Bowling for Numbers

The purpose of this game is to help students think flexibly about numbers and operations and to record multiple operations using proper notation.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Illustrative Mathematics

Animal Inquiry

Supporting inquiry-based research projects, the Animal Inquiry interactive invites elementary students to explore animal facts and habitats using writing prompts to guide and record their findings.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Interactive

Mapping Characters Across Book Series

Students work on a guided characterization project, using a graphic map to illustrate the ways a character from a book series grows and evolves over the course of the story.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Penguin Chick

In this nonfiction selection, an Emperor penguin lays an egg in the bitter cold of Antarctica. The penguin parents battle the harsh environment to protect the egg and nurture the chick to maturity.

Material Type: Lesson Plan, Unit of Study

Author: Betty Tatham

Penguin Watch

This website is designed to contain up-to-date news and information about the issues facing penguins in their natural habita,t specifically the African Penguin. Penguins feed at or near the top of food chains in many ecosystems and so are sensitive to alterations in the marine habitat. They are also highly visible enigmatic birds which as a family have a circumglobal distribution within the southern hemisphere. However, many of the world's 18 penguin species are facing threats to their existence. In 2010, 11 species were considered of conservation concern and five of these, including the African Penguin, were listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, The threats facing penguins are not unique, but generally represent more widespread impacts by man on the marine environment or its islands. Measure, will also be advantageous to the health of the wider marine environment and the other species that inhabit it. In other words, penguins are ambassadors of marine biodiversity and they should be seen as flagship species for conservation with their fate representing that of many of the worlds marine ecosystems and organisms.

Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Reading

Author: Department of Zoology

Fraction Penguin

In this craft activity, learners will recognize, name, and compare the fractions 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8 by constructing a penguin out of portions of paper circles. This detailed lesson plan includes key vocabulary words, background information for educators, extension ideas, and resources.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Author: California Academy of Sciences

Peace Poems and Picasso Doves: Literature, Art, Technology, and Poetry

Students apply think-aloud strategies to reading and to composition of artwork and poetry. They research symbols of peace as they prewrite, compose, and publish their poetry.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Unit of Study

Empowered Fiction Writers: Generating and Organizing Ideas for Story Writing

Do their minds go blank when they confront a blank piece of paper? Speedwriting can help students get started on writing and come up with topics to write about. They can then incorporate their key ideas and phrases into a narrative with the help of a graphic story organizer.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Simple Machines

This is an online activity about simple machines. Learners will try their hand at putting these amazing devices to work. They will use several simple machines to "build" a tree house. This an excellent activity to demonstrate how science-particular, simple machines-are at work in our every day lives.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Diagram/Illustration, Game, Interactive, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: COSI

Building Simple Machines: A Glass of Milk, Please

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, the cast shows how the 34 steps in their Rube Goldberg invention use everything from gravity to carbon dioxide gas in order to accomplish one simple task: pouring a glass of milk.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: National Science Foundation, WGBH Educational Foundation

Strategy Guide: Making the Reading Process Visible Through Performance Assessment

Effective differentiation begins with purposeful assessment. In this strategy guide, you’ll learn how to construct an authentic performance-based reading assessment that will give you access to students’ thinking before, during, and after reading.

Material Type: Reading, Teaching/Learning Strategy