Curated OER
Blast Off with Model Rockets
Students investigate science and math by building a rocket. In this geometry activity, students build a rocket using paper towel tubes while investigating questions about launching a rocket. They discuss balance and unique structure as...
Curated OER
Reaching Across Borders In Southern Africa
Students gain a greater understanding of how political borders impact human and environmental development. Then, either individually or as a class, establish a correspondence with a Peace Corps volunteer working in Africa.
Curated OER
Three D Constellations
Students address a major misconception in astronomy, the understanding of scale. The lesson plan is designed to introduce students to both celestial coordinates and to the first rung on the distance determination ladder, parallax.
Curated OER
Creating a Simple Telegraph Machine
Students experiment and discuss circuits and how they work. In this science lesson, students construct a telegraph machine using cardboard, wires, battery, electric tape and masking tape. They investigate what happens as the circuits...
Curated OER
1,000 Cranes
Students improve motor skills through careful folding, a discipline necessary in the practice of origami. They develop multicultural awareness by exploring Japanese history.
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Floodplain Modeling
Students simulate the impact of fluctuating river volumes on structures and landforms. They experiment with table top-sized riverbed models and water. Students consider how human design can help mitigate the effects of a flood.
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From Rags to (Paper) Riches: Explore Colonial Papermaking
Young scholars explore Colonial papermaking. In this Colonial America U.S. history lesson, students analyze two poems written in the 1690s about the Rittenhouse paper mill to learn about papermaking. Young scholars produce their own...
Curated OER
Making a Rainstick
Students construct a rainstick. In this music lesson, students investigate the history of the rainstick by reading the book Bringing the Rain to the Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema. Students express their feelings about the rain and create...
Curated OER
Where Is The Juice?
Students are introduced to the component's of Ohm's Law. In groups, they practice their problem solving skills by reviewing problems solved earlier. They participate in activities that help them gather information on the importance of...
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Sustainability Project
Students explore alternative energy sources. In this environmental lesson, students discuss alternative energy sources and construct a plan to incorporate an alternative home technology into a bedroom. Students build a model of their...
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Wappo Indians of Napa County
Third graders describe the American Indian nation in their local region long ago and in the recent past in terms of national identities, religious beliefs, customs, and various folklore traditions. They synthesize their findings into a...
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Discovering a Law of Space Physics
Learners use data collected by an astronomer to determine the relationship between the time it takes the planet to orbit the sun and the average radius of the planet's orbit around the sun. Students use trial and error to find the...
Theodore Roosevelt Association
Roosevelt's Legacy: Conservation
The legacy of Theodore Roosevelt carries through modern American politics, economics, foreign policy, and society. But his proudest and most profound efforts were in the world of conservation, and in preserving the natural beauty of...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Lighthouse Problem
Long considered the symbol of safe harbor and steadfast waiting, the lighthouse gets a mathematical treatment. The straightforward question of distance to the horizon is carefully presented, followed by a look into the different...
Curated OER
Mobile Phones
Investigate how mobile phones impact their lives through this technology instructional activity that has students discuss the history of the cell phone and research how cell phones are being used in third world countries. Students create...
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Discovering Places & Regions
Fifth graders research physical and cultural features of a place. They practice skills in gathering information from various sources, using tools such as graphic organizers, word processing, multimedia, and use of the Internet.
Curated OER
Grade 8 Unit 4
Eighth graders analyze aspirations and ideals of the people of the new nation, in terms of its physical landscapes and political divisions, and the territorial expansion of the United States during the terms of the first four presidents.
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Modeling Moon Phases
Learners identify the phases of the Moon and the synchronous rotation. In this hands on lesson students will create a model of the Moon.
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Lord of the Rings - A Study of Tree Rings
Students examine trees and discuss how the environment effected the tree. They also predict what the area look like in fifty years.
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Flambe Elements
Eighth graders discuss atoms and electrons as well as atoic structure. They view atomic structure via the computer. Students watch a demonstration in which the teacher demonstrates glass tubing turning yellow in a Bunsen Burner flame....
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Acid Neutralization Lab
Students discuss and design a lab to measure pH of limestone, pyrite, limestone-pyrite mixtures and their control. They have their labs approved by the instructor before they begin. Students preform the lab and explore the acid-base...
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Political Geography of Europe
Fifth graders listen to a lecture that traces the political geography of Europe from 814 through 1997. They incorporate these themes into a research project on Western Europe.
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Eisenhower 1/26
Eighth graders identify and explain what Bernoulli's Principle is and draw diagrams to incorporate Pascal. They also perform simple calculations of density, buoyancy, and fluid pressure. Finally, 8th graders describe fluid pressure in...
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Looking into Eratosthenes' Radius of the Earth
Students, in small groups, research Eratosthenes and his calculations of the Earth's radius. They write a summary of the person, the experiments and his calculations to determine how accurate Eratosthenes was in his estimations of the...