Curriculum Corner
Inferencing
Inferencing is a necessary reading skill to uncover non-explicit messages in text. Use the set of resources as a way to guide learners toward becoming expert inferrers through reading prompts and literature with text and without text.
Curated OER
The Miracle of the First Poinsettia
Connecting to literature and learning how to infer are two great reading strategies everyone needs to know. Here, the class will read along with the story The Miracle of the First Poinsettia, review folktales as a genre, and make...
Curated OER
Gathering Data to Problem Solve
Young scholars, while using reading and writing strategies (subheads, prediction, skim, details, drawing inferences, etc,), solve math problems that involve gathering and representing data (addition, subtraction, multiplication). They...
It's About Time
Volcanic Landforms
Did you know the word volcano comes from the name of the Roman god of fire, Vulcan? During this activity, scholars make a topographic map, interpret topographic maps, and infer how lava will flow based on their analysis.
Mr. E. Science
The Scientific Method
The scientific method is key to implementing tests and experiments. From stating the problem to arriving at the conclusion, every scientist in the class learns the value of the method through an educational slide show presentation.
Curated OER
Reading Strategies
Good readers have internalized a system of strategies to understand text. While most reading programs explicitly teach these strategies, this presentation could be used as a discussion starter to help students understand such things as...
Curated OER
The Magical Diving Sub
First graders discuss and predict if a given object sinks or floats. They record their predictions on a data sheet. Pupils test the objects and organize them into floating/sinking groups. Students observe the floating and sinking of a...
Curated OER
Introducing the Memo
Examine the text structure of a memo with this worksheet. Eighth to twelfth graders decide if the purpose of a memo is to motivate an action or to provide information to the reader. They explore new vocabulary and make predictions prior...
Science 4 Inquiry
Investigating How Heat Flows
It is impossible to cool down a glass of water by adding ice. Young scientists explore heat transfer through videos, experiments, and interactive games. They quickly catch on that the water melts the ice and things aren't always as they...
Curated OER
Deep Convective Clouds
Learners observe clouds. In this deep convective clouds instructional activity, students analyze cloud data recorded over one month and draw conclusions based on results. Learners predict "Thunderstorm Season" and prepare to defend...
Science 4 Inquiry
Levitation Engineers: Exploring Forces
Levitation tricks have been documented from the early 1900s, so how do they do it? Scholars learn about the force of magnetism in an attractive resource. They watch videos and design experiments to understand the strength and...
Curated OER
How Scientists Work
The arsenal of tools a scientist uses to observe the world are varied. This great presentation gives students a look at some of the strategies they should use when looking at the world around them. The information can be used as a...
Skyscraper Museum
Changes in a City Over Time
Investigate the growth and development of New York City with the final lesson in this four-part series on skyscrapers. Learners first explore the concept of urban growth by looking closely at a series of three paintings made of Wall...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Zebrafish and Skin Color
You may not know if that zebrafish in your fish tank is a model citizen—but it is definitely a model organism! What can we learn about ourselves from a tiny zebrafish? Discover more about the polygenic trait of skin color through a...
Berkshire Museum
The Three Life-Giving Sisters: Plant Cultivation and Mohican Innovation
Children gain first-hand experience with Native American agriculture while investigating the life cycle of plants with this engaging experiment. Focusing on what the natives called the Three Sisters - corn, beans, and squash - young...
Curated OER
Tracking Ocean Ecology
Students look at the data maps given to them about how chlorophyll affects the algae blooms and make predictions about the harm they will cause. In this data maps lesson plan, students manipulate data sets from the website.
Tracy Pendry
Cardiovascular/Circulatory System
Explore the circulatory system with a cardiovascular pump activity that promotes discovery and discussion as class members create a functioning model of the heart. Continue the learning process through a web quest showcasing the body's...
Curated OER
The Magical Diving Sub
Learners use their background knowledge of how scientists work to discuss and predict if a given object will sink or float. They record their predictions on a data sheet. Students test the objects and organize them into floating or...
Curated OER
A Survey of Plankton Communities
In this biology worksheet, students identify and define the vocabulary terms listed and make a prediction about the outcomes of the experiment. Then they complete the chart of the observations of the plankton diversity in drops of pond...
Curated OER
Drugged Out Daphnia
Students make predictions and investigate (using a microscope) the effects of nicotine, caffeine, aspirin, alcohol, and sleeping pills on cultures of fresh water Daphnia.
Curated OER
Worm Weather Predicted
Students examine worm habitats. In this animal habitats lesson, students participate in a lab activity that requires them to explore the adaptations that earthworms make to their environment.
Science 4 Inquiry
Temperature of Inner Planets
Mars, Earth, and Venus contain atmospheres that generate weather. Young scientists explore the temperature of inner planets. They create a model simulating the greenhouse effect before researching and answering guided questions to...
Curated OER
Esperanza Rising - Literature Circles and Review (Day 3)
Kids love working with their peers. Get your class into small literature circles and have them complete weekly assignments. Before beginning this week's activity, have each learner write a letter from Esperanza in California to Abuelita...
Curated OER
Round and Round
Learners interpret data from a three-dimensional array of current monitors to determine an overall pattern of water circulation. They hypothesize what effect an observed water circulation pattern might have on seamount fauna. A very...