Curated OER
Features and Limits of Aircraft Design
Students identify the desired features of an aircraft and the limits that they, the Wright Brothers, or NASA scientists might face in designing one, and methods to solve these. They review parts of an airplane and what makes it fly. They...
Curated OER
Ben Franklin's Inventions
Learners discover the life of Benjamin Franklin by studying his inventions. In this biography lesson, students identify the inventions of Benjamin Franklin and their impact on society today. Learners create a commercial in an...
John Lentine
Butterflies and Bugs
Symmetry, line, shape, art, and math are all connected through a fun hands-on craft. Included are instructions to a classic activity, where learners create butterflies to show symmetry in nature and then discuss symmetry in math. It is...
Curated OER
The Origin of Life
In this origin of life worksheet, students write answers to five questions. They describe characteristics of the first life forms and how scientists believe oxygen accumulated in the Earth's atmosphere.
Curated OER
Garden For Life
Students are read a story about a girl their age helping others. They discover they can have a positive impact on others. They decide on a project related to literature that benefits the school or community.
Curated OER
The Man Who Saw the Future: Arthur C. Clarke
Students are introduced to science fiction as an adjunct to learning about science. They tape into their creativity by combining science with aspects of the arts. They research real time data available on the Web about space, and Mars in...
Curated OER
A Brand New Day
Students locate Maine on a classroom map and discuss if Maine is where the nation's first light is found, where would the nation's last light be seen. They explore the idea of the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.
Curated OER
Planets or Not, Here We Come!
Students, working in groups, research planets in terms of the size, temperature, number of moons, and potential for life. They use packets and worksheets as guides for their research. Students may role-play as aliens visiting their...
Museum of Tolerance
Oral History Activity
Oral history has brought a multitude of lessons, stories, and factoids to our current knowledge of the past. Let us continue to use oral history traditions through a lesson that encourages pupils to discover and appreciate...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Recipe for an Inaugural Address
An inaugural address represents the first moments of a new beginning. Using John F. Kennedy's speech as a model for guided practice, groups examine the ingredients of an inaugural address. Individuals then repeat the analysis...
DiscoverE
Build a Big Wheel
Pasta is great for cooking—and for making Ferris wheels. Aspiring engineers use an assortment of pasta types to create a functioning Ferris wheel. They keep track of the design process to refine their designs, if necessary. Let's hope no...
Curated OER
Go Fly a ( Tetrehedral) Kite!
Students research the tetrahedral kites invented by Alexander Graham Bell. In this components of flight instructional activity, students examine the kites made by Bell and his team. Students create their own kite and add them together as...
Curated OER
Photovoltaics and Solar Energy
Young scholars experiment with photovoltaic cells and determine the energy use of their appliances. In this renewable energy lesson, students calculate the energy emitted by a photovoltaic cell through an inquiry-based lab. They keep...
Curated OER
Land Use Change Over Time
Learners use historical aerial photographs and current aerial photographs to compare the change over time to the land. In this land changing lesson plan, students analyze, compare, contrast, and list the land change in their own community.
Curated OER
Constructing a Periodic Table of Elements
Students create a periodic table of elements. In this chemistry lesson plan, students work together to build all of the different elements into a complete mini periodic table. They identify similarity and difference of the elements.
Curated OER
The Universe
Middle schoolers describe what scientists mean by an "expanding universe" in their own words. They explain how scientists comprehend the universie is expanding. Students comprehend the vast scale of the universe. They comprehend how...
Curated OER
Water, Water Everywhere, Even Underground
The "Engage" section of a wetlands lesson plan asks young ecologists to examine a wetlands poster. You can easily find one online and display it using a projector. Pupils immerse a piece of sandstone and a piece of granite in water to...
Curated OER
Gardening in Containers
Learners plant a garden. In this gardening lesson, students use containers to plant a garden. This lesson provides a good source of information for teachers who wish to begin their class's own container garden.
Curated OER
Growing Up (And Around, and Down...) Exploring Plant Growth
Students build plant growing structures. In this plant growth lesson, students plant growth structures such as a garden tepee or a crawl through tunnel. They grow plants that are appropriate for the structure.
Curated OER
Extraterrestrial Communication: Can We Talk to Anybody Out There?
Learners examine the possibilities of communication with other living organisms within our solar system through research and hands on activities, as well as observing and analyzing teacher demonstrations.
Curated OER
In a Galaxy Far, Far, Far Away
Sixth graders compare distances between objects in the solar system. They investigate how light years are measured and when using them to measure how distances compare with one another. They write an essay exploring the possibility of...
Curated OER
Mushroom
Students identify the different types of mushrooms. In this biology lesson, students explore different mushroom experiments they can do at home. They discuss ways to extend sliced mushrooms' shelf life.
Curated OER
Using Fabrics in Your Art Curriculum
Students use a dicut machine to do block printing on fabric. In this fabric lesson plan, students draw, carve, and print onto blocks for this art project.
Curated OER
Moon WebQuest
Third graders research basic information about the moon and identify the phases and order of the phases of the moon. They conduct Internet research, complete a moon WebQuest, and write a magazine article about the moon using their...