Curated OER
This Life Stinks
Chemosynthetic communities of cold seep areas are considered in this lesson. Working in collaborative groups, marine biology or oceanography learners research and prepare a report about oxidation-reduction reactions involved with...
Curated OER
The Sky Show
Learners use the internet to gather information to create their own science lesson plan. They choose from optical, wind, or electrical phenomena and use the internet to research information. Finally, they organize the information they...
Curated OER
Horatio's Ratios
View a PBS video entitled Horatio's Drive and explore Horatio's Ratios. Collaborative learners form groups to use Mapquest to determine distances covered. They generate the mathematical averages, ratios, and rates in order to calculate...
Curated OER
Smoker's Lung
The plan is to have adolescents work in groups to reserach the effects of smoking cigarettes on the lungs. Once they have collected information, they create a presentation to share with the rest of the class. This is part health lesson...
Curated OER
Researching Chocolate
Students work in groups to research one part of the chocolate processing procedure. They will publish a written report to present to a younger class.
Curated OER
Rewriting Shakespeare
Have your learners play around with Shakespeare's language. For this plan, small groups examine and rearrange soliloquies from Othello, noting how the language changes and morphs. All groups have a chance to change each soliloquy, making...
Curated OER
Rock On And Carve Off
Sixth graders work in groups of four to create one subtractive relief bust out of clay. Team results are shared and discussed to analyze the degree of planning and skillful manipulation of materials necessary to complete a limestone bust.
Curated OER
Animals on the Farm
Students work in groups to create a description of a farm animal. Other classmates try to guess the animal. The class discusses what farmers need to provide for each animal on their farm (food, shelter, veterinary care). Students...
Curated OER
Food Safety-Consumers Need the Facts
Students begin by completing a survey asking them to rank their concerns about commercially prepared foods. They develop a definition of relative risk, and complete the "Pro or Con" worksheet. Students work in groups to make a study of...
Scholastic
The Rise of Railroads: Illinois
Railways not only cross the US, but they are also intertwined with the history of America. Using a timeline format, individuals explore the connections between major events in American history—such as the Civil War—and the rise of the...
Curated OER
Re-Name That Tune
Students select a familiar children's tune and redesign it by rewriting the lyrics, writing a play, a dance, a storybook or a puppet show. Students work in groups and share their finished project with their classmates.
Curated OER
Where's the Boss? -- A Scripted Play About the Iditarod
Students utilize a Reader's Theater script and accompanying lesson plan to learn about the Iditarod race that takes place in Alaska. During the process, they also learn about teamwork and working together.
Curated OER
Germs Experiment 2
Students express artistic ideas thru art glitter and science. Students experiment with the theory of how germs spread. Students summarize findings in an art format. Students work in groups to analyze data.
Curated OER
Systems, UP, Up and Away!
Students discuss rockets and how they work. Students research basic information about the Space Shuttle. Students work in collaborative groups creating "rockets" with empty film canisters. Students launch their "rockets" and record...
Curated OER
A Fairy Tale: Italian Folklore
Students work in groups to write an original fairy tale in Italian. They research the components of a fairy tale, compare and contrast fairy tales with myths and follow an outline to write a complete, 15-20 page fairy tale.
Curated OER
Can You Help A Friend?
Young scholars take on the role of a ten year old girl, "Jessica." Jessica's friend has moved away from the area and is texting people she doesn't know in chat rooms. Students work in groups to write a message for Jessica to send to her...
Curated OER
Understanding the Declaration of Independence
Learners work in groups to do a document analyxix of several documents. Students view the Martin Luther King speech, "I Have a Dream." They discuss the Battle of Saratoge. Learners give a personal view of the reason the Declaration of...
Curated OER
Commercial Surrogacy: Questions & Considerations of Parties with Vested Interests
Teenagers explore the topic of surrogate motherhood. They examine the technology involved, types of surrogacy, interested groups, and current laws. Each collaborative group is assigned an interest group. They work together to develop...
Curated OER
Volcanism (part 1 of 3)
Students explore the factors that control magma viscosity and study about the characteristics of volcanic eruptions. Lesson describes collaborative group exercises and guided inquiry methods.
Curated OER
Choose The Appropriate Graph
Fifth graders work in groups to investigate the proper use of a graph during a schoolyard ecology project. The challenge of the project is for students to choose the proper form of a graph. They gather data and conduct analysis with the...
Curated OER
A Journey with a Scientist
Pupils work in groups as they read chapters of Charles Darwin's, Voyage of the Beagle. They take notes on the chapter and in their group make a timeline of the chapter. They tape the timelines together in order to depict the entire...
Curated OER
"who Lives in Your House?"
Fourth graders collect data about the people and animals living in their homes, and the students' shoe sizes. They work in groups to enter the information into a database from which they create graphs. They analyze the data to find the...
Curated OER
Creative Writing: Haiku
Haikus by Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki are used as models for a brief lecture on the importance of poetry in Japan's history and the structure of this poetic form. Students then go on a nature walk, record impressions, and return to the...
Curated OER
Refining the Why? Turning Student Questions into Research
Middle schoolers have years of experience when it comes to how their bodies work. Surely they have some questions as well. Here is an opportunity for them to practice the scientific method in an attempt to answer some of those questions....