Darwin explained the connection between species of finches 150 years before scientists understood DNA. Technology and progressing science proved he was right, yet many struggle to understand how natural selection happens. Scholars use...

Rotating through five stations, evolutionary biologists explore the question of how changes in DNA facilitate the changes in a population over time. High-quality, colorful cards of animals, skeletons, skulls, and DNA sequences can all be...

Beginning with a brief history of our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, then followed by a discussion of his interest in nature, young scientists take to the outdoors to locate and observe local plants and insects....

Got milk? Only two cultures have had it long enough to develop the tolerance of lactose as an adult. Learn how the responsible genes evolved along with the cultures that have been consuming milk. This rich film is supplied with a few...

Geologists are gneiss, tuff, and a little bit wacke. The fifth chapter of seven includes ten activities at four different levels. The hands-on activities cover fossils including how they are formed, vertebrates, invertebrates,...

The story of the Vietnam War is often told through images. Young historians analyze images and primary sources —including the Vietnamese Army's Seven Commandments poster and photos of the daily life of soldiers—to construct a...

What is more important: building a new school or preserving a nature reserve? Keeping a natural area clean or providing clean drinking water to a city of millions? Young scholars weigh these questions—almost literally—using an...

The class gets to practice being a mathematician in ancient Greece, performing geometric application problems in the way of Eratosthenes. After following the steps of the great mathematicians, they then compare the (surprisingly...

How did the Ebola virus first infect humans? Young virologists examine genetic sequences from the 2014 Sierra Leone outbreak to find similarities during a riveting activity. Following similar methods used by MIT and Harvard, partners...

While it may not be possible to take an entire class to Egypt and explore the ancient wonders, it is possible to engage your young historians in activities that ask them to research these and other antiquities and place them on their...

Take a trip through time. A lesson resource provides instruction on the origin of current measurements for time. The text explains the different tools humans used throughout history to measure time as well as provides examples such as...

Both Athens and Sparta made choices to survive in ancient Greece. Those choices were, in essence, economic ones about how to direct resources. A Venn diagram activity and reading ask class members to examine the connection between...

Long considered the symbol of safe harbor and steadfast waiting, the lighthouse gets a mathematical treatment. The straightforward question of distance to the horizon is carefully presented, followed by a look into the...

The accuracy required by the design and measurement of an Olympic running track will surprise track stars and couch potatoes alike. Given a short introduction, the class then scaffolds into a detailed analysis of the exact nature of the...

Recycling is the focus in the sixth of a nine-lesson series devoted to forest ecosystems. Class members read an article about the responsible use of natural resources and ways to reduce land fill.

It's a time of change. A hands-on activity engages young scientists in a lesson highlighting the change of seasons. They brainstorm indicators of season changes in nature and then look for them. Next, they record observations in a field...

Votes for women! The activity highlights the push for the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote. High school scholars learn how the Fifteenth Amendment giving African American men the right to vote helped to spark the...

One doesn't have to be an artist to appreciate nature. A thorough resource shows pupils how to create detailed illustrations of a monarch butterfly. The lesson highlights the benefits of creating scientific drawings as opposed to simply...

For five decades, General Douglas MacArthur shaped US military involvement around the world. His career ended when he went toe to toe with President Dwight Eisenhower over the Korean War. Young historians evaluate the complicated command...

Many families have special dishes they serve during holiday celebrations and get-togethers. Many of these recipes have been handed down from generation to generation and often come with stories. Introduce your middle schoolers to the...

Students fill out a form which asked the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY about the person they were assigned to research, they gather their information from different web sites on Lightspan and Yahooligans. They create a HyperStudio and...

Silver: more than jewelry, it's also a natural antimicrobial agent. An inquiry-based lesson asks collaborative groups to design and implement an experiment to test this property. Using samples of silver nanoparticles and a strain of...

As an introduction to the hypothesis and testing method of investigation, young history detectives engage in a special investigation of a family artifact. After watching a short video that demonstrates the method, they develop a...

Japan's Taisho Period was a time when authors like Akutagawa and other Japanese modernists began to experiment with point of view and literary form, making the literature produced during this time period a natural choice for teaching...