Chymist
Landfills and Recycling
Examine the nature of landfills through experimentation. Scholars build miniature landfills and monitor changes over a six-week period. Observations allow individuals to draw conclusions about the different types of trash and their...
Curated OER
Post- Modernism
Students participate in a lesson that investigates post-modernism in American literature. They conduct the lesson with the help of reading "America" by Ginsberg to create context. Then students define the genre and the culture that has...
Curated OER
Ecology
Students explore, experience and experiment identifying the human impact on the environment of vegetative differences within the same biome. They assess what causes deserts, rain forests, savannahs, tundras and saguaros and how these...
Curated OER
Then and Now, A Watershed in San Francisco
Students compare recent and historic maps to explore landscape changes. Using photos provided, students identify prominent features on the maps. They discuss differences in landscape, human impact on watershed, and changes in natural...
Curated OER
William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying
Students analyze William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. In this literature analysis lesson, students compare a modern novel and play. Students analyze Faulkner's interior monologues. Students write a paper about the ways As I Lay Dying is or...
Curated OER
Radiation Reassessed
Students investigate the dangers of radiation by exploring recent nuclear tragedies. In this scientific debate instructional activity, students define the idea of radiation "half life" and determine if low doses of radiation are...
Curated OER
Waterwheel Work
Learners investigate the history of the waterwheel and common uses for water turbines today. They construct an experimental waterwheel using a two-liter plastic bottle, measure the rate of revolution of a waterwheel, and complete a...
Curated OER
A Man of Integrity and Courage
Students read one of the most important articles in modern medical history on the importance of conducting research in an ethical manner that includes participants who give informed consent.
Curated OER
Friction and Machines
Fifth graders experimentally determine the relationship of friction to the functioning of machines. They demonstrate that rollers can decrease frictional force and increase speed and research to discover other ways that friction can be...
Curated OER
Flying With The Wright Stuff
Students explore the history of flight, specifically the Wright brothers. Pupils create paper airplanes. They discuss considerations in building an aircraft such as drag, thrust, and weight. Classmates compare the Wright Brother's...
National First Ladies' Library
A Blessing in Disguise
Young scholars study the history of polio as well as a history of modern medicine, the history of alternative medicine and the role of the scientific method in each of these histories. They review the scientific method and research...
Teach Engineering
Will It Fly?
Go fly a kite, then fly a plane! The 19th part of a 22-part unit on aviation looks at the way kites and gliders help aid in the understanding of flight. Pupils discuss how engineers used kites to influence airplane designs.
Penguin Books
Teacher's Guide: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
A teacher's guide for Kindred provides instructors with a wealth of materials to enrich either a full-class reading or independent study of Octavia E. Butler's popular science fiction novel. The activities are designed to...
Teach Engineering
Fun Look at Material Science
Introduce materials science with a class demonstration. After showing a PowerPoint presentation on materials and their properties, instructors provide a ceramic tile, a Popsicle stick, a paper clip, and a plastic bag as examples of...
Curated OER
Simple Harmonic Motion with Dr. DAQ
Young scholars study the work and accomplishment of Galileo. In this physics lesson, students calculate the period of a pendulum's using a mathematical equation. They explain the different factors affecting its period.
Curated OER
The Challenge to Deliver Insulin
Students study the types of diabetes and why insulin is important. In this diabetes instructional activity students build molecular models and create a healthy lifestyle plan.
Curated OER
The Effects of the Calcium Ion on Cooked Dry Beans
Students investigate the effects of calcium ions on the quality characteristics of cooked dry beans. In this calcium ion and dry bean investigation lesson plan, students soak dry beans using 2 different soaking techniques and 2 different...
Curated OER
The Challenge to Deliver Insulin
Young scholars investigate these fundamental chemical and cellular processes. They recognize the long-term danger that comes from a diet of fast food, chips, and soda, realize that avoiding diabetes is their responsibility, and ...
Curated OER
My "Red" Room
Young scholars utilize art analysis skills by examining the work of Henri Matisse. In this painting lesson, students examine L'Atelier Rouge by Henri Matisse and identify the objects in the room and colors used. Young scholars create...
Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery: Eye Contact: Modern American Portrait Drawings
Portraits in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery can be seen and understood with excellent gallery notes that also survey the history of portraiture in American art leading up to the modern period.