Curated OER
Hey, Teacher, Leave My Kids Alone
What are the differences between homeschooling, traditional schooling, and unschooling? Middle and high schoolers examine the opinions of their peers on these varied types of education. After reading a New York Times article, they...
Curated OER
All About Bugs
Students read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and practice the days of the week. In groups, they create a puppet show, design cards of the "days of the week," draw their favorite part of the story, create a visual representation of each...
Curated OER
Food Webs in a Pond
Students explore food chains and food webs in a pond and identify common creatures found in ponds. They look for tadpoles, fish, mites and other creatures in a pond during a field trip for first hand research.
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Crocodiles
Work on research procedures in this lesson, which prompts writers to collect and evaluate information pooled from a number of sources. They work in teams to collect information about crocodiles from different sources. They compare the...
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Moth or Butterfly
Students categorize butterflies and moths by identifying the unique characteristics of the two different species. In this classifying activity, students discuss their prior knowledge about these insects before categorizing...
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Science: Schoolyard Trees
Sixth graders choose specific trees to research while taking a nature walk around the schoolyard. They discuss tree and leaf parts and observe various types of leaves. After writing their reports, 6th graders present them to the class...
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Coal Camps and Mining Towns
Young scholars should gain a better understanding of the processes involved in extracting coal from the Earth as a result of this lesson. They reearch the history of coal mining, look into coal mining towns, and create a short story...
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The Countries of Latin America
Fifth graders study the geography, culture, government and economy of Latin American countries. They work in groups to fill out a profile describing their Latin American country. They listen to a reading of Latin American folktales and...
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Creating a Wild Family Album
Third graders choose an animal to research and create a portfolio about that animal that includes information from at least three resources, a graphic organizer, maps, food webs, and captioned pictures.
Curated OER
Layers of the Atmosphere Foldable
Aspiring meteorologists make themselves a tool for reviewing the characteristics of each layer of the atmosphere. The procedure for this little project divides the paper into five sections, but many earth science teachers opt for the...
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Gathering, Evaluating,and Organizing Information for a Research Report
It's never too early to build research skills! Students locate information relevant to a subject they are doing a research project on. They take notes and sort the information under main topic headings. Through research, they gain an...
Curated OER
History Personified
In 1856 Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beat Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts over the head with a cane. This event, which highlighted the acrimonious debate over the expansion of slavery, is the focus of a paper...
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Everybody Needs a Little Sunshine
Three activities introduce upper elementary ecologists to photosynthesis and food webs. In the first, an experiment is set up to determine how plants respond to different types of light. In the second, they connect organism cards with...
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Victorian Fashion Detectives
A rare lesson plan on fashions that were in vogue during the Victorian era. Learners discover what types of clothes both rich and poor people of this time period wore. They see how fashions changed during the reign of Queen Victoria, and...
Curated OER
International Research Project and Feast
Students research countries around the world. They develop and write a research paper that includes maps, photographs, and diagrams. They describe the culture, society, economy, religious beliefs, government structure, and history of...
Curated OER
Is It Possible?
Young scholars brainstorm ideas on how to a group of people could reach the highest together. In this possibilities lesson plan, students test their ideas and see how high they can reach.