Scholars with high levels of self-efficacy perform better in school. Instructors review a list of strategies for enhancing self-efficacy skills. They discover how to teach learners to appropriately define success, celebrate progress, and...

What do your classes know about biodiversity? A 10-question online quiz asks questions related to biodiversity and species groups. As learners answer questions, they click on links to additional information. The lesson could be an option...

Attracting the right mate is as important for humans as any other species. An interesting lesson teaches individuals about several strategies that animals and plants have adapted to attract their mates. From colorful nests to powerful...

The odds are in your favor that your pupils will love this instructional activity that uses The Hunger Games to launch a study of gender empowerment, as well as the influence of social constructs of gender. Groups discuss how Katniss...

Here's a new twist in the egg drop competition. Using only six inches of tape, four straws, and 2 pieces of newspaper, teams build a structure that keeps an egg from breaking when dropped. What's different about this project is that the...

After completing an evaluation worksheet that asks learners to rate their skills honestly, individuals create an action plan that includes specific steps to improve in these areas.

Challenge small groups to build a structure that catches a raw egg without breaking—working collaboratively and applying mathematical and engineering principles. Pretending the frame was made by a business, scholars create a marketing...

Go fly a kite, then fly a plane! The 19th part of a 22-part unit on aviation looks at the way kites and gliders help aid in the understanding of flight. Pupils discuss how engineers used kites to influence airplane designs.

Sixth graders study the food web in a bay. In this food web lesson, 6th graders investigate the SAV- submerged aquatic vegetation of a bay including their predators, and how the organisms eat, have proper living space and water. They...

Kids act as scientists and preditors in this short natural selection activity; they collect and analyze data, then apply their new knowledge to real-world examples of natural selection. The layout of the worksheet is easy enough to use...

Find similarities in seemingly unlike organisms. The second instructional activity in a series of 12 builds the concept of a taxonomy and explores the use of a dichotomous key. Learners begin in part one by attempting to group a set of...

It's time to save endangered species through engineering. The third activity in a nine-part Life Science unit has young environmentalists study species extinction. An engaging discussion leads to some ideas on how to use engineering...

What are the chances? Teach your classes to answer this question using mathematics. The first part of a three-day instructional activity on determining significance differences in experimental data prompts learners to analyze the...

It's all in the numbers. Determine your pupils' level of understanding of scientific notation using this assessment task. The final lesson in the series assesses scholars on the application of scientific notation in real-life...

What happens to the wood a termite eats? Pupils learn about the three types of symbiosis with pictures of symbiotic pairs. Afterward, they determine whether there is a symbiotic relationship with a termite by dissecting termites and...

Who likes magic shows? In the fourth of five lessons, pupils view a scientific magic trick. The ball fits through the ring easily, but then moments later, it won't pass through anymore. What changed? Can we reverse the change? Scholars...

What features mark a building as belonging to a particular culture, time, and place? Class members investigate the architectural movements represented in structures built in Forsyth County, North Carolina from 1880-1980 by examining...

Make the strongest beam possible using taffy? Groups mold a taffy-water mixture into a beam and a reinforcing material of their choice. To finish the final installment of a two-part series, participants test its strength by adding...

Make Newton proud. Scholars apply their understanding of forces and energy to an engineering design challenge. They learn about simple machines, create a presentation on Newton's laws, and develop a balloon-powered car.

Writing an equation of a line is as easy as m and b. A lesson presentation gives individuals different strategies for writing equations of lines. Some items provide a slope and a point while others provide two points. Whatever the given,...

What sunk the Sultana? Scholars become investigators to uncover the facts behind the 1865 sinking just after the end of the Civil War. Through group work, videos, and primary documents, they research and analyze why 1,800 men died....

Language learners match the name of 11 Olympic sports with a description of that sport. No answer key is provided.

Use this series of activities to introduce learners to graphing functions. They graph both linear and quadratic equations by hand and with a Graph Sketcher Tool. Several imbedded links and handouts are included in the lesson.

In this measurement instructional activity, learners examine the Pythagorean Theorem, perimeter, and areas of right triangles. They record their measurements and research their findings on a grid.