Curated OER
Local and Global Sustainability Unit
Students examine the characteristics that define a sustainable community at the local and global level. They create and prioritize a list of traits, read and discuss a magazine article, and create a poster.
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Project Management
Students, in project teams, demonstrate that they are able to successfully plan and manage a construction project. They meet with a customer, work as a team and complete the project to the customer's specifications.
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Hachimaki/Shibori
Sixth graders investigate a Japanese dyeing method, Arashi shibori, its history and its process. They are introduced to hachimaki, a Japanese headband, and make their own to wear.
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A Bird's Eye View of the Caribbean: Art, Folklore, and Music
Students examine the Caribbean in terms of its music, art, and folklore. As a class, they listen to a folktale and discuss the difference between telling a story and reading a story. In groups, they write their own folktale and share...
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Statistical Pictures of School and Life
Students explore how mathematical data is used to summarize and illustrate everyday life. They apply mathematical concepts and skills to analyze data. Students conduct a five question survey of 50 people or more and graph the data.
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Science: Suddenly Snow
Students engage in snow-related activities during the first winter snowfall. After explaining the elements needed for it to snow, they preserve snowflakes on frozen slides and observe them under a microscope. Then, they write diamante...
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Excavating the Trash
Students look at a day's accumulation of recyclable trash from first through fifth grade classrooms, not knowing which classes it came from. After setting up a collection sheet for data, students remove items from the receptacle and...
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Snowflake Curve
Learners develop an appreciation for complex structures in nature. They observe patterns in nature in relationship to the Real World. Students use observation skills to assist in problem solving. They show comprehension of the concepts...
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Aztec and Mayan Mythology
Sixth graders write myths to show tolerance in creation. They read from both the Aztec and Mayan eras and develop an understanding of the similarities and differences of these two closely related cultures. They track the travels of...
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Bats: Fact and Fiction
Students describe the characteristics and behaviors of bats. After viewing a video, they explain how bats use echolocation to navigate and how they find their young within a group. They list four misconceptions about the animal and...
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"Weather" or Not?
Students complete a three week unit about weather and how it affects our behavior. They read and discuss various books related to weather, conduct an experiment about the tilt of the earth, plan a field trip based on temperature,...
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Electrophoretic Analysis: DNA Fingerprinting and Evolutionary Divergence
Students examine the principles of electrophoresis. They evaluate both the agarose and polyacrylamide system of molecular separation. In order to bring the concepts of genetics and evolution full circle from DNA to protein, students...
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ReQuest and Motor Imaging with My Side of the Mountain
Fifth graders read "My Side of the Mountain." They create a pantomime using vocabulary words from the story. Students create three questions about the reading. They discuss the passage they read and act out words to help them better...
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The Underground Railroad
Fourth graders participate in a literature circle after reading a book about the Underground Railroad. They discuss their selected book with their literature circle group, and complete a handout about their role in the circle. Students...
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Exploring the West Using Fiction
Students explore post Civil War development of the American West. They investigate the conflict among various groups involved in the settlement of the West and select a novel by a western writer and complete questions from the Exploring...
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1,000 Cranes Lesson Plan
Students improve their motor skills through cafeful folding, a discipline necessary in the practice of origami. They develop multicultural awareness by exploring Japanese history. Students improve their ability to follow directions...
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New York City Water Quality Assessment Project
Students investigate the chemistry of water and how its molecular structure supports life through its biochemcial, physical, and environmental roles. They investigate the quality of water as it interacts with the environment. Students...
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Cataracts of the Nile Reviewing Egyptian History
Learners investigate and answer questions about the people, places, and events of ancient Egypt and their contributions to world civilization. In small groups they participate in a game answering review questions about ancient Egyptian...
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Chemical and Physical Changes
Students experiment, identify and apply the concepts of chemical and physical changes utilizing real-world examples. They discuss and model physical and chemical changes, answer guided questions and play a game that reinforces the...
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Building Staircases: Understanding Slope
Students recognize the importance of slope. They use blocks to model the slope of a line and calculate the slope of a line on a coordinate grid. Afterward, they describe objects they encounter in their everyday lives that have slopes.
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Building Fiction: Elements of a Short Story
Students define and interpret the elements found in a short story. Then they identify the elements of plot found in a short story. Students also apply knowledge of plot to an original work of fiction. Finally, they identify the...
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Dear Abby: A Direct and Indirect Characterization Lesson Plan
High schoolers practice identifying and creating examples of characterization based on comprehension. They assess direct and indirect characterization and use conflict in a plot to generate a piece of writing. Each student selects...
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Organizational Patterns: Comparison and Contrast Writing
Students write an essay comparing and contrasting their school experiences. Through guided practice, they create an outline of their elementary school experience and middle school experience. Using their outlines, students synthesize...
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Reading the Periodic Table
Students explore the structure and function of the periodic table of elements. Though memorization drills and games, students working in pairs, identify the elements of the periodic table, their grouping, their properties and their...