Stories from "The Great Lakes Mariner" provide pupils with an opportunity to practice their synopsis-writing skills. The tabloid, which focuses on the Great Lakes region, is filled with stories written by sea captains, that are filled...

Students read information on the Hajj. They discuss pilgrimage and ways it differs from going to a church, mosque or synagogue. Students discuss logistical problems that might be posed for the host country of a pilgrimage. Students do an...

Fifth graders examine the impact of Benjamin Franklin's ideas on the goods and services available in Colonial America as well as analyze the importance of Franklin to modern society. While listening to "How Ben Franklin Stole the...

Students create a map showing the United States borders at a specific period in history and produce three questions to be answered by examining the map. They also write a productive paragraph explaining who, what, when, where, how/why a...

Middle schoolers give examples that demonstrate how people are connected to each other and the environment. They idnetify current or historic conflicts and explain how those conflicts are or were influenced by geography. Students explore...

Young mathematicians explore the maximun area for patio with the added complexity of finding the mimimum cost for construction. First, they maximize the area of a yard given a limited amount of fence and  plot width v. area on a...

Students examine the lives of the Aboriginal peoples of Saskatchewan. In this talking stick activity, students discover dance, art, music, and traditions of the First Nations people.  Students design and create a talking stick to...

Here is a different approach: emerging epidemiologists first go home to interview family on the topic of infectious disease. Then they come to class and view a video and PowerPoint that explore how climate change may increase the...

What is the difference between accept and except? Affect and effect? Brilliantly advise your class with the advice in these slides. Definitions of commonly misused words from A-Z help clarify meaning and usage.

Field study groups collect samples of stream water and identify the macroinvertebrates found. Using their data, they calculate a water quality index to rate the health of the stream. They graph their data and discuss the value of a water...

Here is a complete activity in which young biologists or ecologists test the pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and temperature of stream water. The class visits an actual stream and makes observations of the site. They use scientific...

A link to a comprehensive macroinvertebrate guide gives you the information needed to prepare for this field study activity. Sample macroinvertebrates are collected from areas representing different environmental conditions. Junior...

Eight multiple choice questions test proficiency with "low advanced SAT level" vocabulary words. Each sentence has either one or two missing words, which readers fill using one of five possible answers. Answers are attached, and contain...

Bruce Springsteen’s “My Hometown” and Billy Joel’s “Allentown” motivate young lyricists to craft poems about their own home town. Groups compare the two songs, identifying details, symbols, and conflicts. Individuals then picture a place...

Pairs simulate the energy usage of different countries by drawing beads from a bag, which contain different beginning ratios of non-renewable and renewable energy resources. The activity concludes with a series of questions to tie...

Whose home is it anyway? Design teams plan a housing development in which they must also protect a native species. The teams consist of a project manager, civil engineer, environmental engineer, and graphic designer. Teams present their...

Who determines the Seven Wonders of the World, and what criteria is used to evaluate these locations? Discover the efforts to promote cultural diversity and preserve man-made monuments during the world's first-ever global vote in 2007 to...

The tenant farming and sharecropping systems that developed in the South after the Civil War, the reasons for their development, and the eventual decline of these systems are the focus of this two-day plan.

The construction of skyscrapers is no simple undertaking, involving the careful coordination and planning of many different people. The third lesson in this series explores this detailed process by first teaching children about the main...

Introuduce your scientists to the differences in air at varying altitudes with a colorful explanatory graph. After some discussion, they view unbelievable footage of mountain-climbing Leo Houlding and a narrative about how he might do...

In this second of three activities, energy engineers plan and create a hydropower dam as they learn how hydroelectric power plants generate electricity. A hydropower puzzle is also included, which can be worked on by teams that finish...

Cover the 1980s in your class with a brief informational text and seven related questions. The one-page reading passage includes general information about jobs and skills, population patterns, and the AIDS epidemic. 

Take young scholars on a trip through history with this unit on the mathematics and architecture of the Mayan civilization. Starting with a introduction to their base twenty number system and the symbols they used, this eight-lesson unit...

How does a cheetah life cycle differ from a human life cycle? Kids graph weight gain for humans versus cheetahs and compare other life cycle events such as gestation and life span