What is a parfleche? It is a box used by the Plains Indians to carry goods as they traveled. First, the class will discuss the uses of these highly ornate boxes and the nature of the Plains Indians' nomadic lifestyle. Then, the class...

Kids compare what printed text looks like with the naked eye and under magnification. They discuss the extremely small scale that must be used to measure the size. They learn about the micrometer unit, then draw scale models of a variety...

The topic of trigonometric ratios is often covered with loads of rote memorization baked into the activity. This activity set, however, leans more on using similar triangles and discovery learning to help young geometers develop a deeper...

Kindness and empathy can be as important as reading comprehension skills, especially for younger learners. Reinforce both with a lesson based on Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair by Jamee Riggio Heelan. As...

To begin the second year of a health and wellness course, class members review the aspects of social, physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual health investigated the previous year. After completing the...

Rocks can bend? Pupils investigate how heat and pressure produce metamorphic rocks by modeling them using clay, and then categorize samples based on observable characteristics. The lesson plan ends with a metamorphic rock...

Is there a correlation or causation relationship between air pollutants? Groups develop a hypothesis about the daily variation of air pollutants, specifically ozone and CO2. Using Excel to analyze the data, the groups evaluate their...

Is this enough to show the two triangles are congruent? Small groups work through different combinations of constructing triangles from congruent parts to determine which combinations create only congruent triangles. Participants use the...

Have you ever been accused of something without cause? The sixth installment of an eight-part series asks scholars to create a museum exhibit on the anti-communist activities in the United States at the start of the Cold War. To make...

Put on your pirate hat and get ready to teach r-controlled syllables. Learners practice using words that contain ar, or, er, ir, and ur. Instructors model how to decode words to isolate vowel teams, as well as combine r-controlled sounds...

Individually, letters have their own sounds, but when combined with other letters, those sounds completely change. Introduce letter combinations with a lesson that asks learners to search for combinations in familiar words and use oral...

Is a 1040EZ tax form really easy? Scholars investigate the complexities of the United States taxation system with an economics instructional activity. Using a wide variety of web sources, they interpret IRS taxation rules and regulations...

First, introduce rank badges, which were used during the Qing Dynasty. Then, the class will work together to uncover the meaning of the images they see. They'll examine and research the meaning behind the symbols found on Leopard Rank...

Some books are perfect for drawing connections between multiple subjects. The book Hill of Fire becomes the hub for three very different, yet related activity ideas. First the class hones their oral language skills by creating an...

Whether this the first time you've had a learner with Asperger Syndrome in your class, or you have years of experience with learners on the autism spectrum, a booklet about the best ways to accommodate these kids in the classroom could...

Finding the area of a rectangle is the focus of this metric worksheet. Here, mathematicians use their knowledge of finding the area of a shape in meters to discover how much material can fit inside a shape.

How should a cashier stock a cash register with coins? Learners use mathematical modeling and expected value to determine how many rolls of coins of each type they should place in a cash register.

How long do fresh foods last in space at the International Space Station? Which foods perish quicker than others? How can astronauts preserve their foods to make them last longer in space? Young scientists test the rates at which...

Create a fish mobile using cardboard and string to hang in the classroom while studying ocean life. Each printable requires pupils to cut out two of the same fish to create consistency on the front and back.

Investigate and analyze Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation using primary and secondary sources. The sixth installment of an eight-part series analyzes the meaning of Lincoln's document in relation to its impact on the Civil...

Does your class have the write stuff? Young career seekers try their hand at composing business letters in the second of six career and college readiness lesson plans for seniors. Pupils practice writing cover letters, thank you notes,...

Create clay whistles with your elementary or middle school learners. The project is outlined in great detail here, complete with step-by-step photographs, finished examples, a materials list, student handouts, and a rubric. Students...

Designed for third graders but appropriate for older learners as well, this packet of materials underscores the necessity of teaching kids how to summarize, how to identify main ideas and supporting details, and how to ask questions...

Entropy, it isn't what it used to be. Presentation includes kinetic-molecular theory, heat and internal energy, thermal equilibrium, temperature scales, laws of thermodynamics, entropy, latent heat of fusion, specific heat, calorimetry,...