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The Tempest
Young scholars discuss cultural beliefs about magic. They investigate European exploration and colonialism. They create a cartoon strip of an episode that is described or dramatized in the play.
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A Flag for Mars
Young scholars investigate the historical use of flags on Earth, debate ownership issues for interplanetary exploration, and design a flag for Mars. The implication of placing a flag at a location forms the focus of the instructional...
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Lewis and Clark: The Language of Discovery
Young scholars replicate some of the trailblazing methods of Lewis and Clark on a fifteen-minute "writing journey" through the school or neighborhood.
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Animal Encounters
Students use their visualizing and interpreting skills to produce original writings and artwork.
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How Things Fly
Students observe photographs of selected twentieth-century aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum and note differences in the design of aircraft wings, fuselages, and engines.
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How Things Fly
Students, by drawing on their own experiences, discuss and examine the basic physics of flight. They participate in a variety of activities regarding flight.
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Stories of the Wrights' Flight
Students examine and compare primary and secondary source accounts of the Wright brothers' first flights on December 17, 1903.
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Money Talks
Students move from fact finding to interpretation as they examine paper money from the time of the American Revolution. In the final exercise, they use the issue dates of the bills to construct a chronology of political changes during...
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Pictures Telling Stories
Students see the importance of primary sources in the study of history, but also the limitations of relying only on primary sources of taking the money, as it were, at face value.
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The Rocky Shore
Students compare a realistic landscape painting with a photograph of the same place.
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Spy on a Spider
Students view slides or live specimens to name and describe the distinguishing features of groups of arthropods, especially spiders and insects. They complete worksheets, observe webs and then search for and record where spiders can be...
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Creatures from Planet X: Spiders
Students are given a description of some fascinating animals from "Planet X". They follow the descriptions given to illustrate one of these animals paying careful attention to introduced vocabulary such as 'appendages', 'receptors', and...
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Facts, Feats and Folklore: Spiders
Students review and discuss a variety of sayings, folklore and superstitions about spiders. They discuss this information and choose either an interesting fact or appealing foklore tradition to illustrate.
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Letters from the Japanese American Internment
Students make deductions about life in an internment camp by reading and comparing letters written to Clara Breed. Along the way, they consider the advantages of looking at a historical event from the multiple points of view of...
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Dinosaur History (Part 5)
Eighth graders read the scripture that cooresponds with this instructional activity on dinosaurs. As a class, they review the great flood and discuss how the animals on the ark repopulated the Earth. They read more verses and answer...
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Baga Drum
Students examine a Baga Drum in order to explore the history of the Baga people of West Africa. In this art history lesson, students recognize figures used in Baga Drum design that represent aspects of Baga culture. They also design and...
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India's Endangered Tigers
Students explore India through maps, as well India's tigers. In this investigating India lesson students use the Internet to research the tiger and its environment.
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Exploring Heroism
Students research heroism online. In this heroism lesson, students use the documentary of Heroes of Ground Zero to explore the theme of heroism. Students complete five days of activities to research and participate in activities that...
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Explorit's Green Salad Quiz
In this food history instructional activity, students read the information about the history of food and salads. Students select the correct answer for the 6 related questions.
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Skiers on the Slope
Students explore mathematical concepts, problem solving, and the ability to program in LOGO to test ideas about speed, acceleration, gravity, and slope when dealing with downhill skiing.
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Lifestyles of an Olympic Hopeful
Students compare and contrast their lives with one other teenager in the United States (or another country!) who has aspirations of becoming an Olympic athlete. They address quality of life issues.
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Making a Mountain Out of a Snow Hill: Skiing, Winter Sports, Economics, Business, Problem Solving
Students explore how to select among choices of variables and analyze the cost-benefit ratio of their short and long term planning in a team activity as they consider the planning and operation of a ski slope.
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Great North
Students use maps to locate the Arctic Circle, the North Pole and Northern Europe. They draw and label countries within the Arctic Cirlce and identify the groups of people who live there. They also watch and answer questions about the...