Curated OER
Local Motives
Investigate current local elections across the United States with this New York Times reading lesson. Using informational text, middle and high schoolers research local elections and create their own news reports about what they...
Curated OER
You Really "Affect" Me
Middle schoolers examine the effects of variables. They view a video which introduces the concepts, take part in an internet-based activity, then engage in a hands-on activity which allows them to practice what they have been studying.
Curated OER
Teaching Reading Comprehension through Social Studies Readings
Examine how immigrants have changed the environment of the United States. Individually, middle schoolers will take a pre- and post-test to assess their reading comprehension. In groups, they compare and contrast the religions of...
Curated OER
Functions - Intro and Inverses
Define the terms domain, range, function, vertical limit test, and linear function notation with your class. They can then, graph several equations applying the vertical line test to determine which are and which are not functions, write...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pendulum Time
Take your time with this instructional activity. Junior engineers read about different types of clocks and then work together to build a pendulum time-keeper. There are no hints as to how they might go about accomplishing this complex...
Teach Engineering
Rock Candy Your Body
Candy rocks! A sweet lesson offers a different take on the rock candy experiment. Groups use a supersaturated sugar solution to create rock candy. Pupils then add other ingredients to the solution to test their effect on the...
Curated OER
Evaporation Inquiry
The evaporation of water and what happens to it as it travels through the water cycle are the focuses of this lesson. The evaporation of water seems like a "magical" process to people of all ages. This lesson takes away the mystery, and...
Curated OER
Introduction to Archetypes
Here is a full instructional activity with all the needed materials and PowerPoints attached! Introduce your class to archetypes by showing them the included presentation. The presentation gives definitions and examples of archetypal...
Teach Engineering
Off-Road Wheelchair Challenge
Challenge your class to use their understanding of the engineering design process to design and build a small-scale, off-road prototype for an assistive technology device. Teams select materials to build their scale models, and, using...
Teach Engineering
Cell Membrane Experimental Design
Grandma said to gargle with salt water for a sore throat. Was she right? In the last part of the seven-part unit, lab groups design an experiment to test a cells reaction to salt solutions. The pupils conduct their experiment to answer...
Teach Engineering
Alloy the Way to Mars
Future engineers test different alloys to determine the specific strength of each one. Based on the results, they make a recommendation to NASA on which alloy to use on engines for spacecraft.
Teach Engineering
Build the Biggest Box
Boxing takes on a whole new meaning! The second installment of the three-part series has groups create lidless boxes from construction paper that can hold the most rice. After testing out their constructions, they build a new box....
Nuffield Foundation
Making Serial Dilutions
There's no need to water down the resource. A tutorial takes learners through the process of creating dilutions for any solution. Specifically, it focuses on serial dilutions with successive factors of 10.
Curated OER
Chemistry of Life Study Guide
Biology learners should understand a few chemistry basics. Here is a worksheet that introduces them to the concepts of chemical reactions, molecular bonding, and the unique combination of properties that make water vital to life....
Scholastic
Study Jams! Plant Cells
Eight fine-quality slides depict the cells that make up plants. Viewers will see colorful microscope views of the nucleus, cell wall, vacuole, chloroplasts, tracheids, and pollen grains. The resource would apply in either a cell...
Teach Engineering
Tippy Tap Plus Piping
Getting water to a tap requires an understanding the fundamentals of fluid flow. Groups design, build, and test a piping system to get water from the source — a five gallon bucket — to a tippy tap. The objective is to be able to fill...
Kentucky Department of Education
Kentuckians in the Civil War Era: Constructed Response Essay
What part did Kentucky play in the Civil War? A constructed response essay assignment tests to ensure scholars understand the concepts and the arguments for the causes of the Civil War. Learners must read a primary source quote and then...
Curated OER
Proportional Taxes
Students are able to define and give an example of a proportional tax and the impact that it can have on different income groups and explain how a proportional tax takes the same percentage from all tax groups.
Curated OER
Science Vocabulary game
Play a memory game with science vocabulary words to prepare for an upcoming test! Build both understanding and retention of new vocabulary words by setting up a matching game for your learners to play in small groups of three to five....
Teach Engineering
Insulation Materials Investigation
Don't melt away! Pairs investigate different insulation materials to determine which one is better than the others. Using a low-temp heat plate, the teams insulate an ice cube from the heat source with a variety of substances. They...
Teach Engineering
Engineers Love Pizza, Too!
Help overcome challenges in eating pizza. Scholars work in groups to design a device that assists a physically handicapped person eat pizza. They build a prototype of such a device to test their designs before building. To finish, groups...
Nuffield Foundation
Extracting DNA from Living Things
Help! Someone's trying to take my DNA! An interesting lab experiment has scholars use basic materials to extract DNA. By applying ethanol, cold water, and a protease enzyme, like pineapple juice, they pull strands of DNA from peas,...
Curated OER
Nailing Rust
When your upper elementary or middle school class is learning about chemical changes, these activities help demonstrate the concepts. In Part A, they submerge and place a nail partially underwater, then after a week they make...
Curated OER
Evolution Study Guide
Thirty short-answer questions comprise this detailed review of evolution theory. Many of the questions ask scholars to define vocabulary. Because short answers are required, this activity will take some time to complete. You could give...