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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Dia de los Muertos: Honoring our Ancestors Through Community Celebration

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Oral storytelling has been an important part of every culture. The time-honored practice uses stories as a conduit for a culture's values and customs from one generation to the next. Keep the tradition going with a family interview...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Baga Drum

For Teachers K - 6th
Students examine a Baga Drum in order to explore the history of the Baga people of West Africa. In this art history lesson, students recognize figures used in Baga Drum design that represent aspects of Baga culture. They also design and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Going...going...gone? Tropical Rainforests-How They Work, What They Do for Us, What's Being Done to Them...

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore the Tropical Rainforest and come to understand what it is and how it affects the ecosystem. In this rainforests instructional activity, 6th graders write about the Tropical Rainforest, imagine they are in the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Westward Movement

For Teachers Pre-K - 8th
Learners study the westward movement through examining stamps. In this westward movement lesson plan, students draw conclusions, determine cause and effect relationships and examine the westward movement of the United States by...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Under the Spell of Spiders

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Learners examine spiders. In these spider lessons, students will view spider images and live spiders to determine physical characteristics, habits, and habitats. Learners will examine fantasy and folklore about spiders to create and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Size Shapes Animals

For Teachers Pre-K - 3rd
Students investigate how size affects large and small animals differently. In this animal lesson plan, students determine how size affects different animals by constructing their own animal out of marshmallows. Once students create...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossils Footprints Across Time

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students examine fossils to understand how they are formed and how they give information about geological history. In this fossil activity, students research and write about fossils and make models of different fossil types.The PDF...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Language Spoken in Mexico

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders explore how to say numbers and words in Spanish. They match Spanish words to the translated English words. They recognze words that are similar in the Spanish and English language.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students participate in multiple hands-on activities to explore reproduction and pollination. In groups, using a cotton swab and powder, students simulate being pollinators and plants. They name the parts of the flowers and the function...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rocks and Minerals

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students bring rocks and minerals from home to investigate in the classroom. In this rocks and minerals lesson plan, students observe all the rocks and minerals brought into the class and answer 7 questions about the features of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lift and Drag: Principles of Flight and the Soaring Imagination

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Students construct models of early gas balloons and gliders. In this balloon and glider lesson, students create models of early gas balloons and gliders, discover how the forces of lift and drag effect aircraft in flight, and put on...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dinosaurs Were Real!

For Teachers Pre-K - 3rd
Students investigate the history of dinosaurs, as real animals. In this dinosaur lesson plan, students examine basic concepts that help them understand the history of all life. Included in this article is information on the world of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

COLORFUL LAYERS AND DECORATIVE PATTERNS

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils view and discuss the work of Trudy Kraft and then create a batik project based on her ideas of pattern and depth of overlapping color in a transparent medium.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring diversity: Finding ways to learn about our multi-cultural community

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students discuss ways to research our multicultural communities, set personal goals for learning about others, and outline a plan with specific goals to achieve their goals.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Latino Contributions To American Culture

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students create their own working definition of what it means to be an American. They examine the achievements of Latinos and discuss how the contribution of these Americans have enriched and helped shape American culture.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stories of the Wrights' Flight

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Pupils examine and compare primary and secondary source accounts of the Wright brothers' first flights on December 17, 1903.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Revolutionary Money

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Examine paper money from the American revolution! Historians study the paper bills and discuss the history of money. How has money changed over the times? Activities are included. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Letters from the Japanese American Internment

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mineral Scavenger Hunt

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students complete a scavenger hunt worksheet as they find examples in their classroom, at home, etc., of minerals. Excellent worksheet!
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Climate and Cultures of Africa

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Young scholars gain an understanding of the relationship between climate and culture in the sub- Saharan Africa. Students will complete short exercises pertaining to the various cultures of Africa and the climate in which they live....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Minerals, Crystals, and Gems

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students discover the relationships between minerals, crystals and gems. They bring in rocks that they find at home, in the schoolyard, etc. and examine them and attempt to identify them. They set up a classroom exhibit that includes all...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Things Fly

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students observe photographs of selected twentieth-century aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum and note differences in the design of aircraft wings, fuselages, and engines.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pictures Telling Stories

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students see the importance of primary sources in the study of history, but also the limitations of relying only on primary sources of taking the money, as it were, at face value.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creatures from Planet X: Spiders

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students are given a description of some fascinating animals from "Planet X". They follow the descriptions given to illustrate one of these animals paying careful attention to introduced vocabulary such as 'appendages', 'receptors', and...