American Museum of Natural History
Planetary Mysteries
A website all about planetary mysteries—it's a one-stop-shop for all things, stars, planets, and space travel. Scholars read an astronomy overview to discover the page's big ideas, then choose from the plethora of resources, including...
Curated OER
Travel Tips! A Guide for Smoother Field Trips
Suggestions for making your next field trip successful, rather than stressful.
Curated OER
Obstacles to Perseverance
What does it mean to persevere. Young historians review the definition of perseverance then brainstorm a list of obstacles colonists and revolutionaries had to overcome during the American Revolution. Using this list, they identify...
Curated OER
Learning from Light: The Big Bang
Learners explore what astronomers are able to examine our galaxy and universe by examining light. They explore in this sub-unit the formation of the universe, commonly called "The Big Bang," and it follows studying from the Light: The...
Curated OER
Journalism: Foreign Language Summer Program for Teens
Students research the new Foreign Language Academy and other free summer programs at colleges for teens. They write features stories about the opportunities and interview deans and university officials. Students also interview school...
Curated OER
Getting In Is Half the Battle
Students read and discuss "Defending Affirmative Action With Social Science," examining the admissions policies in public universities and colleges. They write persuasive essays either for or against the admissions policies in their state.
Curated OER
Children's Books Teach Diversity, Respect
Students compare aspects of children's books that teach diversity and respect. They examine universal values such as courage and bravery, respect and apathy. They create a final project based on their ability to recognize the values in...
Curated OER
Social Studies: A Quiet Protest
Students examine the protest by Gallaudet University students concerning the hiring of a new school president. They investigate laws related to protests and present their findings to the class in a multimedia show, oral report, or debate.
Curated OER
Cyber Memory--Let's Hope Not
Sixth graders continue to read excerpts from "The Last Book in the Universe". In groups, they discuss any questions they have about the material. They research an endangered threatened species and make a plea to the rest of the class...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Categories of Cold War Histiography
While the objective is to provide an overview of the Cold War in preparation for further study, this resource addresses the topic at a rather advanced level, and might need its own introductory lesson plan. The handouts include terms...
Curated OER
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Students, after reading and discussing, "The Metamorphosis," by Franz Kafka, explain the symbolism of Gregor's metamorphosis moving beyond a literal view of "he turned into a bug" into the idea that society/family/stress/environment led...
Curated OER
Shakespeare 2000
Young thespians can try their hand at writing a script and acting out a scene, while gaining a deeper understanding of the universal topics presented in Shakespeare's wide array of plays. Begin the lesson by conducting a compare and...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.2
There is nothing more frustrating than discussing theme in literature, and now the Common Core requires that your learners determine two or more, and discuss the development of it throughout the text. This is crazy, but manageable with...
Curated OER
Solar System Socratic Questions
Students reflect on and discuss theories of how the solar system was formed. They respond to prompts in a structured sequence to relate the formation of the solar system and the age of the Earth.
Curated OER
20th-Century Astronomy
Pupils examine and explain how the distance to nearby stars can be measured by the parallax method, discuss the role of women in the history of American astronomy, form their own opinions of the importance of Harlow Shapley and Edwin...
Curated OER
Scavenger Hunt: Who am I?
In this space science activity, students use the sites listed on the Solar System and Planets page of the Kid Zone to locate the names of the people credited with each discovery. They identify and name 26 different scientists who made...
Curated OER
Galaxies
Students use the provided website to classify galaxies after exploring information about elliptical, spiral, lenticular, and irregular galaxies and using the Hubble Tuning Fork.
Curated OER
The Solar System
In this solar system worksheet, students complete a word puzzle by determining the terms associated with the 10 statements about the planets.
Curated OER
Decoding a Mystery Message from Space
Students examine a message sent from outer space and do their best to interpret its meaning. In this problem solving lesson, students investigate a code sent to them from "outer space." The students collaborate with their classmates to...
Curated OER
Top 10 Facts About Space
Students create their own Top 10 Facts about any topic related to space. In this space lesson, students work in groups to produce a Top Ten List of facts about space and share with their classmates. Groups choose a fact to research and...
Curated OER
Hunting for galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field
Learners examine Hubble Deep Field images. In this galaxy classification lesson, students research galaxy classification. Learners view and classify Hubble Deep field images of galaxies.
Curated OER
Glowing Glimpses of Our Universe
Students will complete hands-on space activities. For this space science lesson, students will create a glow-in-the-dark model of the solar system, visit a planetarium, make star pictures, and paint constellations. Activities are meant...
Curated OER
Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Learners explore the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt through the use of historical documents. They examine the complexity of the creation of international documents. Students explore the Human Rights Declaration.
Curated OER
Tolkien's Moral Universe
Young scholars analyze the landscape used in Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings". In groups, they discuss how Tolkien developed Elrond's promise and develop a case assuming Tolkien rejected "Manichaean dualism". They also compare and...