King County
Reproductive System
It's every health and science teacher's favorite subject to cover: the reproductive system. This comprehensive lesson introduces adolescents to the reproductive anatomy of men and women with the help of a series of diagrams, discussions,...
Virginia Department of Education
Identifying Audience and Purpose
Use a fun and creative activity to introduce junior high learners to how writing changes for different audiences and purposes. The activity begins with a reading by the instructor where teens visualize a food fight in the cafeteria. In...
Perkins School for the Blind
Left Versus Right
When you can't see, it is extremely important to be able to reorient yourself. Learners with visual impairments work though an activity to build spacial awareness based on moving left and right. A marker (bracelet, bell, or weight) is...
Brigham Young University
Introducing the Text and Learning the Process of Script Analysis
Where do directors and set designers get their ideas so that the set they build creates the mood and atmosphere the director wants for a production? From the script! Introduce theater high schoolers to the script analysis techniques used...
Curated OER
Creating an Original Opera
This may be a lot to ask of a high schooler, but then again, who knows? Pupils work in groups to explore, write, and then perform an original opera. They view versions of The Magic Flute and La Traviata, then compose a plot, characters,...
Curated OER
Evaluating Information on Food Labels
What kinds of foods include corn? Corn syrup? Start by viewing a clip of Food Inc. with your middle or high schoolers. Then, study a list of corn-derived ingredients, encouraging your class to see how many food products contain corn. A...
Curated OER
Sponge Painting Flowers
Explore the shapes and colors of spring with a flower themed painting project. Included here are a list of materials and the instructions needed to execute an art lesson on sponge painting flowers. Tip: Use in conjunction with a flower...
Smithsonian Institution
Songs, Sounds and Stories from the Georgia Sea Islands
American music is the result of the influence of many cultures, including the traditions brought by the African slaves. Young scholars study the polyrhythms, the call-and-response format, and the vocal improvisations of the Gullah...
Curated OER
Name That Tune
Integrating technology and music can be a snap with lessons like this one! Kids in a junior high band class took to the Internet to download and practice playing their instrument with a computer generated back up band. They practice...
San Diego Museum of Art
Atmospheric Perspective Watercolor Painting
How do artists create the illusion of depth and distance on a flat surface? Young landscape painters explore techniques like color saturation and detail placement that create atmospheric perspective.
Curated OER
ourney Through Time: Art Tells the History of Nebraska
Fourth graders discuss early Nebraskan history. They view and discuss the painting "Sodhouse Family." Students are directed to the artistic elements of the painting, such as the horizon line. They follow a prescribed procedure to create...
Curated OER
Things That Make Us Want To Scream
Students create a drawing of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and draw items that make them want to scream in this creative Art lesson for the Middle or High School classroom. The lesson includes resource links for artwork and background...
Curated OER
Messages in Art Work
Observe images and discuss what messages they convey. In this critical thinking lesson plan, students determine whether works of art are trying to persuade their audience. They also consider the media and how they communicate messages to...
Curated OER
Interpreting Selected Works of Art from the 20th Century African-American Experience
Students examine pieces of art by African-American artists in the 20th Century. For each piece, they are shown slides of the artwork and others by the artist to identify the techniques used. In groups, they discuss and research the...
Curated OER
The Art of Making Do
Students learn how to understand and use fabrics in a scrap quilt. They will gain the most if they can actually compose a quilt (or the beginnings of one) within class time.Quilting is a skill that is difficult for younger children to...
Curated OER
Pot Of Gold Craft
Students create "Pot of Gold" containers using recycled baby food jars, ribbon, pom poms, tissue paper, and kraft glue. This Art lesson is ideal for elementary classrooms, but can also be adapted for a small service project at the High...
Curated OER
Lesson: Elizabeth Peyton: Artist's Community: The Real
What is real or imagined? The lines of beauty reality, and imagination are blurred in Elizabeth Peyton's portraits of her community. Learners analyze her use of artistic technique in conveying real and imagined communities. They then use...
University of Minnesota
Beautiful Brain: Brain Inspiration
"Neuroscientists consider Cajal as important to their discipline as Einstein is to physics." The first of four lessons has scholars view Santiago Ramon y Cajal's drawings of neurons. They reflect and respond to the art through writing...
Curated OER
Lesson: Lisa Signal: Altering Perspectives
Kids make big artistic gestures, just like the abstract artist, Lisa Signal. They use her work as inspiration for making simplistic, abstract, statements in an artistic way. They analyze her work, then walk through an unfamiliar...
Curated OER
Lesson: Mary Heilmann: To Be Someone
Kids consider the pure abstraction and minimalism found in Mary Heilmann's work. They analyze several of her pieces through critical discussion and then think about her use of a song title as the title of her exhibit. Learners then use a...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Shaping Ideas: Symbolism in Sculpture—Lesson 3
The final session in a sequential, three-lesson sculpture study designed by the education staff of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has class members using the criterial they developed to critique each others' symbolic sculptures.
Curated OER
Understanding the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
How did our universe really begin? Explore the Science Big Bang Theory and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with this multiple activity-based lesson that demonstrates that the increase of density due to the decrease of temperatures,...
Curated OER
Making Art That Matters
Students plan and execute a mural, in small groups, that attempts to protest or persuade. They focus on effective definition of shape, use of symbols, and impact on their intended viewers.
Curated OER
An Approach to Chemistry via the Analysis of Art Objects: The Scientific Method, Laboratory Safety, Light and Color Theory
Students create a painting that clearly exemplifies the use of primary pigments to make secondary pigments. They demonstrate the distinction between value and saturation. They explain the affect of adjacent colors on each other and...