The final lesson in a unit study of American slavery asks young historians to synthesize what they have learned about how slavery in America changed over time. Revisiting the many documents they have examined, they consider the economic,...

The United States leads the world in the percentage of obese adults and children. Why? What can be done about the problem? High school psychology classes adopt a problem-focused approach to investigating childhood obesity and then...

Make sure your house is warm in the winter. Pupils analyze graphs of heating costs for two similar houses and make hypotheses for why the costs differ. They then build models of houses with appropriate insulation to reduce heating costs.

Class members examine a variety of snack foods, noting the packaging that they come in. They work in groups to design a heat-proof and waterproof package that will safely transport a s'more snack. They test to see if it prevents the...

Collaborative groups work together with a variety of materials to design an eight-inch canoe that floats for at least three minutes. There is no direct instruction involved in this plan, just a list of materials and a procedure for...

Mmmmm! Radioactive "candium!" Nuclear physics or chemistry classes use M&M'S® to demonstrate the process of radioactive decay. Individuals pour out a bag of candies and record the number that fall M-side-up to represent the...

Hold a competition in your science or engineering class to find out which group can design the most effective new style of paper cup from a single sheet of paper. Each group will be challenged by this activity and will have fun at the...

Discuss nanotechnology with your science scholars. In particular, its application to sunblock products. Give them samples of nano and non-nano sunblocks to compare. This interesting topic can be taught in a technology unit.

This activity will lift spirits in your class, but there is little scientific explanation for what makes a hot air balloon rise. As you are teaching middle school scientists about density and convection, you can incorporate this...

Here you will find detailed instructions for constructing BristleBots, simple robots run by miniscule vibration motors. There is no lesson plan, just a procedure for producing these fun little contraptions. They could be used as an...

Learners complete a scavenger hunt which highlights events on the journey by Lewis and Clark. Using the internet and journals, they identify events on the journey and places them on a timeline. They complete a worksheet as well to end...

Students complete experiments to determine how rocket fuel is affected by surface area and temperature. They compare the reaction rates of antacid tablets. They discuss their results to complete the lesson.

Second graders review measurements in inches and practice measuring different objects. As a class, they estimate various objects in their classroom and compare their estimation to the actual measurement. To end the lesson, they complete...

Students examine how a scene in a movie or in literature is constructed. In this film and literature lesson students answer questions based on film clips then create storyboards depicting a scene from their life.

Marine biology learners examine right whale sighting data from the WhaleNet website. They plot the data on a map and write down the number of adults and calves spotted. Questions accompany the data analysis activity, making this a...

A possible high-interest activity for the ESL classroom, this online resource has learners complete a fill in the blank exercise about advertisements during the Super Bowl. Coupled with a related article entitled "Before the Toss, Super...

A pair of complex sentences, drawn from a New York Times article about a police writing class, are punctuated differently with commas and semicolons. There's only one question, but it's a good one to press your grammarians to increase...

Students take a stand, supported by evidence, on whether there was a "corrupt bargain" between Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams.

High schoolers unearth multiple meanings based on connotation and cadence. After defining denotation, connotation, and cadence, readers evaluate similar words to compare connotations. They then play with how cadence affects meaning by...

Students estimate the altitude of a rocket during several flights. They create their own altitude tracking devise. They examine and discuss their results at the end of the activity.

Students discuss the affect the Iraq War has had on citizens taking advantage of their right to express themselves through non-violent protests and pledges of resistance. They research and discuss local community and school events and...

Students research on the Web and in other venues to track the Iraq war protests high school students have joined or even led. Students interview students in your community who have joined protests or expressed their views in other ways...

Students research the terrorist threat to the United States. They examine types of possible attacks and the best way to be prepared for each. Students disseminate information to the community. They publicize the school disaster plan.

Students explore ionic bonding. They draw examples of ionic bonding and explain the activities of the electrons of the elements. Students use paper plates and candy to draw electron configurations of given atoms.