Seventh graders investigate what pesticides are and why people use them. They examine the effect of pesticides on prairie grasses and what alternatives can be used.

Young scholars perform inquiry into the ancient art of Kirigami. The research provides a context for the lesson and how it is related to History. Pupils also appreciate the art for the sake of its contribution to culture.

Eighth graders explore the African slave trade. They identify the principal figures practicing the African slave trades at three locations. Students draw the physical routes of the slave trade on a map and they list the reasons for the...

Students explore the concept of piecewise functions. In this piecewise functions lesson, students graph piecewise functions by hand and find the domain and range. Students make tables of values given a piecewise function. Students write...

High schoolers factor polynomials and linear functions and apply concepts of the fundamental theorem of algebra to solve problems. They graph their solutions and analyze the graph.

Seventh graders use highest and lowest points of land elevation around the world to find the differences. Sea level is zero, so students be operating with positive and negative numbers. After students find the information on the...

Learners identify factors which lead to the development of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. They examine the writings of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton as well. They discuss what elements are needed for an orgainized...

Students observe and count bird sightings around their schoolyard throughout the school year.

Upper graders read several passages to gain an understanding of the nations that have adopted a constitution similar to the United States Constitution. This is a scripted lesson that is intended to build content-specific vocabulary and...

Eleventh graders explain terms using the CD version of The American Heritage Talking Dictionary. They give and seek information in conversations and in group discussions.

Second graders explore what life in the Chicago area was like hundreds of years ago. They discuss how settlers impacted the environment, and why there are no longer herds of buffalo in the Chicago area today. They read an article and...

Eighth graders interview a person who explains the lifestyles of people who lived on the prairies in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They examine how today's lifestyles impact the environment and write up what they learned.

Twelfth graders consider the survival of prairie plants. They examine how some tallgrass prairie species are adapted to the conditions of their ecosystem. They make a prediction of how a species might change given new conditions.

Students practice the techniques of weaving and braiding in this introductory lesson on family traditions and visual art. The lesson includes a video and other resource links.

Students discover the art of kinetic sculpture using found materials to create objects with human characteristics. Activities address inventive thinking, utilizing unusual materials and team building through the creation of robotic...

Teams practice decoding and using context strategies to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words. After verifying the meanings of words through the use of dictionaries, the Internet, thesauruses, and other sources, learners write the...

High schoolers relate abstract expressionism and cultural influences on 1960's art. They use images appropriated from comic books to create a painting in the abstract expressionist style by changing the scale of the comic and reducing...

Using a graphing calculator, construct a graph and find solutions to quadratic equations. Observe additional methods of solving quadratic equations. Independently, solve solutions by using the discriminant.

Eleventh graders gain understanding of how words in the English language are formed. They assess their own work for sentence clarity and variety of expression. They increase their comprehension and recall.

Work on the concept of using division with integer powers. The skills of using exponents and multiplying powers should be in place before attempting this lesson. The lesson provides examples for the teacher to use for direct instruction.

Fourth graders find the range, mode, median, and mean for each of the data sets (height and shoe size). They discuss which measure of central tendency for each data set best represents the class and why. Students graph the shoe size and...

Students design a rectangular box without a lid that has the largest possible volume using the supplied sheet of centimeter graph paper. They work in groups to construct different size boxes to determine the largest possible volume and...

Students form opinions on common perception about oppression of women in the West. They read specific accounts and determine whether the treatment constitutes oppression. They recognize the danger of stereotyping all Muslim women as...

High schoolers brainstorm various aspects of culture. They read about specific cultural beliefs, customs and traditions among the people of Afganistan and then compare their own culture to Afgan culture. They critique their own culture...