Curated OER
Imagine That! Analyzing Imagery
Poems by O. Henry, Marion Dane Bauer, Monty Roberts, and Langston Hughes provide the text for a study of symbolism, hyperbole, and imagery. Employing the “think-pair-share” strategy learners generate definitions of these terms and locate...
Curated OER
Agriculture in Your Life
Students examine the agricultural sources of everyday products and identify food products outside traditional farming circles. They discuss the background information, and complete activity sheets, locating various commodity locations on...
Curated OER
A Growing Vocabulary
Students discover the meaning of the word genealogy as it appears in the context of reading. They continue finding new vocabulary words and entering them in their personal dictionaries.
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History of Street Names
Students consider how streets in their community were named. In this research skills lesson, students brainstorm the names of streets in their city or town and find out why they were named after certain individuals.
Curated OER
Mapping a Refuge
Students record observations gathered while at a national wildlife refuge. For this lesson on wildlife refuges, students choose an observation spot and record seasonal changes throughout the year.
Curated OER
ExplorA-Pond: 1st Grade Addition
First graders explore the shoreline of a local or virtual pond and count the number of bushes and trees present in the area they are assigned. They then, as a class, add the numbers of bushes and trees together to determine the total...
Curated OER
Quad Squad
Learners pretend they have visited a forest research station on an overnight field trip. They study forest fires, use compass directions, read maps, interpret imagery, and think about the impact of fire on ecosystems.
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Backyard Blitz
Students create a landscape design using shapes, colors and textures. A key is created with hyperlinks to information reports pertaining to the plants, trees and shrubs used in the design. Explore design principal utilizing a variety of...
PBS
Home, Sweet, Home!
Young scholars investigate the local history and architecture of their community. They draw maps, conduct Internet research, discuss varied architectural designs, take a walking tour of their town and work in teams to record their...
Curated OER
Ecology of The Sonoran Desert Soil Crusts: Biology, Geology
This instructional activity is designed after research done on the ecology of soil lichen in the Tucson Basin area during the summers of 1997 and 1998. Its purpose is to guide learners into adopting the problem solving thinking of...
Curated OER
In My Own Backyard
Learners explore the soil and vegetation found in their home and/or school environment and map a familiar area. Each group is assigned a section of the schoolyard. They draw maps of their assigned places and gather soil and vegetation...
Curriculum Corner
Australian Christmas
Where is Australia? How is an Australian Christmas from other Christmases around the world? Learners participate in a mini-research project where they discover what an Australian Christmas is like.
Curated OER
What Does It Matter?
Students define matter, the chemical properties of matter, and the physical properties of matter. They name physical and chemical properties of matter (by classifying using a Tree Map). Students determine the mass, volume, and density of...
Curated OER
"Hard" Data from Space
Students use satellite images to analyze development patterns within Baltimore City. They prepare a land cover map for Baltimore indicating the prevalence of impervious surfaces and explore how these patterns affect water pollution.
Curated OER
American Settlement of the Great Plains
Seventh graders examine the Great Plains. In this American settlement lesson, 7th graders create a map of the settled areas in the United States. Students discuss the struggle between settlers and the Native Americans.
Curated OER
Agriculture in Your Life
Students explore the origins of food and other everyday products around the United States. In this agricultural lesson, students learn basic vocabulary and practice matching common items with their agricultural source. They categorize...
Curated OER
Human Footprint
Students study facts about humans and how they are impacting the Earth. In this investigative lesson students help map peoples footprints over the Earth's surface and evaluate these factors.
Curated OER
Needs And Wants
Students make cards illustrating things they think they need and want to be healthy and happy. Groups then sort these cards into "wants" and "needs." The whole class discusses what it means when people's basic needs are not met and the...
Curated OER
Natural Resources
In this environment activity, middle schoolers are given information and write an environmental story. The information includes the making and reading of a map.
Curated OER
What and Where is Puerto Rico?
Students explore Puerto Rico. They create K-W-L charts of their prior knowledge of Puerto Rico and observe maps of Puerto Rico. They code the map for measurements and land and water forms. They explore websites to gain background on...
Curated OER
How Can We Keep Our Forests Intact and Have Our Chocolate Too?
Fourth graders explore various methods of growing and harvesting rainforest foods in order to sustain its biodiversity. They discuss the various uses for trees from several viewpoints. Students research chocolate demand and land use...
Curated OER
A New Planet
Students, in gorups, develop a Bill of rRghts for a newly discovered planet. They give the planet a name and they decide upon ten human rights they think are the most important. Then they compare their list with the lists of other...
Curated OER
Neotaquit Nature Center: Ecosystems, Science, Technology
Young scholars survey their local forest conducting an inventory of tree species and analyzing data of local ecosystems. They design a nature trail, map the area and make a computer generated trail guide.
Curated OER
Anolis Lizards of the Greater Antilles
Pupils "take a trip" to the Greater Antilles to observethe Anolis lizards. They study the body structures and habitat of different species, then plot this data on a map to look for patterns in their distribution. From the patterns they...