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A Swath of Red
Illuminations
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students estimate the area of the country that voted for the Republican candidate and the area that voted for the Democratic candidate in the 2000 presidential election using a grid overlay. Students then compare the areas to the electoral and popular vote election results. Ratios of electoral votes to area are used to make generalizations about the population distribution of the United States.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Alcohol's Effect on the Mind and Body
Science NetLinks
In this Science NetLinks lesson, students come to understand the short- and long-term effects that alcohol has on the mind and body as a first step in understanding why teenage drinking is a serious problem. The lesson includes a student sheet, a student E-sheet, and a teacher sheet.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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An Exploration of Romanticism Through Art and Poetry
ReadWriteThink
In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students use art and poetry to explore and understand major characteristics of the Romantic period. After studying the characteristics of Romaticism, students complete a literary analysis of Wordsworth's poem "The World is Too Much With Us," using their knowledge of Romantic characteristics to classify the poem as Romantic.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Animating Poetry: Reading Poems about the Natural World
EDSITEment
In this EDSITEment lesson, which is centered on poems about the natural world, students are encouraged to make the reading of poetry a creative act, and to appreciate familiar literary devices in their functions as semaphores or interpretive signals. Several pieces of literature appropriate for use with this lesson are suggested.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Area Contractor
Illuminations
In this Illuminations lesson, students are given the opportunity to explore surface area in the same way that a contractor might when providing an estimate to a potential customer. Once the customer accepts the estimate, a more detailed measurement is taken and a quote prepared.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Ascending Plants
Science NetLinks
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, you'll hear about how plants are gradually moving to higher altitudes to escape global warming. Science Updates are audio interviews with scientists and are accompanied by a set of questions as well as links to related Science NetLinks lessons and other related resources.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Asteroid Deflection
Science NetLinks
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, you'll hear about how a new research center will develop ways to neutralize threatening asteroids.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Building Height
Illuminations
In this Illuminations lesson, students use a clinometer (a measuring device built from a protractor) and isosceles right triangles to find the height of a building. The class compares measurements, talks about the variation in their results, and selects the best measure of central tendency to report the most accurate height.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Building Vocabulary: Making Multigenre Glossaries Based on Student Inquiry
ReadWriteThink
In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students collect unfamiliar words from their reading to create a multigenre glossary of terms. This project can work as a literature circle activity or an independent reading activity.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Clues Within These Walls
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Every house holds clues to its history. On this page, students will find some of the methods historians and curators used to learn about the house at 16 Elm Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The house is the focus of "Within These Walls", an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Students will learn how to use primary source documents, photographs and architectural clues to answer questions such as: Who lived in a house and what the neighborhood was like? When was the house built? How do historians discover how a house changes over time? Also included is a link to "House Detective: Finding History in Your Home", an research guide that will help students conduct investigations of their own home.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Critical Literacy in Action: Multimodal Texts on Global Warming
ReadWriteThink
In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students apply specific comprehension strategies to multimodal texts as they investigate and interrogate the effects and possible causes of global warming. Global warming is explored through photographs, experiments, YouTube videos, diagrams, and websites. Students catalogue the strengths and weaknesses of these representations before identifying comprehension strategies that can be applied across various media.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Cultural Connections and Writing for Change
ReadWriteThink
In this ReadWriteThink lesson students learn about Palestinian Arabs. After exploring the culture in books and online, students identify a social issue that is of concern to them. They then write and mail a properly formatted letter to an appropriate official.
Grade: 3 | 4 | 5
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Day of the Dead
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a day of celebration for the people of Latin America, particularly in Mexico and Central America, and more recently for Mexican Americans. This engaging online exhibition from the Smithsonian Latino Center provides a wealth of information that will help students learn the origins of the holiday, how it was been celebrated traditionally and how it is being celebrated now. The exhibition includes links to online resources as well as printable classroom-ready resources including: a fact sheet, lesson plans for grades K-2 and 6-8, and a user's guide that includes the text of the online exhibition, more lesson ideas and instructions for making decorations for the celebration. Also included is an online interactive in which students can decorate their own virtual alter.
Grade: K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Degrees of Change: Conservation in My Community
Xpeditions
This "Six Degrees" activity introduces students to the concepts of climate change. They can learn the causes and consequences of global warming, and discuss how climate affects daily life in their areas. The lesson includes an activity where students can learn about global warming and their community's conservation efforts. Students develop and complete a project documenting, via reporting or photography, a local conservation effort.
Grade: 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
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Degrees of Change: Conservation in My Community Photographer's Workbook
Xpeditions
This "Six Degrees" handout supplements the Photographer's Project activity. It can help students to organize their photography projects, take better pictures, and structure presentations and layouts.
Grade: 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
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Distributing and Factoring Using Area
Illuminations
In this Illuminations lesson, students use area models to represent expressions and understand the distributive property.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Dividing a Town into Pizza Delivery Regions
Illuminations
In this Illuminations lesson, students must determine how to divide a town based on which pizzeria is closest to a given location. To solve this problem, students will construct perpendicular bisectors, find circumcenters, calculate area, and use proportions.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Earth Verse: Using Science in Poetry
ReadWriteThink
In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students listen to the story, "Science Verse", by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Students then create one of three types of poems (diamante, acrostic, or shape) with illustrations. To help increase fluency, students read their poems to the class. Finally, students create original poems using specific facts they have learned in the current science curriculum.
Grade: 3 | 4 | 5
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Edison Invents
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Thomas Alva Edison changed our world! His genius gave us electric lights in our home and an entire system that produced and delivered electrical power. He was the first to record sound - and he also started the recording industry. Edison developed the first movie camera and produced the first movies. Learn more about Edison's creative genius in this online exhibition from the Lemelson center at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The exhibition includes a biography of Edison, instructions on how to make a light bulb, an interactive game and a list of recommended resources.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Edward Hopper's "House by the Railroad": From Painting to Poem
EDSITEment
In this EDSITEment lesson students engage in a close reading of Hopper's painting and an Edward Hirsch poem to explore the types of emotion generated by each work in the viewer or reader, and how the painter and poet each achieved these responses.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Fastest Swimsuit
Science NetLinks
In this Science Update from Science NetLinks, you'll hear about how the latest swimsuit technology may help Olympic swimmers break more records this year. Science Updates are audio interviews with scientists and are accompanied by a set of questions as well as links to related Science NetLinks lessons and other related resources.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Go Back in Time
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Travel back in time to visit five of the families who lived at 16 Elm Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts over the past 200 years in this interactive game from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Students will match primary source materials and museum artifacts to the appropriate time period in order to learn about the everyday lives of Americans from different eras of our nation's history. This activity is one of the educational resources included in the online exhibition entitled "Within These Walls".
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Gouverneur Warren's Expedition
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Join Gouverneur Warren on his 1856 expedition into the American frontier and identify the specimens he sent back to the Smithsonian for study and classification in this interactive activity from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Students will begin by reading a letter that Warren sent to the Smithsonian and will then match specimens to the locations that they were found on a map of Warren's expeditions. A wonderful example of object-based learning, this activity will help students learn more about the connections between science, history and the work of museums. This activity is included in the online exhibition entitled "West Point in the Making of America".
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Green Roof Design
Science NetLinks
This lesson from Science NetLinks engages students in making design decisions that affect the transfer of energy between a building and the outside environment. It helps students identify and consider the types of decisions involved in improving a building's energy profile. To analyze the green roof option in economic and community terms.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt: Researching Nutrition to Advertise for Health
ReadWriteThink
In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students participate in a hands-on research project designed to make them aware of what they eat and how food companies use the media to market their products. Students investigate the ingredients in their favorite food, learn nutrition terminology, and then analyze food advertisements. Finally, they work in cooperative groups to create advertisements for healthful foods.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Hoax or No Hoax? Strategies for Online Comprehension and Evaluation
ReadWriteThink
In this lesson students learn how to use comprehension strategies involving a sequence of planning, predicting, monitoring, and evaluating. Once students learn the strategies, they read a variety of hoax websites and evaluate the content. They then demonstrate their learning through the creation of outlines for hoax websites.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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House Detectives: Finding History in Your Home
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Like the 250-year-old house from Ipswich, Massachusetts in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, your home has a story to tell and a place in history. Whether you own your house, rent it, or live in an apartment, you and your family can become house detectives and discover the history of your home. This printable guide shows students how to research the place where they live and can be used as a tool for individual or small group research. It will help them conduct research on their home or local building, describe their research process and summarize their conclusions based on analysis of the research. This activity is one of the educational resources included in the online exhibition entitled "Within These Walls".
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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How Could That Happen?
Illuminations
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students are challenged to generate election results using number sense and other mathematical skills. Students are also given the opportunity to explore the mathematical questions in a politically challenging context.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Invention at Play Educator's Manual
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Through play we develop certain "habits of mind" - curiosity, persistence, imagination, communication, problem solving - as well as skills in manipulating and understanding the properties of the material world. Research has shown that this array of abilities has been and continues to be an important part of the inventor's tool chest. This manual, included in the online exhibition "Invention at Play", from the Lemelson Center at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, will provide an array of activities, resources, and approaches that will underscore the role of play in the inventive spirit in all of us.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
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Invention at Play Family Activities Guide
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Did you know that play is an essential ingredient in a child's intellectual and creative development? Scholars have discovered surprising parallels between the ways children play and the creative processes practiced by inventors. When children pretend, build with blocks and boxes, solve puzzles, take things apart, or rig a new way to do something, they are practicing flexible habits of mind and making important new connections. This booklet, connected to the "Invention at Play" online exhibition from the Lemelson Center at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, highlights inventors who started out as great players and who recall a strong link between their play and inventing. It also encourages adults to create an enriching play/inventing environment at home with hands-on, minds-on suggestions. It also offers open-ended play and inventing activities for adults and children to do together.
Grade: K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
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Invention at Play Homepage
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Explore the playful side of invention and the inventive side of play in "Invention at Play", an online exhibition from the Lemelson Center at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Through the use of interactive games, inventors' stories, video commentaries, and toy displays, students will learn how play connects to the creative impulse that is fundamental to the work of invention.
Grade: K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Invention Playhouse
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Explore the playful side of invention and the inventive side of play in the Invention Playhouse, part of the "Invention at Play" online exhibition from the Lemelson Center at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Through the use of four interactive games, students will learn how play-the ordinary and everyday "work of childhood"-connects to the creative impulse of both historic and contemporary inventors.
Grade: K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Life from Space
Science NetLinks
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, you'll hear about growing evidence that suggests that life on earth may have been seeded from outer space. Science Updates are audio interviews with scientists and are accompanied by a set of questions as well as links to related Science NetLinks lessons and other related resources.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Make a Splash! Using Dramatic Experience to "Explode the Moment"
ReadWriteThink
Engage your students in using descriptive language. After hearing vivid sensory language from popular literature and participating in a staged dramatic experience, students are encouraged in this lesson from ReadWriteThink to use a graphic organizer to detail what they saw, felt, thought, did, said, and heard during the memorable moment and to elaborate or "explode" the details using descriptive writing.
Grade: 3 | 4 | 5
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Marketplace: Price Increase or Price-Gouging?
EconEdLink
Students learn about price-gouging. Using a hypothetical post-disaster example, they will learn more about supply and demand, as well as the complexities associated with price increases in a supply-constrained market
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Marketplace: School Competition
EconEdLink
In June 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that Cleveland's system of giving students vouchers to attend private or religious schools did not violate the constitutional separation of church and state. In this lesson, students listen to an audio file about school vouchers creating market competition for public schools in June 2002. Students will identify the story's major concepts and their supporting details using an interactive note-taker.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Matching Side Effects
Science NetLinks
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, you'll hear about how drugs that share side effects also may have similar benefits. Science Updates are audio interviews with scientists and are accompanied by a set of questions as well as links to related Science NetLinks lessons and other related resources.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Mission Nuestra Señora de la Concepción and the Spanish Mission in the New World
EDSITEment
In this lesson students learn about the history and way of life of the people of an 18th century San Antonio mission and how those activities relate to the arts and architecture of the church and its accompanying buildings.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Modeling Academic Writing Through Scholarly Article Presentation
ReadWriteThink
In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students use an online database to access an appropriate article of literary criticism connected to a work of literature they have already read as a class assignment. Students then prepare the article for presentation by highlighting key elements of its structure and content and present the article to their peers.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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More Trains
Illuminations
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students extend the ideas from the first lesson in the unit. Students connect one-by-one squares with red and pink two-by-one rectangles to form "trains." Because the larger pieces come in different colors, more trains are possible for a given length. Again, students attempt to identify a recursive rule to describe the pattern.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Moving Toward Acceptance Through Picture Books and Two-Voice Texts
ReadWriteThink
In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students read "Whoever You Are,' "Weslandia" and "Insects are My Life" as a starting point for discussing diversity. They compare the situations in the books to their own school. Students then study, create, and perform two-voice texts that show how they can move closer to the ideal of accepting all types of diversity.
Grade: 3 | 4 | 5
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New American Roles
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war in 1989, the United States stood alone as a military superpower. Americans struggled to define the roles they should play in the community of nations and fought to defend their interests against threats at home as well as abroad. In this section of "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War", an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, students will learn about American involvement in the Persian Gulf War, the global war on terrorism that began with the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the invasion of Iraq.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Persuading the Principal: Writing Persuasive Letters About School Issues
ReadWriteThink
This ReadWriteThink lesson, "Persuading the Principal: Writing Persuasive Letters About School Issues", gives students the opportunity to examine opinion editorials and write their own letters on school issues that they believe deserve action plans.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Planning a Playground
Illuminations
In this Illuminations lesson, students design a playground using manipulatives and multiple representations. Maximum area with a given perimeter will be explored using tickets. This is an interesting demonstration of how a real-world context can change a purely mathematical result.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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Predicting Your Financial Future
Illuminations
In this Illuminations lesson, students use their knowledge of exponents to compute an investment's worth using a formula and a compound interest simulator. Students also use the simulator to analyze credit card payments and debt.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Promoting Cultural Values Through Alphabet Books
ReadWriteThink
In this lesson, "Promoting Cultural Values Through Alphabet Books", students begin by reading alphabet books about a variety of cultures, including "D is for Doufu: An Alphabet Book of Chinese Culture". They then select a culture to study and work in groups to conduct research into the history and symbols of their selected culture. The lesson includes tools for conducting primary interviews and other research techniques. The project culminates with each group writing and illustrating a cultural alphabet book based on their research.
Grade: 3 | 4 | 5
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Recursive and Exponential Rules
Illuminations
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students determine recursive and exponential rules for various sequences.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Reporter's Workbook
Xpeditions
This "Six Degrees" handout supplements the Reporter's Project activity. It can help students with building good interview questions. The handout can help students organize their ideas and structure their report.
Grade: 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
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Road Trip!
Illuminations
In this Illuminations lesson, students investigate the famous Traveling Salesman Problem by considering the shortest route between five northeastern cities. Three different algorithms for finding the shortest route are explored, and students are encouraged to look for others.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Science and Elections
Science NetLinks
In this Science NetLinks lesson, students examine the science policy positions of the major presidential candidates in a two-part lesson. This lesson includes four student sheet, an e-sheet, and a teacher sheet.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Semicolons and Swift: Analyzing Punctuation and Meaning
ReadWriteThink
Encourage students to learn about punctuation and its influence on meaning. In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students identify and categorize different ways Jonathan Swift and those who have edited his text since its initial publication used semicolons in the essay, "A Modest Proposal." They compare these uses with rules for semicolon use as indicated in online guides, theorizing about uses that do not follow the rules. Following this analysis and theorizing, students use what they learn about punctuation and its influence on meaning to write insightfully about their findings, using semicolons as they do so.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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SIDS and Serotonin
Science NetLinks
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, you'll hear about how animal experiments point to a possible cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Science Updates are audio interviews with scientists and are accompanied by a set of questions as well as links to related Science NetLinks lessons and other related resources.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Sprinter Advantage
Science NetLinks
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, you'll hear about why Olympic runners closest to the start gun may get a slight advantage. Science Updates are audio interviews with scientists and are accompanied by a set of questions as well as links to related Science NetLinks lessons and other related resources.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Sunburn, Sunscreen, and Cancer
Science NetLinks
In this Science NetLinks lesson, students explore the link between exposure to the sun's ultraviolet radiation and the chance of getting a sunburn. The lesson includes a student sheet, a teacher sheet, and an e-sheet.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Caldwell Family
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Josiah and Lucy Caldwell believed in the moral power of home and family, and their beliefs inspired a radical mission. The Caldwells were local leaders in the international struggle to end slavery. In 1822, they bought the Ipswich, Massachusetts house that is the focus of "Within These Walls", an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Students can learn about the Caldwell's and the anti-slavery movement by investigating a room from their house, a newspaper article from 1839, and artifacts from the period.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Choate Family
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
In the mid-1760s, Abraham Choate had a 10-room house built in Ipswich, Massachusetts, for his wife, Sarah, and their growing family. Students can learn about the Choate family by investigating a room from their house, a deed from 1772, and artifacts that a family like the Choate's would have owned. The Choates were the first family to live in the house that is the focus of "Within These Walls", an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Dodge Family and Chance
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
By the 1770s, Abraham and Bethiah Dodge and many other Americans were willing to risk everything for independence, and African Americans such as Chance, their slave; asked white patriots to live up to their ideas about liberty. Students can learn about the Dodges, Chance and life at the time of the American Revolution by investigating a room from their house, a will from 1786, and artifacts from the period. The Dodges and Chance are one group of people that lived in the Ipswich, Massachusetts house which is the focus of "Within These Walls", an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Ecology of Your Skin 1: Bacteria That Live on the Skin
Science NetLinks
In this lesson, the first of a multi-part unit from Science NetLinks, students explore the diversity of normal bacterial activities on the human body.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Ecology of Your Skin 2: The Microbial World Is an Olfactory World
Science NetLinks
In this lesson, the second of a multi-part unit from Science NetLinks, students are introduced to the olfactory world of our bacterial symbionts.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Ecology of Your Skin 3: The Body Food Connection
Science NetLinks
In this lesson, the third of a multi-part unit from Science NetLinks, students understand that many bacteria found in and on humans also are participating in making some of our most flavorful foods and drinks; it isn't just a coincidence but rather an unavoidable consequence of our relationships with bacteria.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Lynch Family
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
In the 1870s and 1880s, Catherine Tracy Lynch, an Irish immigrant, and her daughter, Mary, rented one side of the Ipswich, Massachusetts house that is the focus of "Within These Walls", an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Catherine took in laundry and Mary was one of hundreds of workers employed by Ipswich Mills. Renting meant sharing space with boarders, other renters in the house, and probably relatives recently arrived from Ireland. Students can learn about the Lynches and the realities of life for many Americans during the Industrial Revolution by examining a map and description of their apartment, a page from an 1885 account book, and objects from the period.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Mexican War
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
America went to war to gain territory from Mexico and expand the nation's boundary from Texas to California. In this section of "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War", an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, students will learn about the Mexican War by first examining its causes, Texas's struggle for independence and the controversial concept of Manifest Destiny. They will then learn about the war's major events and battles, and the results of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in which the United States annexed all of the territory that would become the states of the Southwest.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Price of Freedom Collection Search
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Students can use this online collection search to explore hundreds of artifacts related to America's military history. The objects are part of "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War", an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Price of Freedom: Americans at War Homepage
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Americans have gone to war to win their independence, expand their national boundaries, define their freedoms, and defend their interests around the globe. This exhibition, from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, examines how wars have shaped the nations' history and transformed American society. Students will learn about American military history through the use of an interactive timeline, brief movies, and objects from the museum's vast collections. Also included are a collection search, an interactive game and learning resources.
Grade: 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Scott Family
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
The Scotts' rented apartment on the first floor of an Ipswich, Massachusetts house became a home front battlefield during World War II. Through the use of a description of the apartment, an excerpt from Mary Scott's diary, and artifact from the period, students will learn about life on the home front during World War II. The Scotts are one of the families that lived in the Ipswich, Massachusetts house which is the focus of "Within These Walls", an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Spanish American War
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
America went to war against Spain to free Cuba from Spanish domination. But the war provided the United States an opportunity to seize overseas possessions and begin building an American empire. In this section of the online exhibition entitled "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War", from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, students will learn the details of the Spanish-American war including: the causes of the war; the influence of Yellow Journalism; the successes of a modernized American navy; the war in Cuba and the Philippines, the Philippine Insurrection and the new foreign policy of expansionism.
Grade:
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The Spanish American War
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
America went to war against Spain to free Cuba from Spanish domination. But the war provided the United States an opportunity to seize overseas possessions and begin building an American empire. In this section of the online exhibition entitled "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War", from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, students will learn the details of the Spanish-American war including: the causes of the war; the influence of Yellow Journalism; the successes of a modernized American navy; the war in Cuba and the Philippines, the Philippine Insurrection and the new foreign policy of expansionism.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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The Vietnam War
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
From 1956-1975, Americans fought a protracted and divisive war against Communist expansion in Southeast Asia. This section of "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War", an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, focuses on the war in Vietnam and how its effects on public opinion back home. Students will also take an in-depth look at the realities faced by American prisoners of war and the legacies of the war, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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There Has to Be a System for This Sweet Problem
Illuminations
In this Illuminations lesson, students use problem-solving skills to find the solution to a multi-variable problem that is solved by manipulating linear equations. The problem has one solution, but there are multiple variations in how to reach that solution.
Grade: 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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This House
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
How does an entire house end up inside of a museum? Find out in this section of "Within These Walls", an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Students will learn the history of the house that stood at 16 Elm Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts for over 200 years, how it was saved by community members, and how it came to live at the National Museum of American History. Also included is a timeline of all of the inhabitants from 1757 to 1961.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Thoughtshots Can Bring Your Characters to Life!
ReadWriteThink
Engage students to add detail to their stories in the form of "thoughtshots": flashbacks, flash-aheads, and internal dialogue. This lesson from ReadWriteThink has students identify and discuss thoughtshots in "The Old Woman Who Named Things" by Cynthia Rylant. The teacher models how to insert thoughtshots into a text, using "An Angel for Solomon Singer" (also by Rylant). Students then write their own thoughtshots to add to their writing.
Grade: 3 | 4 | 5
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Trains, Fibonacci, and Recursive Patterns
Illuminations
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students build "trains" by connecting one-by-one squares and two-by-one rectangles. By identifying the number of trains possible for various lengths, students attempt to find a recursive rule.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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War of 1812
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
In 1812, America went to war against Great Britain to assert its rights as an independent, sovereign nation, and to attempt the conquest of Canada. The major events of the War of 1812 are discussed here, including the burning of Washington, and the battles of Fort McHenry and New Orleans. This section of the online exhibition entitled "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War", from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, uses images and objects from the museum's collections to shed light on the conflict that gave the country a new symbol, the Star-Spangled Banner, and a new hero, Andrew Jackson.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Weather 1: Weather Patterns
Science NetLinks
In this lesson, one of a two-part unit from Science NetLinks, students understand how the weather changes some from day to day.
Grade: K | 1 | 2
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Weather 2: What's the Season?
Science NetLinks
In this lesson, one of a two-part unit from Science NetLinks, students understand how weather can change from season to season.
Grade: K | 1 | 2
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West Point in the Making of America Homepage
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
In March 2002, the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, celebrated 200 years of producing leaders for the United States Army-and also for American science, education, engineering, exploration, public works, business, manufacturing, communications, and transportation. This online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History looks at the lives of selected West Point graduates who attended the Academy between 1802 and 1918. Students will also learn about the U.S. Army's major functions in 19th- and early 20th-century America: building the nation's infrastructure of roads, bridges, canals, and railroads; exploring its territories from the Mississippi to the Pacific; and fighting its wars-the role of the West Pointers in engineering, exploration, and war.
Grade: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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Why Is California So Important?
Illuminations
In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students learn about the mechanics of the electoral college and use the State Data Map applet to gather data on the population and electoral votes for each state. Several questions are provided to strengthen understanding of measures of central tendency and fluency with decimals and percents.
Grade: 6 | 7 | 8
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William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream: Conflict Resolution and Happy Endings
EDSITEment
In this EDSITEment lesson, students focus on the characters from A Midsummer Night's Dream, in order to describe and analyze their conflicts, and |