It's About Time
A Moving Frame of Reference
We often remind pupils to cite their references, but this lesson helps them understand there are many frames of reference. Scholars experiment with throwing a ball straight up in the air and catching it. Then they must do it again while...
Curated OER
Increasing Disability Awareness and Sensitivity
Designed to promote disability awareness and sensitivity, the five lessons and activities in this packet provide class members with information about disabilities, and with models of behaviors and language that help to break down...
It's About Time
Coal and Your Community
When I was young, I was afraid of the dark. Now I am afraid of getting the electric bill. This fourth lesson in a series of eight focuses on coal mining, conservation, and energy efficiency. Scholars start by taking data from a table and...
Beyond Benign
Product Test
It's the moment of truth. Previous lessons in the 24-part series had scholars design and develop shampoo formulas using chemical concepts. The 18th lesson asks them to test the function of their shampoos. To do this, they calculate the...
Beyond Benign
In a Lather
Time to come clean! Scholars continue preparing the shampoo they created in the previous two lessons. The purpose of this stage is to calculate the perfect amount of additive to make the shampoo lather.
Social Media Toolbox
Social Media Usage
Is there a difference in the way organizations present news via social media and in print? The third in a series of 16 lessons from The Social Media Toolbox explores news outlets and their delivery methods. Groups follow a story for a...
Social Media Toolbox
Law Review
How can your journalism class ensure they use social media responsibly and legally? The sixth lesson in a 16-part Social Media Toolbox series asks pupils to dig deep into the legal aspects of social media use by school publications....
Social Media Toolbox
A Look at Social Media Policies
Should school news publications use social media if their district is against the use of social media in school? Pupils ponder the policy, then examine their publication's plan in parts seven and eight of a 16-part Social Media Toolbox...
Social Media Toolbox
Social Media Roles
Social media has changed the news publishing process, so how does it affect school news publications? Lesson nine in a 16-part series titled The Social Media Toolbox explores the traditional publishing roles through the lens of social...
Curated OER
Roller Coasters
Twisting and turning through the sky, roller coasters are popular attractions at amusement parks around the world, but how exactly do they work? Explore the physics behind these thrilling rides with an engineering design activity....
Sea World
Saving the Wild: Conservation Around the World
Enhance your unit on conservation, ecosystems, or migration with a series of lessons about ways to save the wild around the world. Kids research types of conservation, such as recycling, and use their geography skills to map the...
Sea World
Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses
Learn about the mammals of the sea with a lesson about seals, sea lions, and walruses. Kids study the characteristics of each pinniped with flash cards and information, and then analyze data about elephant seals, measure heat loss in...
Partnership for Educating Colorado Students
Mayan Mathematics and Architecture
Take young scholars on a trip through history with this unit on the mathematics and architecture of the Mayan civilization. Starting with a introduction to their base twenty number system and the symbols they used, this eight-lesson unit...
New York City Department of Education
Theater Units for Lower and Upper Elementary Levels
Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons, assessment...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Heroes: Challenge Activities (Theme 5)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Gloria Estefan, Lou Gehrig. A biography, a civil rights quilt, inspiration poetry. This packet of support materials for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic units on heroes, contains enrichment activities...
It's About Time
Reflected Light
The lesson allows young scientists to use lasers and mirrors to study reflected light. A reading passage and homework question assess learning, while additional material introduces extension activities.
It's About Time
Push or Pull - Adding Vectors
Demonstrate Newton's Second Law of Motion with an engaging lesson. Individuals explore the difference between forces in relation to a push or a pull, and they identify various forces that cause an object to move. They explore the concept...
NASA
Space-Based Astronomy on the Internet
Young scientists compile everything they have learned into a report in the fifth and final lesson in a unit on the visible light spectrum. Access to photos from observatories, telescopes, and satellites allows learners to compare and...
It's About Time
Metals and Nonmetals
Did you know you can melt the metal gallium with just the heat of your hand? Pupils observe and test materials in order to classify them as metal or non-metal. A reading passage and analysis questions wrap up the lesson.
It's About Time
Where are the Volcanoes?
Middle school geologists map the volcanoes closest to themselves, learn about map distortion, and infer possible future volcano locations. A focus on latitude, longitude, and volcanoes beneath the ocean helps connect the lesson.
It's About Time
Conservation of Momentum
Assist your class with understanding collisions as they apply the Law of Conservation of Momentum. Pupils measure the momentum before and after manipulation of two objects so that one strikes another in an inelastic collision. The lesson...
It's About Time
Life (and Death) Before Seat Belts
Did you know only 80-90% of passengers wear a seat belt in a moving car? Young scholars use clay and a cart to complete an experiment about what happens without a seat belt in a collision. The lesson includes Newton's Second Law of...
It's About Time
Force Fields
Young scholars investigate both bar and horseshoe magnets. They explore force fields with a compass and iron fillings before making an electromagnet. This is the first in a series of nine lessons.
It's About Time
Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation
While science is looking for correct explanations, pseudoscience often fills in the blanks. Pupils explore the relationship between light distance and intensity and graph their data. Then they compare their data to Newton's Law of...