Students design a bag that they would personally use to carry needed items to school. In this bag design lesson, students observe real bags and assess needs and wants for a new bag. Students brainstorm design solutions and render their...

Students examine theme in the photography of Dorothea Lange. In this photography activity, students analyze photography taken by Dorothea Lange and identify themes that run through each. They design an exhibition that shows how the theme...

Students sculpt a bust out of clay using naturalistic features.  For this sculpture lesson, students use themselves or classmates as models to ensure correct form and proportion of a hollow bust.  This lesson includes pictures...

Learners discover facts about the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead. In this compare and contrast lesson, students explore Halloween and the Day of the Dead. Learners create an alter to memorialize a family member or friend that has...

Students create their own fairy tale.  For this book making lesson, students write a fairy tale and turn it into a book. They use decorated initials and borders to make it look like an illuminated manuscript.

Students explore the relationship between nature and architecture. In this cross curriculum history, culture, and architecture lesson, students observe and discuss structures visible in nature. Students view websites in which Native...

Students discuss the kinds of things they count and how to use tally marks. In this social science lesson plan, students count animal crackers by using tally marks for each kind of animal. The tally marks are changed into numbers...

Students explore Italian politics and warfare of the High Renaissance. They explain the effects of the Protestant Reformation and the Counter Reformation.

Second graders discover the life and works of French artist Henri Matisse in this one day, introductory lesson for the 2nd grade classroom. This first lesson can be used by itself or as the first day activity to a three to four day unit...

Learners read and write an artist's statement. In this artist's statement lesson, students read Dorothea Lange's artist statement before writing one of their own about their photography. They examine their own photography and use...

Third graders become familiar with the German pickle, part of the Christmas celebration in Germany. In this German pickle lesson, 3rd graders listen to the story of the German pickle and its significance to the German Christmas...

Third graders engage in a wide variety of cross-curricular activities designed to give them a thorough understanding of the history of the Illinois & Michigan Canal. There are a very nice set of activities included in this plan!

Middle schoolers examine the evolution of landscape painting in France from the 17th to the 19th century. They study and compare three landscape paintings, emphasizing space, depth, and the concepts of foreground, middle ground, and...

Eighth graders research a specific battle of the U.S. Civil War. Using the Internet and the Encarta Encyclopedia they conduct research, and create and publish a travel brochure that incorporates historical and visual information about...

Students describe the basic life history of one shorebird common to their area. They use the writing process which includes brainstorming, rough draft writing, peer editing, and re-writing to create a factually and grammatically...

Fifth graders explore the concept of waste management. For this recycling lesson, 5th graders discover the history of waste management and discuss how the U.S. should respond to the issue of ever-increasing waste.

First graders explore the art of Russian folk dancing. In this cultural traditions lesson, 1st graders research the Troika and incorporate attributes of the Russion folk dance into their own renditions.

Students "visit" South Korea through the use of technology, in a fun, and stimulating, detailed project. They arrange travel, make choices, work through a budget, learn history, have exposure to language, and get a sense of what a...

Students recognize that, America's eventual involvement in World War II, not everyone initially agreed that intervention was the answer. They conduct research about the political, economic, sociological, and historical factors in the...

Class members will dig this activity that has them trying their hand at recovering artifacts. Groups are assigned a section of a sandbox, carefully uncover the artifacts in their section, and then develop theories about who might...

Are spiders related to crabs? Study the order of arthropods with a reading selection about animal diversity. It provides details about each class within the order, as well as vivid pictures and explanatory charts. 

Imagine being forced against your will behind barbed wire for doing nothing but being yourself. Scholars investigate the impact Japanese-American internment camps had during World War II. Through video and archival evidence, they create...

Global warming isn't just an issue on land; deep ocean waters are also showing troubling signs. Young scientists learn more about deep water corals and the many recent discoveries researchers have made. Then they examine data related to...

Scientists recently discovered several previously unknown species at the Bear Seamount off the coast of New England. Scholars research these new species — benthopelagic, benthic, and seamount fish — and find out what makes them...