Use consonant digraphs to introduce learners to word patterns and high frequency words. They observe a chart with the digraphs /sh/, /ch/, /th/, and /wh/. After listening to each of these phonemes, scholars watch as the teacher...

Let everyone bring out their inner Stan Lee, and practice creating visually-pleasing comic strips that represent and liven up their stories, essays, personal experiences, and the personality of the creator.   

Even though pennies seem to be relatively thin, stack enough of them into a single stack, and you could have quite a high stack. Enough so, that the final result can be a surprise to you as well as your class. This activity centers...

What better way to start your day than with a box of oatmeal? Or what better way to start your geometry class than by calculating its volume? Eighth graders discover just how practical volume computation can be in business and in breakfast!

Fourth in a set of several little lessons on density, this one compares the density of fresh and salt water. First by demonstration, and then by a hands-on activity, learners find that adding salt increases the density, as is evidenced...

Using a pinhole in an index card, learners of light find that it can be used as a magnifier. 

Like finger painting, this project is very tactile. Kids tear tissue paper into small pieces, add water, and mix up a pulp that can be pressed onto a canvas to create a colorful, textured painting.

Has your class ever been astounded by the complexity of DNA analysis? Have they ever asked why genetic engineering has become so important to our daily lives? Young scientists perform DNA extraction on strawberries and explore how the...

Did you know that California produces two thirds of the fruits and nuts consumed in the United States? That it produces almost one third of the vegetables? Did you know that scientists warn that California is facing the onset of a...

Is artesian water designed to be better, or is it just from wells similar to those in the city of Artesium? This experiment looks at many different types of bottled waters, including artesian. Using a soap mixture, scholars test to see...

Do you have a lot of different reading levels in your class? Pair kids up by level and have them choose a book to read independently. They will make predictions, ask questions, make connections, etc. Consider creating a general reading...

Students play the role of a Ranger with the Department of Forestry.  In this forest fires lesson, students examine data on biomes and images to determine high risk areas for forest fires to develop.  

In less than 25 years, the continent of Australia moved 4.9 feet thanks to plate tectonics. The presentation introduces the idea of the layers of the earth as well as plate tectonics. It goes into why the plates move and where we believe...

Taking notes is the topic today. Kids learn why notes are taken, when they are useful, and how to pick out the most important information to make their notes functional. Several interesting examples of various note forms are shown, along...

As part of the study of Japanese cultural history, introduce your class members to Chanoyu, the Way of Tea. After a discussion of the history and key elements of Chanoyu, class groups perform the ceremony.

Young artists of all ages create texture using dried slabs of pourable acrylic paint. They experiment with texture by turning a liquid into a solid and finally into a 3-D work of art. This lesson plan uses easy-to-find materials, and the...

In this science and cooking worksheet, students investigate how it is possible to make a baked ice cream dessert. Students follow the detailed recipe, then answer the questions where they hypothesize why the ice cream did not melt.

Looking for a fun activity for your vocabulary lesson? Bring a worksheet on "spoonerisms" to your fifth grade class. Kids decipher seven phrases that have mixed up the first letter sounds of each word. They then think of their own...

Equip young campers with important survival knowledge with a set of engaging lessons. Teammates work together to complete three outdoor activities, which include building a shelter, starting a campfire, and finding directions in the...

Explore the consistency of the earth's layers and soil through modeling. By conducting an engaging experiment, learners develop a model for the earth's layers and a soil profile using edible materials. Each material is chosen based on...

If the delay between a sound and its echo is less than 1/10th of a second, the human ear can’t distinguish it. Through the use of a Slinky, rubber band guitar, and straws, scholars explore where sound comes from and how it travels....