Curated OER
Minerals of the Earth
Young scholars learn and practice identifying Earth's minerals and their properties. Working in small groups, they evaluate minerals. This is a well-described lesson, which students enjoy.
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Calorie Connection
Students calculate the calories in a Brazil nut and the calories needed for daily intake. In this calories lesson plan, students use calorimetry to measure the change in water temperature heated by the burning of a Brazil nut. They also...
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Technologies of the Civil War
Fifth graders discover new and interesting technologies of the Civil War. In this Civil War portfolio of lessons, 5th graders analyze primary resources, develop new vocabulary, investigate websites, and create a time line of new...
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Necessity is the Mother of Invention
Students research the Industrial Revolution. In this Industrial Revolution lesson plan, students research on the Internet, with books, magazines, fill out worksheets, and more to learn about inventions that were made out of necessity or...
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Drake’s West Indian Voyage 1588-1589
Students examine the exploration routes of Sir Francis Drake. In this American exploration lesson, students investigate primary sources to trace the routes and contact with the natives that Sir Francis Drake experienced on his voyages in...
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Just a Little Bit of Effort: Exploring Levers
Students build models of types of levers. In this simple machines activity, students use dowels and modified wooden rulers to build different types of levers. They compete to create the most efficient lever in the class.
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Studying Snow and Ice Changes
Students compare the change in snow and ice over a 10 year period. In this environmental science activity, students use the live data on the NASA site to study and compare the monthly snow and ice amounts on a map of the entire Earth. ...
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Statistics with State Names
Students analyze the number of times each letter in the alphabet is used in the names of the states. In this statistics lesson, students create a stem and leaf plot, box and whisker plot and a histogram to analyze their data.
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Fishing Fun
Students complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Fishing Fun. In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer questions, have...
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Germs and the Importance of Washing Your Hands
Students determine the importance of hand washing through experiments. In this hand washing and germs lesson, students listen to a reading of Germs! Germs! Germs! by Bobbi Katz, and discuss what they learn about germs. They experiment by...
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The Cherokee: Trail Where They Cried
Students read the Trail of Tears about the Cherokee Nation removal and write a letter pretending they are the grandparent of a Cherokee child. In this Trail of Tears lesson plan, students understand the changing of boundaries.
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Populations and Life Cycles
Students explore biology by researching ocean statistics. In this data analysis lesson, students conduct a snail examination experiment utilizing live pouch snails. Students collect data about the snails over the course of six weeks and...
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Is There Liquid Water on Mars?
Students assess whether there is liquid water on Mars by analyzing images and data. In this planetary lesson students analyze temperature and pressure graphs and hypothesize about how water could have flowed on Mars.
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Handling Data: Representing Date - Online Version
Here is an online lesson plan on data representation. In it, learners access websites embedded in the plan which lead them through a variety of activities around data representation and statistics. The activities are quite good, and...
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Diversity in Insects
Second graders examine bug photos from across the world. In this biodiversity lesson, students use a field notebook to make observation of insect photos. The class gather on the floor to investigate a mock field of insects and share...
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Comparison of Owners' Perceptions of Runaway Indentured Servants and Slaves
Fifth graders compare and contrast servants and slaves in a journal entry. They examine ads which describe indentured servants accompanied by escaped slaves. They draw conclusions as to owners' perceptions and present their conclusions.
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Living in the Oak Woodlands: Early People of the Jewett Mine Area
Learners examine the archeology and native peoples of the Jewett Mine area of Texas. Using a map, they explain the economic patterns of the native groups and how the geography of the area affected activities. They compare and contrast...
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Volume of Irregular Objects
Fifth graders experiment using a Meniscus. In this volume lesson, 5th graders identify the volume of irregular objects using the process of water displacement. Students record data and draw conclusions.
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Mussel Movements
Students consider the impact of invasive species on local environments. In this ecology lesson, watch the video, Arizona Wildlife Views, which focuses on invasive species. Students develop vocabulary, relate to meaningful comprehension...
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Forces in Action
Students ask questions that can be investigated scientifically. They determine how to plan a fair test by changing one factor while keeping other factors the same, to use measurements to draw conclusions and use scientific knowledge to...
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Science: Hurricanes As Heat Engines
Students conduct Internet research to track the path of Hurricane Rita. They record the sea surface temperature of the Gulf of Mexico during and after the hurricane and draw conclusions about how hurricanes extract heat energy from the...
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Acid Rain Keeps Falling on My Head
Students examine the pH level of rain water in their local community. They locate each location on a map. They analyze the data and draw conclusions.
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The World Almanac for Kids
Fifth graders identify and compare the features of The World Almanac for Kids in the print form and in the CD-ROM/ on-line form. They predict which format is the easiest to access and the most informative, then draw conclusions from...
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Prisoner of War
Students study prison life during the Civil War. As a class, they brainstorm questions about prison life. In groups, students read primary source documents that give clues to life in a civil war prison. Students draw conclusions and...