Virginia Department of Education
Surface Area and Volume
Partners use materials to wrap three-dimensional objects to determine the formula for surface area. The groups use an orange to calculate the amount of peel it takes to completely cover the fruit. Using manipulatives, individuals then...
EngageNY
Statements of Order in the Real World
Positive and negative numbers are all around us. Groups read short story contexts and identify a rational number that represents the values in the context. They order the rational numbers and interpret statements of inequality.
EngageNY
Computing Actual Lengths from a Scale Drawing
The original drawing is eight units — how big is the scale drawing? Classmates determine the scale percent between a scale drawing and an object to calculate the length of a portion of the object. They use the percent equation to find...
NOAA
Invent a Robot!
Wait til your class gets their hands on this! Aspiring engineers design a working robotic arm in the fifth and final installment in a series of ocean exploration lessons. Pupils learn about the use of underwater robots in ocean...
PBS
Helping Hand
Reach out and grab something. Given the task of picking up objects at least two feet away, pupils design and build a grabber. The last activity in a series of five challenges requires learners to use information about fulcrums and levers.
Science 4 Inquiry
The Classification of Living Things
It's a classification sensation! Demystify why we classify using an inquiry activity that helps your class sort things out. Groups begin by classifying a variety of shoes before they research organisms and design their own dichotomous...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Understanding Wave Motion - Slinky vs. Snaky: Which Spring is Dominant?
Ride the wave to an understanding of refraction! The first in a series of two inquiry-based lessons challenges learners to create transverse waves with two different types of springs. As their wave hits an object, they observe the change...
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
The Game of SKUNK
Do I stand or do I sit? The class plays a dice game where they must decide to either continue to stand and play or sit down and keep their points. After the game, groups discuss individuals' strategies and see connections to the...
Curated OER
Pythagoras' Theorem
Learners are introduced to the Pythagoras' Theorem and its history, proofs and practice in application. Students find perimeters, areas and volume of everyday objects. Learners state and explain the theory.
Curated OER
"Old 300"
Fourth graders combine art and history to assess the importance of the "Old 300." They explore a group of colonists that Stephen F. Austin brought to Texas as the first settlers and then create a time line of major events leading to the...
Curated OER
Talking Sticks Literature Circle
Following the six-step process for a talking sticks literature circle, group members choose a leader for the discussion, summarize the reading, discuss journal entries and questions, set reading goals, and write reflections. I think this...
Curated OER
Math Throughout the Day
Learners practice their number sense throughout the day. They practice their use and understanding of numbers in every part of the day. Students watch and listen to the teacher count students in class, sort themselves based on colors or...
TryEngineering
Exploring at the Nanoscale
Discover a world too small to see. In the lesson, young scientists learn about nanotechnology and brainstorm ideas for new applications of it. They perform an activity to determine how surface area changes when objects are made smaller...
Teach Engineering
Energy Forms and States Demonstrations
Does a tennis ball have energy? What about a bowling ball? Demonstrate concepts of different forms of energy forms and states with a variety of objects. Using the equations for potential and kinetic energy,...
Perkins School for the Blind
Planning a Special Event
I love planning parties, they are a great way to get social, require organizational skills, and engage cooperative problem solving. Teens with visual impairments put their heads together to plan an event for their friends. They...
Illustrative Mathematics
How Many Containers in One Cup / Cups in One Container?
The object is to model fraction division by asking “How many are in one group?” It is a difficult concept to understand, but developing the model that shows one cup to a certain amount of container or one container to a certain amount of...
Illustrative Mathematics
Roll & Build
Develop young mathematicians' understanding of place value with this hands-on math activity. Working in pairs, learners take turns building two-digit numbers by rolling two ten-sided dice. Base ten blocks are then used to model the...
Explore Sound
Sound and Music
What causes sound? Groups of sound detectives use a variety of tools including ping pong balls, pasta noodles, raisins, rubber mallets, and a tuning fork to investigate what causes sound. The young Sherlocks conduct a series of...
Teach Engineering
Energy and the Pogo Stick
Let your class bounce to examine the concept elastic potential energy. Individuals bounce on a pogo stick in order to calculate its elastic potential energy. Groups then compare the elastic potential energy to the gravitational...
Do2Learn
Social Skills Card Game
Encourage social skills including listening, speaking, and taking turns with a card game that challenges scholars to discuss topics and summarize in groups of four.
02 x 02 Worksheets
Symmetry
Get learners' minds rotating and reflecting while looking for symmetry. Pupils investigate figures to determine the number of lines of symmetry and if the figure has rotational symmetry. Classmates work together in groups to find out the...
Florida International University
Designing an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV): Concepts in Lift, Drag, Thrust, Energy, Power, Mass, and Buoyancy
Engineer an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to study concepts of physics. Using household materials, collaborative groups design and build an AUV and then test Newton's Laws of Motion as they apply them in underwater environments...
Cornell University
Nano Interactions
Tiny particles can provide big learning opportunities! Middle school scientists explore the world of nanoparticles through reading, discussion, and experiment. Collaborative groups first apply nanotechnology to determine water...
Smithsonian Institution
Western Indian Wars
Why do many Native Americans live on reservations? An interactive resource teaches about how reservations came to be and the tragic history behind Native Americans moving from their lands. Teenagers read passages, view images, and click...