Curated OER
Indian Ragas
Students explore Indian ragas and learn the differences between an Indian raga and the Western scale. They sing the familiar song "America," first in the Western major scale and then in two Indian ragas (bhairavi and purvi) on a neutral...
Curated OER
Global Literature: Nectar In A Sieve
Students write a persuasive essay explaining how religion and/or spirituality serves as both a guide and a source of conflict for both an individual and their culture. They develop a definition for the terms spiritual and religious...
Curated OER
Needs And Wants
Young scholars make cards illustrating things they think they need and want to be healthy and happy. Groups then sort these cards into "wants" and "needs." The whole class discusses what it means when people's basic needs are not met and...
Curated OER
Introduction to Exponents
Problem solve using exponents. Pupils read One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale and write powers to represent amounts from the story.They compare actual solutions to their predictions and play a game to practice using exponents.
Curated OER
Call it "Macaroni"
Who knew there were so many fun educational opportunities featuring pasta? Scholars read a brief informational text about the history of pasta (note that "macaroni" is spelled two different ways, so address this if kids are reading...
Kenan Fellows
How Does an Unhealthy Diet Influence our Health and Well-Being?
You are what you eat, or so they say! After surveying family and friends on a week of eating habits, learners analyze the data for patterns. They compare different variables such as fats and cost, fats and calories, or fats and LDLs.
Curated OER
Incredible Integers!
There are three parts to this instructional activity on integers. In the first, learners explore positive and negative numbers on an actual painter's tape number line and by playing a "Hot Seat" game. In part two, they view a BrainPop...
Curated OER
Places We Live
With a wonderful bibliography to support this activity on Illinois, President Lincoln, and rural vs. urban settings, this activity is a motivating experience. The activity begins with pupils exploring books, such as The Little House by...
Virginia Department of Education
Box-and-Whisker Plots
The teacher demonstrates how to use a graphing calculator to create box-and-whisker plots and identify critical points. Small groups then create their own plots and analyze them and finish by comparing different sets of data using box...
Curated OER
Photosynthesis
Fifth graders work in small groups to brainstorm responses to a problem related to some disaster that wipes out half or all plant life on earth. Groups complete a graphic organizer to compare and contrast their ideas. Students select...
Vosonos
Interactive Minds: Solar System
Travel through space as you learn about the galaxy, solar system, planets, and much more. An extensive resource for studying astronomy in upper-elementary and middle school classrooms.
Bowland
Mobile Phones
Cheaper cell phone bills? Learners compare two different cell phone plans for a specified number of minutes of phone usage each day. They also determine the conditions for which one plan is cheaper than the other.
Curated OER
The Edge of Home
Learners explain why some species of plants and animals occur in more than one area. They watch as the teacher puts an overlapping circles on the chalkboard, students are asked to predict what kinds of things they would expect to find in...
Curated OER
The Incident of September 11th
Sixth graders identify and write in their journals in order to activate prior knowledge on the events that surround September 11th. Students, with a partner, read various essays, articles and personal experiences of September 11....
Curated OER
Basics of the Korean War
Students research the key players and major events of the Korean War. Students assigned in groups, research a country involved in the Korean War. Groups then bring their information to the whole groups to explain their country's...
Curated OER
Animal and Plant Cell Journaling Activity
Jump into the classification of animal and plants cells, through this inviting lesson plan comparing Elodea leaves and Epithelial cells. Middle school learners will create wet mounts, write journal entries that compare specimens, and...
Curated OER
The Magical Diving Sub
First graders discuss and predict if a given object sinks or floats. They record their predictions on a data sheet. Pupils test the objects and organize them into floating/sinking groups. Students observe the floating and sinking of a...
Curated OER
Spoonfuls, Cupfuls and Handfuls
Explore the use of non-standard units for measuring volume with elementary learners. They fill a container and count the number used using cups, spoons, and bottles, build with blocks and count the number of blocks used, and compare and...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Democracy Wall
How free are people in the United States, or in the world for that matter? The class reads and compares two articles that discuss levels of freedom enjoyed by different people around the globe. They discuss why some people have more...
Curated OER
Our Town: Using Song Lyrics in the Classroom
Bruce Springsteen’s “My Hometown” and Billy Joel’s “Allentown” motivate young lyricists to craft poems about their own home town. Groups compare the two songs, identifying details, symbols, and conflicts. Individuals then picture a place...
Curated OER
Modeling: Having Kittens
Cats can't add, but they do multiply! Determine the number of descendants of a single cat given specific facts about cats and kittens. The lesson plan focuses on developing strategies for problem solving using both individual and group...
Math Warehouse
Theoretical Probability Activity
If you keep rolling a die, you'll roll a five exactly one-sixth of the time—right? A probability lesson prompts young mathematicians to roll a die 100 times and use the data to calculate empirical probabilities. They then compare these...
University of Colorado
Spacecraft Speed
Space shuttles traveled around Earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour, way faster than trains, planes, or automobiles travel! In the 13th installment of 22, groups graph different speeds to show how quickly spacecraft move through...
Science Matters
Richter Scale
The 12th lesson in a series of 20 opens with a demonstration of exponential functions using pasta. This concept is connected to the Richter Scale, which is also an exponential function. Scholars compare the exponential scale that...