Code.org
The Cost of "Free"
Explore the trade-offs of using a free app. The fourth installment of a 12-part unit helps young consumers discover the cost of receiving a free service. They learn how these apps make use of their access to data.
Curated OER
Computer Basics and Appropriate Use
View this PowerPoint and go over the basic rules about computers. It is well-suited for all ages because the rules apply to all learners. Everyone benefits from knowing the terms for working with computers. But more importantly, make...
National Gallery of Canada
The Tools of Perspective
Make a study of perspective in the real world. Learners examine and discuss works of art that show examples of perspective before trying their own hands at it. Using a grid drawn on transparent paper, class members transfer a view from a...
National Gallery of Canada
Make a Pinhole Camera
Introduce your class to photography by asking them to construct their own pinhole cameras. After putting together their own devices, pupils take and develop pictures and analyze the results. The plan provides step-by-step instructions...
Teach Engineering
Engineering Brainstorming
Here is a lesson that offers a great hybrid of forming new skills and using current knowledge to come up with a plan. The class brainstorms information they would need to know or already know about hybrid vehicles. They then group...
Curated OER
Career & Technical Education: Grade 7
Educate your learners on the importance of using bio-diesel as an alternative transportation fuel. Provided here are several links to books (with reviews), a 24-page informational text in three reading levels, a corn activity, and...
Curated OER
Thumbs Up For Movie Reviews
If your class loves movies, this lesson is sure to interest them. After discussing the purpose and structure of movie reviews, young writers compose a movie review and discuss why people may read a review before they go see a film. The...
Curated OER
Learning to Write and Send Email
Students generate more expressibe and receptive language by send emails to a friend. They improve their word processing and technology skills by sending and receiving emails. A rubric is included in this lesson plan for assessment purposes.
Teach Engineering
Water Power
Young hydrologists observe a waterwheel which helps them investigate the transformations of energy that occur when the blades of a hydro-turbine are turning. They work together in pairs and pretend to be engineers who are building a new...
Curated OER
Solving a Simple Maze
It is a-maze-ing how lost one can get. Teams reconstruct a simple maze and solve it. Participants create an algorithm that a robot would follow in order to solve the maze as well. The activity includes an extension directing pupils to...
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
The Effects of Colloidal Silver on Microbial Growth: Investigating Snake Oil Science
Can your classes solve the problem of the smelly sweat sock? Young scientists complete a lab investigation that begins by using electrochemistry to generate colloidal silver. They use their solutions to test the rate of microbial growth...
Newseum
Fake News Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources
Unfortunately, fake news, fuzzy facts, and bogus news stories are not new phenomena. Class members use a "Fake News Through History" worksheet to analyze historical examples of false, invented, made-up news. Researchers share their...
Curated OER
My Name Is...
First graders write four simple sentences about themselves. In this simple sentences lesson plan, learners insert a picture of themselves into Microsoft Word. Everyone writes four simple sentences about themselves. These pictures and...
Newseum
The Medium Shapes the Message
Where do you get your news? Have learners examine four different publications and decide which one they would choose to read on their own time. The resource includes a list of publication types to supply and a worksheet for groups...
ARKive
Invasive Species
Learn about how invasive species and introduced species impact the environment around them with a presentation and lesson plan. After viewing the presentation, learners go to the library and computer lab to look up various species and...
Newseum
Confronting Conformation Bias
Be curious! Seek out different opinions! Be conscious of your thinking process! After reading an article about confirmation bias and motivated reasoning, class members apply these strategies to the topic of school start times. They read...
Newseum
Civil War: Encoding the News
Young journalists learn to appreciate the advantages of how modern media technology enables rapid news delivery as they compare today's media revolution to how the telegraph and Morse Code revolutionized news coverage during the Civil...
Curated OER
Prairie Scavenger Hunt
Middle schoolers take a close look at the prairie environment. They identify common plants and animals of the prairie. In addition, pupils work in teams in order to put together a presentation on a certain aspect of the prairie...
Curated OER
Paper Suspension Bridges: You Want Me To Go Up There?
A few class periods will be required to complete this physics investigation with your high schoolers. There is an unavailable video written into the lesson plan, but there is plenty of material here to bridge the gap. Two terrific...
US Department of Energy
Building the Basic PVC Wind Turbine
Here is a comprehensive and well-written lesson plan that results in learners building a standard wind turbine. Once built, teens can design a variety of experiments to test different factors. This activity is a noble undertaking that...
Curated OER
Plan a Trip
Students plan for a trip. They use map quest and / or road maps to decide on an address for their trip. They determine the mileage, lodging, gasoline to be used, shortest distance and fastest distance.
Curated OER
Technology
Students trace and analyze the impact of the atomic bomb on warfare, society and government. They apply this process to other more modern technological inventions in our lives.
Curated OER
How Should Our Gardens Grow?
Students examine different types of land use by humans and evaluate the ways land is used in their local community. They also consider the environmental effects of the different types of land use. Students assume the role of community...
Curated OER
Invention: Computer Technology
Middle schoolers comprehend that inventions can change the way we live. They comprehend that many inventions start out with design flaws and are refined later by subsequent inventors and designers. Students are explained that the...