This article lists common misconceptions about light, heat, and the sun. It provides formative assessment probes and information about teaching for conceptual change.

This article lists common misconceptions about mammals. It provides formative assessment probes and information about teaching for conceptual change.

This article lists common misconceptions about weather, climate change, and the polar regions. It provides formative assessment probes and information about teaching for conceptual change.

This article lists common misconceptions about weathering, erosion, volcanoes, and earthquakes. It provides formative assessment probes and information about teaching for conceptual change.

This article describes six collaborative and real data projects that engage elementary students in collecting and sharing local data and communicating with students across the country and world.

This article highlights the five essential components of cooperative learning, provides a quick overview of the research behind the strategy, describes three of the most common types, and offers ideas on how to get started using cooperative learning at the elementary level.

This article discusses how creating Readers Theater scripts from informational text can improve fluency and build comprehension.

This is a multi-day lesson about Creation aimed at kindergarten students or lower elementary.  It does not use a lot of computer assisted technology in deference to the abilities of these students and the possible lack of one to one computers at this grade level. 

This article describes how curriculum compacting can be used to meet the needs of gifted students within the regular classroom.

Cyberchase: Step It Up! aims to inspire kids and educators to find small opportunities to work more steps into their regular day while enjoying the opportunity to learn related math. Over the course of five weeks, kids will add up to 400 more steps per day – for a total of more than 5,000 added steps. Teachers guide included in the PDF download. All these small increases can really add up! See digital Step Tracker for teachers in the support materials below.

This nonfiction article, written for students in grades 4-5, explores the life and seasonal migration of the sanderling bird. Modified versions are available for students in younger grades.

In episode seven of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears podcast series, learn how scientists can get a first-hand look at changing polar icebergs and glaciers and what these changes can teach us about density.

This is a highly adaptable outline for how design thinking could be introduced to your learners over a multi-day project. This plan works best if students are divided up into groups of 3-4 for all work except the introduction to each concept at the beginning of class. Learners should stay in the same group for the whole class.

Includes pre-work links, general instructions to guide planning for each day, design thinking student handouts, and multi-grade NGSS standards linked to design thinking.

This article describes the reading strategy of determining importance and provides templates and guidance for teaching this content area strategy to elementary students.

This article highlights lesson plans and activities that help elementary students develop map skills as they learn earth science concepts.

This article provides links to web sites that describe the Arctic and Antarctica in terms of geography, climate, and ecosystems.

This article includes a menu of post-reading activities for use with any nonfiction text. Students spend $50 on their choice of activities.

This expository article for elementary students describes the dinosaurs that lived in polar regions as well as the adaptations that helped them survive in the dark and cold environment. Modified versions for younger grades are available.