Does a Christmas display on government property violate the Constitution? Learners study the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and learn about the landmark Supreme Court case Lynch v. Donnelly through watching a...

Have you ever stretched out a Slinkie so much it wouldn't go back to its original shape? Slinkies, like all springs, follow Hooke's Law. A simulation uses springs and masses to demonstrate kinetic, potential, and thermal energy. It...

Did you get to play with electric currents or were you grounded? An electrifying simulation shows how building up a charge of electricity creates a static shock once grounded. Pupils rub John's foot across the carpet and view the buildup...

Have you ever wanted to turn off gravity? This simulation allows learners to do just that in addition to altering other variables. Scholars can move the sun, Earth, moon, and space station to see how distance affects gravitational pull....

A realistic simulation uses charts to show forces, position, velocity, and acceleration versus time based on how the simulation is set up. Once those concepts are mastered, scholars use free body diagrams to explain how each graph...

Could a flux capacitor really work? An engaging simulation encourages scholars to investigate Faraday's law. They experiment with various speeds, magnitude, voltage, and different-sized coils. Hopefully experimenters will be able to...

Teens experience natural selection firsthand (or first beak) in an activity that has them act as finches foraging for food. Using different household items  to act as different beak styles, your little finches will collect as much...

Why are US dollars no longer backed by gold and silver? What is our medium of exchange, and what would it be like to live in a barter economy? Learners consider these questions, as well as learn about the major historical events in the...

Your class members will take on the roles of jury members in this exciting simulation. After reading a detailed script and reviewing pieces of evidence, they will determine whether Honda violated copyright and copied James Bond.

Here is an excellent resource in which class members host a mock election for a candidate and policy that will be implemented into your very own classroom. Progressing from primaries, through the campaign trail, and finally to the mock...

Using a simulated air sample, environmental or earth science pupils examine the components. You will need to prepare the faux air by using a hole punch and various colors of construction paper. Each color will represent a different...

Teams of Texas tourists gather into groups to analyze what they can do with $50 worth of an alternative fuel. They write checks, keep a balance sheet, and map out their sight-seeing route taking into consideration the location of...

Explore the ethics, responsibilities, and impacts of the career cluster that relates to law. Learners examine various cases where legal action was taken and resulted in a consequence. They'll act out various scenarios, research jobs in...

Measurement and map skills are the focus of this lesson, where students crawl through a "cave" made out of boxes, desks and chairs, observing the dimensions.  Your young geographers measure various aspects of the cave and practice...

Students profile a mock television talk-show format to conduct mock interviews with famous people in history. Students read biographies of famous people in history. Students assemble questions for interviews.

Clever! Collaborative groups of environmental scientists create a museum exhibit and presentation for an energy-using activity such as heating a home or transportation. They must compare past to present use of energy for that particular...

Fourth and fifth graders explore soil by taking a simulated field trip under the earth. They go to an Internet site that runs a simulation which charges them with finding a source of pollution that could destroy all of Earth's soil, and...

Students, in groups, research the issues surrounding one of several controversies involving food and globalization. Then they debate their position and show a PowerPoint presentation at a mock summit meeting.

For a comprehensive overview of debate styles and formats, look at this resource. It details the Lincoln-Douglas debate format (one-to-one debate with specific, timed rounds of points, cross-examination, and rebuttals). You can also find...

How do you feel about cloning? This issue is highly debated, so educate your class before they participate in a similar debate! Read a New York Times article related to the use of cloned pig organs for human transplants. Groups develop...

A video about the impact of climate change on butterfly populations and a PowerPoint about butterfly and bird adaptations warm science learners up for the activity to follow. Using a variety of tools that reprsent unique styles of bird...

Here are two great lessons that work together and are inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Young writers and actors will retell the story of "The Frog Prince" through games, improvisational script writing, and...

Students imagine they are president of the United States for one day! students study general information about the duties of the president of the United States. They create a schedule for one day as president.

Middle schoolers investigate the validity of da Vinci's proportion theory by recording human measurements on scatter plots. In groups of three, they record each other's height and wingspan to create a Powerpoint presentation, chart, or...