Social Media Toolbox
Social Media Usage
Is there a difference in the way organizations present news via social media and in print? The third in a series of 16 lessons from The Social Media Toolbox explores news outlets and their delivery methods. Groups follow a story for a...
Curated OER
Formal and Informal Language
Use this resource to prepare your class for an interview unit, a presentation activity, or to simply rid their writing of informal expressions. It prompts learners to identify whether listed expressions are formal or informal. Note: The...
Curated OER
Connecting Cartography to Society
Older high schoolers use maps to study changes in society like migration, population loss, and economic shifts, and then connect events from historical events to present day mapping of their region (The resource focuses on Canada, but...
Curated OER
Native Americans
Fifth graders research Native Americans. Using Internet links, they examine facts about Native Americans and answer questions. Students create their own Native American Resource book. They research each region and complete graphic...
Curated OER
Family Heirloom Cuckoo Clock
Young scholars research the Black Forest region of Germany to assess its people, natural resources, products and crafts. They focus in on their production of cuckoo clocks. Each student designs and makes their own replica of a Black...
Curated OER
Los Estados de Mexico
Students investigate the country of Mexico and its geographical regions. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The information is used in order to create the context for creating a clay model labeled with the geographical...
Curated OER
Raven The Trickster Puppet Tales
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the legends of Native Americans that are found in the Northwest Region. They conduct research using a variety of resources and create puppets and a stage for the acting of one of the...
NOAA
I Can't Breathe!
The Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an area of low oxygen that kills marine life, costs the United States $82 million every year. Young scientists research anoxic ocean environments then come up with a hypothesis for the cause of the Gulf of...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Got Lactase? The Co-Evolution of Genes and Culture
Does the human body evolve as quickly as human culture? With a stellar 15-minute video, explore the trait of lactose intolerance. Only about 1/3 of human adults seem to still have the enzyme lactase and therefore, the ability to digest...
NASA
Earth's Global Energy Budget
Introduce your earth science enthusiasts to the earth's energy budget. Teach them using an informative set of slides that include illuminating lecturer's notes, relevant vocabulary, embedded animations, colorful satellite maps, and a...
NASA
Erosion and Landslides
A professional-quality PowerPoint, which includes links to footage of actual landslides in action, opens this moving lesson plan. Viewers learn what conditions lead to erosion and land giving way. They simulate landslides with a variety...
American Chemical Society
Exploring Moisture on the Outside of a Cold Cup: For Dry Environments
If the area you live in is arid, or the preceding experiment in this unit didn't yield obvious results, use this one in place of it to help reveal where condensation comes from. The mini unit that this is part of a comprehensive...
Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Using Our Senses to Observe
Look around and explore. Little ones use their five senses with some day-to-day activities designed to guide observation and apply STEM strategies. Young scientists learn through comparing/contrasting and observing with magnifiers as...
National Wildlife Federation
When It Rains It Pours More Drought and More Heavy Rainfall
Which is worse — drought or flooding? Neither is helpful to the environment, and both are increasing due to climate change. The 16th lesson in a series of 21 covers the average precipitation trends for two different climates within the...
National Wildlife Federation
I’ve Got the POWER! Solar Energy Potential at Your School
Should every school have solar panels? The 19th lesson in a series of 21 has scholars research the feasibility of using solar panels at their school. They begin by gathering data on the solar energy in the area before estimating the...
Curated OER
Our Barrio: Our Community/Adams & Normandie
Third graders examine various structures and people, including the region of Adams and Normandie, in Los Angeles. They conduct Internet research, and identify and locate features in the Adams/Normandie region during the past 60/70 years.
Curated OER
Food Detectives
Students investigate the regions in which particular grains are grown. Using the packaging from a variety of foods, grains are identified and the general locations where they are grown are plotted on a map.
Curated OER
Testing the Waters
Students explore water in depth through discussion, research, and experiment. Students apply map skills to locating particular regions of the world as they relate to water. Students predict water quality based on information researched...
Curated OER
Hey, I Don't Have Enough Stuff!
Third graders discover through this simulated activity that resources are unequally distributed throughout the world and that regions use resources differently. They, in groups, are assigned to research a different hemisphere.
Curated OER
Southeast States
Fourth graders explore the Southeast States. In this social studies instructional activity, 4th graders study agriculture in the Southeast region of the United States. Students read about the Southeast region and discuss with a partner...
Curated OER
Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana
Students explore the background behind the building of the access roads to the National Park in Montana. The arguments for the building of these roads in wilderness regions and the environmental issues involved are examined.
Curated OER
Making Paper
Learners explore how natural earth materials are processed into a human-made product. They simulate a manufacturing process by making paper. Students review the importance of recycling in preserving our natural earth resources.
Curated OER
The Colony of Virginia as Far as the Mississippi
Students study George Washington's map and journal of his 1754 expedition to the French. They draw conclusions about the importance of western lands and the problems involved in tapping the resources of the West during that era.
Curated OER
Native Americans
Fourth graders investigate the role of environment in the life of three Native American tribes. In this Native Americans lesson, 4th graders define environment, regions, and natural resources. Students recognize how environment...