As the culminating activity in a unit study of science fiction, young writers demonstrate their understanding of the genre by producing their own graphic novel. After deciding on the main elements of their story, individuals use a comic...

Students complete science journals to learn about the science process using a fern as study material. In this science journal instructional activity, students research the resurrection fern. Students observe the fern in dry and moist...

How is fixing a flat tire like reading and writing? By thinking about each activity properly - identifying the problem and purpose, gathering information, and making inferences - you can exercise your thinking skills equally. This...

What a scam! Middle and high schoolers pose as journalists exposing consumer fraud. In this lesson, they write an article for a magazine using data collected during previous investigations (prior lessons) to defend their findings that a...

Step into the great outdoors and develop young scientists' skills of observation with a nature journaling lesson. Given a specific focus or goal, children practice making and recording observations of nature through written descriptions...

Fifth graders use science process and thinking skills. They communicate effectively using science language and reasoning.

Your learners engage their five senses every day without knowing it. Help them identify their experiences and extend their understanding with a month full of lessons designed for the five senses. Kids focus on a different sense every...

Practice descriptive language in this lesson, which prompts elementary and middle schoolers to write detailed descriptive sentences describing a seashell. They write a description of a shell, create an illustration, and other students...

Class members use e-mail and the merry-go-round story format to create a science fiction story. Each writer begins by selecting one of three prompts, crafting the introductory paragraph and sending the paragraph to the next person on the...

Got a rainy day and need a few fabulous activities to foster creative thinking skills? The class works to understand the three types of human power; direct, indirect, and stored. They do this by first creating a parade float like the...

Fifth graders brainstorm processes or forces that cause Earth's surface to be changed.

A website links you to several water cycle worksheets geared toward an upper elementary or middle school level. Diagrams, word search, crossword, and fill-in-the-blank worksheets are available. As an added bonus, there are links to...

Young learners compare healthy foods to junk foods. They examine the growing process of a vegetable from a seed all the way to maturity. The book, The Magic School Bus in a Pickle is used. Some nice cross-curricular activities in math,...

Third graders create reports in the fashion of small books. They write brief descriptions for a variety of topics and answering a variety of questions. They create a picture book for their individual animals. They utilize basic computer...

Pupils complete various activities to investigate growing apples. They examine words related to apple growth and write the words on apple shapes. They also take a vocabulary quiz and complete an apple concentration game. Next, they watch...

Fourth graders provide a habitat for live mealworms and observe their life cycle. In this animal life cycle and scientific inquiry lesson plan, 4th graders create a habitat for a live mealworm and observe and record related data as it...

For this life processes worksheet, 8th graders create a children's book about the 7 functions of life that all living organisms have, complete with examples of living and non-living things.

Are you looking for a instructional activity on eggs for your young farmers? This one could be for you! Learners discover where eggs come from. They see the whole process of an egg coming from a hen, and ending up on their breakfast...

Get scholars thinking about the scientific process with this fun experiment they can do at home. Learners practice reading directions as they underline each instruction in a procedural paragraph. They create a flow chart and record...

Six pages begin with a detailed introduction to meiosis and homologous chromosome pairs. Instructions guide learners through a simulation in which they draw craft sticks marked with autosomes in order to decode the genes inherited by...

Do research projects at your school look like a class of eighth graders staring at a blank screen? Use the Big 6 research method to guide middle schoolers through the process of finding a topic, searching for and evaluating sources,...

After an introduction to municipal sludge, middle school ecologists consider the pros and cons of dumping in the Hudson River Canyon. The class is split into two groups: one to debate in favor or dumping and one to debate against the...

Here's a fun way to incorporate technology into your curriculum. E-mail each of your class members a picture and 10 questions about the photo. Individuals then imagine the story behind the image and e-mail back their responses. Although...

Fifth graders investigate and compare the behavior of magnetism using magnets. In this physics lesson, 5th graders write about the similarities and differences of a variety of magnet types.