Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
Curated OER
Science Unit Lesson Five
Sixth graders review how and which plants operate in terrariums. In groups, they follow instructions to make their own terrarium and place different types of plants in it. To end the lesson, they review the steps in the water cycle and...
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Hemlock Trees and the Pesky Pest, The Woolly Adelgid
Students review Excel and how to create graphs with this program. They create two graphs in Excel, one showing the average number of woolly adelgid egg sacks on the outer 15 cm of hemlock branch at sites sorted by latitude, then one...
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7th Grade Math: Algebra (Distributive Property)
With algebra tiles in hand 7th graders will uncover the wonders of the distributive property of multiplication. They will take a pre-test, define the distributive property, then model and practice using their tiles to solve basic...
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Emergency Preparedness
Learners take a closer look at emergency preparedness plans. In this writing skills lesson plan, students evaluate the severe weather, natural disaster, and threat plans in place at their school and then write their own improved...
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Blooming Thermometers
Students study phenology, or the study of climate change. They research the Japanese springtime festival of Hanami and plot and interpret average cherry blossom bloom date data from the past 1100 years.
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Carrot Bunch
Second graders solve a variety of math addition word problems related to planting and cooking carrots. They discuss a story from their math storybook, then read and solve a carrot word problem on a worksheet as a class. Students then...
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Mock Provincial Parliament
Students discuss characteristics of an effective leader. They divide into Government and Opposition groups. Students draft and research bills. They run a mock parliament in the classroom to pass/defeat new bills.
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Water Pollution Experiments
Fifth graders conduct experiments in simulated water pollution using a box of items to hold "pollutants"and an aquarium, representing a waterway. They observe how "rain" from a watering can poured into the box washes the pollutants into...
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Tales of Changing Seasons
Fourth graders create original myths explaining why the seasons change.
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Scavenger Hunt: A Group Collection
Learners be complete a collection of living organisms and systems from the school campus.
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Globalization: Threat or Opportunity for the U.S. Economy?
Students study the pros and cons of globalization. They highlight the economic concepts of comparative advantage, specialization, and opportunity cost. They read and discuss the "FRBSF Economic Letter: Globalization: Threat or...
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Celebrating Groundhog Day with your Students
Celebrating Groundhog Day in your classroom is a fun-filled way to explore science, art, and literature.
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Youth Obesity: Schools Fight Back
Explore nutrition and healthy eating habits with a study on youth obesity. Learners watch a PBS documentary on the obesity epidemic which discusses government programs aimed at healthier choices, as well as more localized efforts. Kids...
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Youth Obesity: Schools Fight Back
Kids fight obesity by comparing the USDA food intake suggestions to what they personally consume throughout the day. They watch a video, read texts, and explore related vocabulary which they use as they compose an oral presentation.
US Department of Energy
Geothermal Energy
With Earth Day quickly approaching, as well as many science fairs, why not challenge your class to investigate geothermal energy or other renewable energy resources? There are five driving questions explored in depth here, as well as...
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The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs: Rhyming Words
Readers explore rhyming words. They will use the story The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs to identify rhyming words. Then they will create their own lists of rhyming words. In the end, they will be able to come up with words that rhyme...
Library of Congress
Investigating the Building Blocks of Our Community’s Past, Present, and Future
As Ken Jennings said, "There's just something hypnotic about maps." Certainly, the longer you look at them the more you can learn. In this project-based learning lesson plan, individuals study both historic and present-day maps of their...
National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
Alphas, Betas and Gammas Oh, My!
Referring to the periodic table of elements, nuclear physics learners determine the resulting elements of alpha and beta decay. Answers are given in atomic notation, showing the atomic symbol, mass, atomic number, and emission particles....
TPS Journal
Sourcing a Document: The First Thanksgiving
How reliable is a painting of the first Thanksgiving if it was created 300 years after the fact? Learners assess the validity of a primary source image to determine what it can actually reveal about this event.
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Dante's Peak Movie Review
Middle or high school volcanologists watch the 1997 film, Dante's Peak. They make observations as they watch and then write a movie review, focusing on what was accurately represented. They also point out what facts were stretched by...
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Chinese New Year
Students investigate the celebration of Chinese New Year. In this Chinese New Year lesson, students discuss their favorite holiday before listening to a read aloud about Chinese New Year. They make red envelopes that are filled with play...
Spreading Gratitude Rocks
A Note of Gratitude
Gertrude Stein once said, "Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone." Learners break their silence by engaging in discussion and making lists of what makes them grateful. Next, pupils write and illustrate a thank you letter to a chosen...
Science 4 Inquiry
The Impact of the Sun and Moon on Tides
In 150 BC, Seleucus of Seleucia theorized that the moon causes the tides. Scholars learn about what causes tides by studying the interactions of gravity between the sun, moon, and Earth. They use technology to formalize otherwise...