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Biodiversity Count
Students count the number of species they can find in a five minute block of time in both an urban lawn and natural, remnant forest area. They are introduced to the concept of low and high biodiversity areas and engage in a discussion...
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Constitutional Convention
Students engage in a role-playing situation to illustrate the kinds of compromised that were made a teh Constitutional Convention. They write three short 1-2 paragraph arguments and then present their arguments to the class at the...
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How Many Penguins Does It Take? Studying Carrying Capacity and Limiting Factors
How does a population's habitat determine the size of that population? Teach learners about carrying capacity and limiting factors with an engaging roleplay activity. Class members pose as a colony of penguins who must gather food amidst...
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Pilgrims: The First Americans
Fifth graders become familar with the pilgrims and first Thanksgiving through essays about important people of the time. In this Thanksgiving activity, 5th graders choose an important figure from the time of the Pilgrims and write a two...
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Circle Justice—Lesson 1: The Anger Within
Learners examine the emotion of anger through the poem 'A Poison Tree'. In this poetry analysis lesson, students identify and decode unfamiliar vocabulary they encounter, engage in groups discussions and complete several writing...
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Creative Ways To Teach Characterization Lessons
Teaching characterization can be a creative, engaging experience for students.
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Physics Park
Students research and design a playground for a park or school in their community. They explore the physics concepts that are present in the design and, if applicable promote their ideas to city or school officials.
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Social Studies: Exploring Boston's Big Dig
Students, in a high school class for autistic children, take a virtual tour of Boston's "Big Dig" and the artifacts discovered there. During weekly lab sessions, they discover the processes involved in artifact preservation. Using...
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Learning Opportunities around the World
Students discover how education effects them and their community in a positive way. In this community lesson, students engage in a class discussion about the benefits of public education and play "community I-Spy."
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The Rules of the Game
Students debate whether college athletes should be held to a higher behavioral standard than non-athletes. Students determine whether behavior outside of school should be punishable by university administration, then write letters to the...
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The Environment
Students, while engaged in a group discussion, collaborate a mini-project on environmental issues at home and/or in the classroom as well as incorporating environmentally related words and expressions within their daily diary writing...
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Book Project Lesson Plans
Long term book projects can help engage students and enhance their critical thinking skills .
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Election Lesson Plans
Election lessons inspire and engage students in democratic dialogue.
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Get Out, Get Active: Three Social Studies Activities Your Students Will Love
Three recommendations to help keep your students engaged via outdoors social studies activities.
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Monkeying Around
Third graders study machines. They watch a video about and identify and chart machines they find at home and at school. They design and build simple and compound machines, create an advertisement for them and attempt to sell them at the...