The Green Education Foundation found that this lesson plan, written by the Texas State Energy Conservation Office, is right up their alley when it comes to teaching sustainability. It is ideal as a first lesson plan on photovoltaic...

Young engineers are instructed to design and build their own solar water heaters. Then, they calculate the efficiency and cost and compare them to commercially available models. This is a full unit for pupils to apply their knowledge.

Upper graders form a "Presidential Task Force," and attempt to make recommendations concerning the future of the national power grid. After a teacher-led discussion which proves that our nation's energy consumption will soon outpace our...

Humans can have a big impact on the environment, specifically the influence they have on the carbon cycle. First, the class will define and discuss each of the earths four major spheres, the biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and...

Does a public school have the right to restrict what t-shirts students wear? Discover what happened when this question was brought to the Supreme Court, and review other major cases in United States history involving judicial review....

Upcoming chemists use chemical reactions to determine relative pH in two different acids. This is a terrific lesson for middle schoolers that can stand alone as a practice in precision and lab skills, or as part of the unit on chemical...

Study heat transfer with activities that focus on how heat energy works. Using a solar cooker, ice cubes, and heat transfer bracelets, kids experiment and record what they find by keeping ice cubes cold and vegetables hot.

There's nothing negative about this mini-unit on integers! Engaging young mathematicians in a series of hands-on activities and collaborative learning opportunities, this resource offers an excellent way to introduce your class...

Color me green. The fourth lesson in a unit of 15 introduces the class to color images and how to encode color images using binary code and hexadecimal numbers — and they will quickly notice that it is easier to code the...

You can't read Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory without craving the rich treats described in Dahl's vivid prose. Young writers try their hands at sensory language with a lesson plan that prompts them to write about...

A set of phenotypes is listed for mice, flowers, blood type, and plants. For each, biology buffs analyze the percentages of phenotypes in the offspring and then identify the genotypes of the parents. This is a different approach to...

Ever wonder why the sky changes color so often? Readers examine an informational excerpt from John Farndon's How the Earth Works. They underline key points as they read and then answer five response questions. Prompts review main...

Introduce your students to adjectives, adverbs, and the differences between them with this helpful grammar presentation. Though it appears long at 79 slides, note that each slide is doubled, with the first slide asking a question and the...

Given the phenotypes of offspring in mice, flowers, and human blood type, genetics pupils practice determining the genotypes of the parents. Four short answer questions follow. The entire assignment will require learners to put on their...

Show the comparative forms of adverbs with a straightforward worksheet. Learners decide how to represent 16 adverbs in both comparative and superlative forms.

Fuzzy edges cause an image to fade from view in an activity intended to demonstrate how vision works. 

Challenge young astronomers to demonstrate their knowledge of the solar system with this fun open-ended science project. Provided with a short list of requirements, students are given the freedom to use their creativity and whatever...

Pattern blocks and shapes demonstrate how to add and subtract fractions. By aligning blocks with different shapes, learners figure out how to create a whole, and then how to add and delete parts from that whole.

Do you ever get nervous before a big event? A pair of race cars discuss their nerves before tomorrow's race in a reading activity that includes five comprehension questions.

Students determine that the relative concentration of copper ions in water can be determined by a color comparison. They make a copper (II) sulfate solution of a given concentration. Students dilute their initial solutions until their...

Seventh graders investigate theoretical and experimental probability by conducting a series of experiments with multiple trials, comparing results, combining results and making conclusions. They express probabilities as fractions,...

Seventh-graders solve 20 various types of problems related to ratio and rate. They write ratios in simplest form for each given statement, to compare the area of two figures, and write two ratios equivalent to each ratio. Pupils express...

Students explore the environment they live in. In this habitats instructional activity, students define habitat and create a web in kidspiration. Students take a walk outside and record what they see and hear and may take pictures as...

Writing poetry in ancient China was the modern equivalent of sending a greeting card. Scholars learn about the ancient Chinese poetic form called the lu shih. They read about the context of poetry during the T'ang Dynasty and complete a...