NOAA
Ocean Currents
Go with the flow! The eighth installment in a 13-part series has earth science students dive in to the world's system of ocean currents. The interactive illustrates the different types and depths of currents, how wind and gravity...
Fluence Learning
Writing Informative Text: School Days
A three-part writing assessment challenges scholars to think critically about schools of the past and present. Learners read informative texts, answer questions to prepare for a discussion, research in small groups, complete a Venn...
Curated OER
What's Your Favorite Color?
Students investigate the psychology behind color choices using two sites on the Internet. They complete a worksheet and construct an Inspiration file with the data from the charts. Then they form a hypothesis and test it using the...
Curated OER
A Heritage Study: Using Information Resources to Research Family History and Traditions
Students research their family history through ethnographical study. They locate information through a variety of sources, interview people, write a report and present an oral presentation to the class.
Curated OER
Out of the Dust: Questioning Strategies
Bloom's Taxonomy is a great way to address the many levels of comprehension. With explanations and examples of each level, you can create questions that focus on knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Mathematics Assessment Project
Hopewell Geometry
Right triangles from 2,000 years ago? Learners investigate different right triangles found in the earthworks of the Hopewell people, a Native American culture that populated the United States from 200BC to AD 500. Learners apply concepts...
Curated OER
Homemade Political Parties
Use this 5-day lesson to clarify the platforms of the two major parties, comparing and contrasting against students' beliefs. Begin by looking at unlabeled summaries of both party platforms, having learners identify most with one. Groups...
Curated OER
Writing a Criticism
Pupils view various paintings and write down the adjectives that come to mind. Using the painting, they use information from a previous lesson to write their own critique or point of view. They share their writings with the class.
Curated OER
Non-Objective Constructed Sculpture
Students begin their examination of non-objective artwork. Individually, they participate in activities in which they take designs within other images and use them for their focus in their art. They create a sculpture with the new...
Curated OER
Reading Maps Critically
Pupils discover that maps represent different values of the cultures who make them. Using the internet, they research the role of a cartographer and how their culture affects them. In groups, they are given examples of maps in which they...
Curated OER
Land Use Issues
In this unit of lessons, students examine analogies and parts of speech. They use land use issues to identify the different parts of speech that they research. They create analogies about the origin of organisms.
Curated OER
Lesson 3: A Poem's Theme
Leaf by Leaf: Autumn Poems by Barbara Rogasky is the foundation of this lesson on theme identification. Critical thinkers read three different poems from the book then attempt to find the message the author is sending her readers. They...
Curated OER
Firefighting and Community in Colonial America
Students view two unknown historical objects and try to identify their function by looking at and asking questions of their appearance and function. They use critical thinking skills to view a number of images and objects. They make...
Curated OER
Bioethics
Students are introduced to the issues surrounding bioethics and begin to discover how some of these values can influence decision making. The exciting part of this lesson is the constructivist method used to engage students of all...
Curated OER
"Book Report Gallery" Bulletin Board
Read all about it! A camera is all you need to create a fun bulletin board promoting books. Take pictures of readers holding their favorite books and position comic-book style talk bubbles over the pictures. Created with markers and...
Curated OER
Time Management
Young scholars record their daily activities and graph the results using the educational software program called Inspiration. This lesson is intended for the upper-elementary classroom and includes resource links and activity extensions.
Curated OER
Teaching Controversial Science Issues Through Law Related Education
A set of lessons help aspiring scientists practice the critical thinking skills required for facing controversial issues such as evolution. As a group, they discuss what controversy consists of. They compare and constrast the concepts of...
Curated OER
Close Reading
Eleventh graders read and study Hamlet. Then they are introduced to close reading as a means of understanding what is being read--not only understanding the printed word, but also the nuances and connotations of language as it is used by...
Curated OER
I Am, Am Not! Project
Get your class writing with this project idea. Kids choose two pictures of objects that are like them and two pictures of objects that are not like them to entice their readers. Then, they write an informative paragraph describing each...
Curated OER
Environmental Studies: The Power of Wind
Investigate the prospect of wind as a renewable resource. Second and third graders make a pinwheel, answer critical thinking questions, and then attempt to use wind power to wind string. I would be more apt to use this lesson in a 1st or...
Curated OER
What to do Between AP Exams and Semester Finals
Trying to write your end-of-year exam while encouraging scholars to begin reviewing? Do both using this study-skills strategy, which has scholars writing their own test! Although this lesson is intended for AP classes, it is applicable...
Curated OER
Cellular Models
Each student construct a model of a cell on a large cookie, including the parts which were discussed during lecture.? Half of the class will be instructed to make plant cell models and the other half will be in charge of animal cell...
Curated OER
The Hot Dog Stand
Students run a computer simulation. They collect data as they work and use the data to create an annual report for their business. Several different simulations could be used for this project. It is desirable for students to do this...
Curated OER
Write It, Read It, Solve It
Writers create an original mystery and have a chance to put it into movie format. The classic elements of a mystery must be present: the crime, the suspects, the motive, the solution and clues. Use iPhoto and Quicktime Movie to integrate...