emotional Skills
Nine activities boost social-emotional competencies. Read through the list and choose what best fits the needs of your class. Activities include thoughtful discussions, creating posters, listening to a read-aloud, and more!
Bonneville
Passive Solar Water Heating
Put empty milk jugs to good use. Scholars consider the characteristics they might change about a milk jug to improve light absorption. They design a passive solar water heater using the milk jug and then measure the temperature change in...
Workforce Solutions
Egg-streme Sports
Challenge small groups to build a structure that catches a raw egg without breaking—working collaboratively and applying mathematical and engineering principles. Pretending the frame was made by a business, scholars create a marketing...
Nemours KidsHealth
Screen Time: Grades K-2
Two lessons encourage class members to go screen-free. The first lesson challenges two teams to create a list of screen-free games. The team with the most ideas wins. Individuals then draw a picture of themselves doing one of the...
PBS
Curious George: Fan and Blow
What kind of wind works best to make things move? After watching a short video from Curious George, super scientists answer the question by testing various wind-making tools. Learners observe, record, and share their findings.
PBS
Curious George: Sand and Soil
Two sensory tables—wet and dry—allow scholars to use their sense of sight, touch, and smell to observe the changes when the dirt mixes with water. A short video relates the STEM learning experience to a fun video clip where Curious...
PBS
Curious George: Water Drops
A short video features Curious George playing with pots filled with colored water. Scholars then take to colored water with eye droppers and observation skills. They examine what happens to water drops when dropped from different...
Nemours KidsHealth
Drugs: Grades 3-5
Two lessons take a close look at drug prevention. The first activity, split into two sessions, challenges learners to gather information from an article, answer questions, then create a poster that encourages others to stay away...
Facing History and Ourselves
Identity and Choices
Timshel! Thou mayest! is the big idea in a lesson that reminds learners that they have choices about how they present themselves to others. To begin, individuals rate the degree to which the choices they make each morning are influenced...
Nebraska Department of Education
Who Am I?
When people look in a mirror, they rarely see themselves as others see them. Tweens and teens can consider the significance of these disparities in a lesson that asks them to reflect on the kind of person they are and how they think...
Overcoming Obstacles
Respect
A social-emotional instructional activity focuses on respect. Scholars define the term and puzzle out the word. Pupils give examples of respect they observe at home, at school, and in the community. Cards showcase scenarios in that...
Curated OER
HAPPY SOIL, SAD SOIL
Students will be able to identify the characteristics of healthy soil and unhealthy soil.Take the class outside to an area of thick grass near trees, if available. Compare the
clothes people wear to the thin cover. Discuss the reasons...
Curated OER
Air Movement
Students observe a series of teacher-led demonstrations about air movement. They explain the existence and movement of air, then list 3 things that they have learned about air. Finally, students go outside and shoot off air cannons.
Curated OER
The Warmth of the Sun
Students compare and discuss the warmth of the classroom in a variety of places. They chart the warmth of places inside, outside and a pan of water.
Curated OER
Cultural Awareness/ Sharing Traditions
Students discuss topics relating to how their families celebrate holidays and observe certain religious customs. In this cultural awareness lesson, students work in groups to share their cultural traditions, the list similarities and...
Curated OER
Animal Farm: The Complete Project
Students choose chapters from "Animal Farm" to complete a project on. They make connections between the characters and gather any outside information needed. They present their information to the class.