Curated OER
Survival Extravaganza
Fifth graders discuss the effects of scarcity. In this survival activity, 5th graders use strategies that would help them survive in a survival situation. Students write letters about bears in need of help to survive. Students...
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Beach Burgers
Twelfth graders develop economic literacy of basic economic problems confronting all societies. Economic decision making, scarcity to make choices, economic confronts, market system, prices, demand curves and supply curves are all covered.
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Take an Ant to Lunch
Second graders construct a model of an ant, exemplifying that ants are insects. Students gather data create a pictograph chart to show ant food preferences. Also, 2nd graders access the Internet to explore ant eating habits.
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The Spider Beside Her
Second graders are introduced to the characteristics of spiders. In groups, they compare and contrast spiders to different insects to discover spiders are not an insect at all. In groups, they create a model of a spider and discuss its...
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What a View!
Students examine two- and three-dimensional shapes and figures. Individually, they practice identifying the shape from various viewpoints. By completing this activity, they develop a spatial sense about how figures and shapes are...
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Where Do Plants Get Their Food?
Students think about the historical development of the scientific method. They design an experiment that replicates van Helmont's, using only specified materials. Pupils then improved upon van Helmont's procedure and also consider the...
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Penguins Nesting Know-How
Young scholars maintain a field journal as they follow penguin parents raising their chicks during the breeding season. They formulate testable questions. Students reflect on animal behavior in the field related to survival and chick...
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Who is the Real Roman?
Students describe what everyday life was like in ancient Rome and identify the various classes of people living in ancient Rome. They participate in a game called "The Real Roman," role-playing and trying to convince the class they are...
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Modeling the Change of Seasons
Students evaluate data to determine changes in length of day. They model the revolution of Earth around the sun to show changes in length of day and sun angle and illustrate how the sun angle affects the change of season.
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Hands-On Humidity
Students examine why humidity changes throughout the day. They study the concept of relative humidity, absolute humidity, and dew point temperature. They interpret phase diagrams and explain why relative humidity typically falls and...
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Exploring the Nervous System Through Disease and Injury
Students are introduced to the nervous system. In groups, they research the relationship between disease and injury and how it affects the nervous system. To end the instructional activity, they present their findings to the class and...
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Exploring the Circular Motion of a Tennis Ball
High schoolers are introduced to the concept of circular motion. In groups, they participate in experiments to discover the law of inertia. They describe how forces act on objects during a circular motion. To end the lesson, they use...
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Rolling Balls: Mass and Kinetic Energy
Learners identify the relationship between kinetic energy, mass, and velocity. Then they explain and graph the relationship between kinetic energy and mass. Students also predict the impact of objects of different mass and velocity on...
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Pythagoreum Theorem
Students practice assessing how to apply the formulas for the area of parallelograms and triangles. They recount the contributions of Pythagoras and apply the theories of the Pythagorean theorem in a group project to calculate the...
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Earthquake Damage
Students identify that shaking may result in damage in the form of structural failure, soil liquefaction, and landslides. They also identify that earthquakes can cause damage that disrupts people's lives. Finally, students view a...
National First Ladies' Library
"Just a Little Bit Different": Inclusive Classrooms, Inclusive Schools
Learners explore visible and invisible differences, those of language, religion, dress, ethnicity, gender, etc. with their classmates. They play Bingo with a created list of classroom differences. Afterward, they write a short paper...
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President Obama's Address to Students Across America
Students write about goals, responsibility, and persistence, and listen to President Obama's speech. In this President Obama instructional activity students create concept webs, listen with a purpose, and list the challenges of our...
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The Great Spoon Challenge: Form and Function
Students organize objects in terms of form and function. In this architecture lesson, students are introduced to the ideas of form and function by playing a game in which they organize spoons in different ways. Extension activities are...
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Character Scrapbook Teacher's Guide
Students analyze a book's characters and create a scrapbook to print and save. In this on line interactive characterization lesson plan, students identify character traits and gain a deeper understanding of a book's characters.
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It's About Us
Students understand ideas about civic life and government. In this census lesson, students participate in a First We Count Reader's Theater and answer reading questions about the script in order to gain a better understanding of the...
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About the Census
Students interpret a variety of informational texts to gain understanding of basic concepts about how census data are used. In this census lesson, students read maps, complete worksheets, and work in small groups to become aware of...
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What Happened to Mya
Students research the symptoms and treatments of diabetes. For this diabetes lesson, students explore the topic and share their findings through a case study. Several extensive activities are also suggested.
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The Monarch Butterfly Watch
Students explore monarch migration through the Journey North web site. In this butterfly lesson, students use the internet to identify a butterfly's migration pattern. Students write in electronic journals.
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Learning to Make Line Graphs
Students analyze data and create a line graph. In this graphing lesson, students explore data from a previous experiment and plot the information on a line graph. Students analyze their findings.