The New York Times
Collateral Damage? Researching a Connection Between Video Games and Violence
Hook your class into an exploration of and discussion about violence in video games with a cute animal clip and a video game trailer. After a quick discussion about how media can affect mood, class members read a related article and...
NASA
Code a Mars Sample Collection Video Game
Video game designer meets science in a lesson examining the science of space exploration. Young learners use online software to create a video game that mimics the process of sample collection on Mars. They must make appropriate...
Media Smarts
First Person
High schoolers explore the relationship between video games and actual population. Example: A 2005 study showed Latino youth play at higher rates than other groups, but there are no Latino playable characters. They watch a brief video...
Curated OER
The Engineering Design Process
Design your own video game, engineer accident-proof highways, or even develop a new phone app! The Engineering Design Model can be used with all ages and in all subject areas to create a product, system or service. The resource explains...
EngageNY
Designing Your Own Game
Your classes become video game designers for a day! They utilize their matrices, vectors, and transformation skills to create and design their own game images. The complex task requires learners to apply multiple concepts to create their...
California Academy of Science
Building Better Buses: Transportation Design Challenges
Scholars learn about a series of three challenges when they design a bus system for a small town. They determine the bus routes and then figure out the best type of fuel to use before considering the cost of going electric. Learners...
Orange Qube
BaM Video Delay
As a dancer or an athlete, did you ever wish you could immediately see yourself in action so that you could determine where to make improvements? Here is a video delay application that allows you to preselect a length of time that will...
iCivics
Represent Me!
Your class members will take on the roles of legislators and work to serve their constituents in a fun online video game. They will practice sorting and approving bills based on the wants of the people they represent, and understand the...
American Museum of Natural History
Pterosaurs: The Card Game
Piecing together the past is a challenging endeavor. Learners get a taste of that challenge as they play a game that incorporates several components such as trophic levels, geological time periods, and catastrophic events. Pairs work to...
Illustrative Mathematics
Video Game Credits
Help your learners understand how to divide fractions with this visual activity. They first answer a simple inequality before dividing the fractions. Two solution choices are given to help your mathematicians understand how to solve "how...
Curated OER
Flight of the Imagination
Learners study the success of video games by reading an online article. They work in groups to design settings, storylines, characters and technical features for their own fantasy video games. Finally, they write scripts for previews of...
Curated OER
All the Universe is a Stage
Students research the solar system and design a storyboard for a video game about the solar system. Then they create an actual video game using Stagecast Creator software.
Nemours KidsHealth
Asthma: Grades 6-8
Two activities teach middle schoolers about asthma and how it can affect people's lives. After reading a series of articles and watching two videos that provide background information about asthma, pupils design an interactive game that...
Media Education Lab
Propaganda in Context
"Board Game Helps Fight Real World Ebola," a video produced by Voice of America, provides the text for a guided instructional activity that asks viewers to analyze the propaganda techniques used in the video. Groups then select a example...
Dick Blick Art Materials
“Decalcomania” Glue Paint Symmetry Prints
Who knew you could paint with glue? After first adding liquid water color paints to bottles of white Elmer's glue and applying them to paper, young scholars of all ages are then challenged to use their imagination and creativity to draw...
Mojang
Minecraft – Pocket Edition
You don't have to be a Minecraft wiz to know that this app has great playability for your learners! As afterschool programs and classroom projects around the world demonstrate, this game goes well beyond placing blocks and traditional...
BrainPOP
Coping with Bullying Lesson Plan: Strategies for Real-Life Situations
Offer young scholars strategies for dealing with bullies with help from BrainPop Jr.'s favorite characters, Annie and Moby. Youngsters watch a video, take part in a grand conversation, and play a game designed to reinforce coping skills...
Institute for Humane Education
Selling "Boy" and "Girl"
Monster trucks, action figures, and video games. Are these toys designed for boys or girls? Scholars work in small groups to find and categorize examples of boy and girl toys from catalogs. Next, learners analyze the two sets of pictures...
Butterfield Canyon Elementary
Think Win-Win: Everyone Can Win
Can there be scenarios where everyone feels happy with the result? Learn about win-win situations and conflict resolution with a series of exercises and games designed to encourage teamwork and cooperative learning.
Curated OER
Origin of the Modern Olympic Games
Students using a Venn diagram, compare and contrast the modern and ancient Olympic games. They write essays and construct timelines about the games. Students, using various items, create tools for a new Olympic game and write the...
US Holocaust Museum
Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936
The Olympics are about more than sports—at times, the games are also a place of racism and prejudice! Pupils investigate the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. They analyze the meaning behind the materials included in the United States...
Curated OER
Playing to Learn
Learners brainstorm about video games that are designed to teach. They create and perform in small groups a live action "video game" that teaches a concept covered in class this school year.
National First Ladies' Library
Opening the Olympic Games
Learners examine the history of the Olympic Games, including the opening ceremonies. In small groups, they create Olympic flags using symbols that represent their country and communities. In phase two of the activity, students work in...
Curated OER
Design a Spinner
Spinners are usually used in board games not for math, right? Develop your class's understanding of ratios and probabilities with a spinner activity sheet that will require them to draw spinners according to specifications.