Cluster 1: Text Types and PurposesArchived

Type: Lesson Plan

In this Model Eliciting Activity (MEA), students will attempt to identify, draw, and describe evolutionary relationships between a collection of reptiles that lived during the Mesozoic Era and that shared a common reptilian ancestor that lived earlier - in the Paleozoic Era.  The students will receive images of and facts about each of the reptiles, and will use those images and facts to prepare a cladogram – a tree-shaped diagram illustrating their hypotheses about those evolutionary relationships based on shared derived traits – and describe each of the branch points on the tree they construct.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the final lesson 3 in the Atom Structure Unit. This lesson allows students to program in Scratch and switch the costumes based on the operational conditions placed on the sprite. The final product in this lesson will showcase the students' conceptual understanding of the atomic structure in a computer science medium.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text intended to support reading in the content area. Cell biologist, Yoshinori Ohsumi, won the Nobel Prize for medicine for his research of how cells recycle unused materials in order to maintain homeostasis. The text describes his research and contains statements from other scientists supporting Ohsumi as the right choice for the award. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys and a writing rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an intended to support reading in the content area. The article explains how climate change is reducing the amount of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. Within this sea ice is found algae that forms the base of Arctic food webs. As the sea ice goes, so does the algae, which in turn could affect the entire Arctic ecosystem. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text designed to support reading in the content area. The article introduces readers to a new threat to giant panda survival: horses. The article explains how both species are competing for the limited bamboo supply in the Wolong Nature Reserve. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes one common virus that takes a sneaky route to success. It doesn't kill its leafy hosts, instead, it makes infected plants smell more attractive to bees. This ensures the virus will have a new generation of the plants to host it in the future. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes new research suggesting urban life creates evolutionary changes in plants and animals. Examples of changes to an urban growing plant (the white clover) and a Leapin' Lizard are described as they evolve to suit their new environment. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text, maps, and data tables intended to support reading in the content area. The article, "Climate Change Could Stall Atlantic Ocean Current" explains how interactions between Earth's spheres can have a global impact on ocean currents, climate, and weather. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys and a writing rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an article that introduces readers to the importance and role of pollinators, factors contributing to their current decline, and easy steps that can be taken to help pollinators. This lesson is designed to support reading in the content area. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an intended to support reading in the content area. The article showcases the recent discovery of a planet orbiting our nearest star that may have the necessary ingredients to harbor life. The possibly Earth-like planet is 4 light years away, however. How might we explore it in greater detail? The lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. Numerous options to extend the lesson are also included.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that shows how a seemingly harmless invasive species of jumping worm may cause much more destruction than once thought. The Asian jumping worm eats the debris on the forest floor at a rate that out-competes the native worms so much so that it is causing a number of problems, including forest re-growth. This lesson plan is designed to support reading in the content area. It includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that describes the spread of the Zika virus through the Americas and its arrival in the United States. The text describes how the virus is carried by specific species of mosquitoes that are common in Florida and other warmer areas of the United States. An added concern with Zika is the link to microcephaly, a neurological disorder affecting fetuses and infants from infected mothers. The text also describes other viruses in the larger group that Zika belongs to and how these viruses affect the human body. This lesson is designed to support reading in the content area. The lesson plan includes a reading guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. Options to extend the lesson are also included.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this Model Eliciting Activity (MEA), students will learn how to use very different pieces of information and data to select the best "Bottymals" for a company that wants to manufacture them and place them on the market. The MEA includes information about animal/insect anatomy (locomotion), manufacturing materials used in robotics, and physical science of the 6th grade level. Extensive information is provided to students, thus pre-requisites are minimal.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem, while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought process. MEAs follow a problem-based, student centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEA’s visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

Type: Lesson Plan

In this Model Eliciting Activity (MEA), students will become familiar with the use of scientific names, Linnaeus' binomial nomenclature, and Classification of Living Things. At the same time students will be learning about periphyton in the Everglades, how it forms, its importance, and the factors that affect its development. They will engage in solving a problem situation in which they will have to select the best area to reinsert some fish species that depend on periphyton.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem, while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought process. MEAs follow a problem-based, student centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEA’s visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

Type: Lesson Plan

In this MEA, groups of students will evaluate the media for growing plants hydroponically in order to help restore some native species of the Everglades. Students will learn about hydroponics as an alternative agricultural practice, the rock cycle, types of landforms in Florida, and will use different methods to analyze data and arrive to conclusions, as well as present them in a detailed description of procedures and conclusions, including justification and evidence for each decision.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this Model Eliciting Activity (MEA), students will understand how global patterns affect the temperature of an area by studying the features of an application's virtual creatures called the "Pokemontures." These creatures have the ability to match the temperature of their environment. As students study the Pokemontures' features and calculate their approximate temperature, they will apply concepts linked to the patterns that affect temperature. Students will also review heat transfers and sea/land breezes with the use of this MEA.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem, while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought process. MEAs follow a problem-based, student centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEA’s visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

Type: Lesson Plan

In this MEA, students must select which material to use in the development of an advanced military scout robot. Students must analyze data about each material’s individual properties that would make it a valid choice for military or police service. Students must complete calculations to determine material density as well as the overall mass and weight of the robot. This lesson focuses on the characteristic properties of density, unit conversion, and differentiating between mass and weight.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this MEA, students will select the robots that are more efficient at doing a certain type of job. They will have to analyze data tables that include force, force units, mass, mass units, and friction.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this MEA, students will apply the concepts of heat transfer, especially convection. Students will analyze factors such as temperature that affect the behavior of fluids as they form convection currents.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this MEA, students will determine the best location for building homes based on sinkhole data. Students will determine the best location for building new homes for a growing population, investigate sinkhole data, and determine the best location for the new homes.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem, while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought process. MEAs follow a problem-based, student centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEA’s visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that explains the importance of examining moons in our solar system for signs of life. The text provides evidence on several moons of Saturn and Jupiter and explains how these moons might be good candidates for potentially harboring life, in part due to the presence of water. This lesson is designed to support reading in the content area. The lesson plan includes a graphic organizer, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. Numerous options to extend the lesson are also included.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that addresses what causes lightning and thunder. The text also outlines ways to stay safe during a lightning storm. This informational text is designed to support reading in the content area. The lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that addresses organelles in terms of their size, characteristics, and functions. This article, designed to support reading in the content area, "shrinks" the student to put the size of certain organelles in perspective with familiar objects/places. It also describes the characteristics and functions of the nucleus, certain membranes, endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes, Golgi apparatus, and the mitochondria. This lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. Numerous options to extend the lesson are also included.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text intended to support reading in the content area. The article begins by defining the jet stream and then describes how the Earth's rotation and axis affect the movement of wind bands around the earth. Interactions from variables such as the locations of high and low pressure systems, warm and cold air, and seasonal changes are also discussed. The lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. Options to extend the lesson are also included.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will apply their knowledge of hazardous weather to determine a system to rank where to build a new school and to select the type of building materials that should be used.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem, while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought process. MEAs follow a problem-based, student centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEA’s visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

Type: Lesson Plan

The owner of newly opened Smith Valley Farms is looking to breed the next generation of top race horses. In this MEA, students will study race horse pedigrees as well as horse racing data to determine which is the best stallion to breed with a filly. Students will have to read a horse pedigree, calculate percentages based on a data table, and complete Punnett squares to determine genetic probability.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that describes the physics of roller coasters. This informational text is designed to support reading in the content area. The article was written to answer the question, "Why don't I fall out when a roller coaster goes upside down?" The article is an interesting combination of scientific information about physics of roller coasters along with some fun facts. The lesson plan includes text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that explains how ranchers in Australia are using satellite data to more effectively manage their land. The text also describes how NASA's satellite technology is used by farmers in other parts of the world, providing them with data to help them track changes to their land in near real-time and over time. This lesson is designed to support reading in the content area. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions and a writing prompt, sample answer keys, and a writing rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will identify the best material to use for playground equipment by analyzing the physical changes that happens to each type.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

The students will rank the local produce markets by using qualitative and quantitative data. The students will have to calculate unit rates and compare and order them.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will help create a championship volleyball team by selecting 4 volleyball players to be added to open positions on the team. The students will use quantitative (ratios and decimals) and qualitative data to make their decisions.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, the students will learn about the five spheres of the Earth and how they interact.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will review fossil formation and evolutionary theory. Then students will study some intriguing fossil progressions and evaluate how well they support the theory of evolution.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will look at heat transfer and investigate radiation, conduction, and convection.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will calculate unit rate & circumference, compare & order decimals, convert metric units, and round decimals. Bubble Burst Corporation has developed some chewing gum prototypes and has requested the students to assist in the selection of which gum prototypes will be mass produced by using both quantitative and qualitative data to rank the prototypes for Bubble Burst Corporation.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Whales had legs?! What?!!! Use this well researched and easily understood set of resources to explore the evidence for evolution in a way that is both non-threatening and engaging. Use a combination of article excerpts and videos, along with other activities, to show evidence for the clear progression of whales from land dwellers to sea masters.
This is best used, in totality, as the opener for your evolution unit. The resources provided may also support your current practices as well.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will gain background knowledge and develop a greater understanding of how human impact has affected local waterways. Students will work collaboratively to develop and defend an argument about how urbanization and different types of pollution have resulted in water flow changes from Lake Okeechobee.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze the challenges faced by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, and the effect the journey had on American history and Native American cultures.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will design specific nose cones for a water bottle rocket. They will test them to find out and rate which one is most effective in terms of accuracy, speed, distance, and cost effectiveness. This information will be used as criteria for a company that designs nose cones for orbitary missions.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is a NASA-themed, MEA (Model Eliciting Activity) lesson that challenges students to solve a real world open ended problem, while promoting collaboration through teamwork. This lesson asks each group of students to choose five positions and assign salaries to the positions with a given budget of $500,000. The students' original decision (and "twist") will be based on information from the client's letter(s) and data set(s). Groups are to write a detailed letter to the client of the procedure used.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is a NASA-themed, MEA (Model Eliciting Activity), STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) lesson designed to challenge students to solve a real world open ended problem. It also promotes collaboration through teamwork. This particular lesson asks students to assist a client in choosing the best three companies (rank in order) to be considered for hire to launch an orbiter into space. The students' original decision (and "twist") will be based on information from the client's letter(s) and data set(s).

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will use the provided data to calculate distance and total cost. Students will consider this data and other provided criteria to assist a travel agent in determining which airline to choose for a client.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students are asked to evaluate and test several rocket fin designs to determine the most effective design. After launch, the students are asked to test an additional design and also design their own rocket fin. Additionally, students will record and graph their results.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will utilize mathematical computation skills involving percentages and critical thinking skills to select the best tire deals advertised.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will analyze a set of data to determine the best location for a family fishing trip based on annual and monthly weather patterns. Students will consider average number of rainy days, wind speed, average number of sunny days, and relative humidity for each location.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will learn about how investing in education affects the economy by interpreting data and writing a persuasive letter to the Chamber of Commerce.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this Model Eliciting Activity, MEA, students will choose the best location for a family relocating and will find the monthly costs per month to make the best decision.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is a interdisciplinary MEA lesson for science, writing, and math. This lesson ask students develop a criteria for selecting headphones and develop an equation that supports their choices.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this activity, students will engage critically with nutritional information and macronutrient content of several fast food meals. This is an MEA that requires students to build on prior knowledge of nutrition and working with percentages.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this MEA, students will investigate the introduction of a non-native, i.e. invasive, species to the Florida Everglades: the Burmese Python. Students will investigate the complex predator-prey relationship and learn why this could damage the ecosystem permanently. Students will analyze a set of data to determine which method of eradication would be best and most effective, considering factors such as cost, the amount of man-power necessary to implement it, the effect it would have on the python population, and its impact on other species.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students rank locations that NASA should search within our solar system for life. Students begin by reading about the origins of life on Earth and locations within our solar system with the potential for life. After students create a ranked list, they must report their findings to NASA in the form of a letter that also includes the procedure used in ranking their choices. A second request is sent from NASA to include distance from Earth as a factor in the ranking of locations and students must return a letter with their revised rankings and the new procedure used.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students at a local middle school are interested in attending a basketball tournament in Orlando. There is an entrance fee and hotel costs to consider. Students must calculate the total cost and the cost per student to attend the tournament. Each hotel has different qualities that could influence the students' choice of which hotel is best for their team.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this problem, students will work in groups to rank summer camps. They must first calculate the discounted price of each camp by applying a discount percentage. Then they must calculate the number of weeks they can attend each camp based on the discounted price and predetermined budget. There are 5 students going to the camp. Students will be given a data set to help them develop a procedure for ranking the camps. In their teams, they will write a letter giving their procedures and explanation of the strategy they used. Students will practice adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing numbers to the thousands and will work with percentage discounts. Rubrics are included to help evaluate student work.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this MEA, students must work as a team to design a procedure to select the best storage cooler for their frozen treats. The main focus of the MEA is to apply scientific knowledge and describe that heat flows in predictable ways. Students will analyze data in order to arrive at a scientifically sound solution to the problem.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will analyze sets of data to determine what construction company proposal would be best suited for building an outdoor concert venue. Students will need to consider sound quality to the concert patrons, disturbances to the local community, and safety.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will analyze a set of data to determine what type of construction material would be best to construct a levee out of. Students will consider not only cost, but also ecological impact and disturbances to the local community.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will analyze a set of data to determine the best eradication technique for a town experiencing a mosquito infestation. Students will need to consider cost, impact on the environment, and effectiveness of the methods presented to them.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

The students will have to decide which van is the "best buy" for a family. They will have to figure monthly payments and will also use critical thinking skills to decide which is the best van to purchase.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn about seven of Egypt's most famous pharaohs. They will discuss leadership styles and draw conclusions about the success of each of these pharaohs. After learning about the personality and life of each pharaoh, students will break into groups to create in-depth projects about one of these seven pharaohs and will teach others in the class about this leader.

Type: Lesson Plan

After creating a series of simulated earthquakes with various magnitudes in a virtual manipulative online, the students will investigate liquefaction by shaking fishing weights on top of three types of soil. Upon completion of journal notes on earthquakes, students will write an essay explaining the cause of earthquakes, the ways energy from earthquakes moves, and the effects of earthquakes on the Earth's surface.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students are presented with the task of evaluating several types of fabric based on each of its characteristics. They need to analyze their current uniform needs and decide by choosing which type of fabric will best fit their uniform needs. Then they have to write a report explaining the procedure they used to analyze their choices, reasoning for their ranking and make the requested recommendations.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This activity engages the students in using data on weather conditions for a set of hurricanes to understand relationships between wind speed, air pressure, and water temperature as well as the impact of global wind and water patterns on hurricane paths. The integrated lesson involves the knowledge of a coordinate plane and its application in ocean mapping.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson requires students to use mathematical data and logic/reasoning to place vendors into retail spaces in a shopping plaza. Students will first rank five vendor types on their profitability (based on average sales and average overhead/upkeep costs), then place the vendor types into the 11-13 retail spaces. They are also required to find the area of each space and calculate the total leasing charges. The plans for the plaza are given on a coordinate plane, so students will need to find the lengths of horizontal and vertical line segments (using the coordinates of the endpoints) to calculate the areas of the rectangular and composite spaces.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is a detailed lesson based on the germination of seeds, science vocabulary of plants, diseases, and insect infestations with tomato plants. Tomatoes grow nutrients that the human body needs to survive. It is a companion lesson to: Survival Journal Parts 1 and 2 available on CPALMS.

Type: Lesson Plan

This MEA provides students with the opportunity to explore the basis of heat transfer. The formative assessment exposes students to a quick heat transfer demonstration. The reading passages and data sets further engage students in real life application of heat transfer and energy efficiency

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will decide what is the best month to celebrate an outdoor wedding. The couple is looking for the perfect wedding day. What is the definition of a perfect day? It has to be a Saturday or Sunday with a 20% or less probability of rain and sunny but not too hot. Based on the information provided , students will find the month in which the probability of having a rainy day and the probability of having a super hot day (temperature higher than 75º F) are minimal.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will choose a "cool" scientific experiment ("trick") from informational text, follow a precise multi-step procedure to carry out the experiment, research the scientific explanation for the result and using accurate reasoning explain the science to a broadcast audience. Students will be creating a short video clip with the theme "Is it Magic or is it Science?" to air on the school CCTV. They will dress up like magicians and scientists and perform a science experiment for the audience. After the experiment the debate will begin and ultimately the magician will give in and admit that it was science, not magic. Students will research, perform, write, edit, record, create video clips with music and text.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will demonstrate earthquakes using graham crackers. They will then discover the after effects, (after shocks and tsunamis), and earthquake has on Mother Earth. Lastly, they will discover not all tsunamis are enormous tidal waves. This is lesson 3 of a 4-part unit. Lesson 1 (ID 45876), Lesson 2 (ID 45856), Lesson 4 (ID 45984)

Type: Lesson Plan

The students will complete an inquiry activity using dominoes to determine what variables affect the speed of the chain reaction. Students will have to consider and decide on the best spacing between dominoes to achieve the fastest travel time and ensure the spacing remains constant by carefully measuring the distance between each domino. They will set up 5 dominoes at a time to set off a chain reaction alongside another 5 dominoes space differently. Students can create a bar graph to show how the spacing affects the speed. Students can have fun while learning or reinforcing their understanding of potential and kinetic energy, measuring distance, measuring elapsed time, recording data, making and interpreting graphs and using the distance formula to calculate the rate of speed.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, each student will explain and document in a science journal how they will over come a natural disaster/plague for 15 days. They will continue with part two of this lesson "Outdoor Gardening."

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will explore motion related to an object in terms of its change in position over time compared to a reference point.

Students will be given a variety of simple materials to create and test their very own land yachts to explore motion.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will work in teams to conduct research and compare Mars and Earth.  They will develop a procedure and explain their reasoning to rank different rover models to determine which one could be the best to deploy as a part of Mars Exploration Project.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students take visitors on a trip through time to view the development of the atomic theory. During the presentation they list scientists who contributed to our understanding, give dates, and display diagrams that represent the atom in various stages of its development.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson (2 parts) is an engaging way to strengthen student understanding of the Law of Superposition and evidence of Earth's changes over time. Students will excavate "fossils" from plastic tubs in class and then have the option of a larger outside excavation. The lesson not only supports science benchmarks but Math and Language Arts Standards as well and has an optional Social Studies extension. Materials are required but can be easily obtained and are reusable year after year. The more imagination you put into setting the context, the more powerful the lesson's outcome.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is a 6th grade MEA. This MEA will ask students to work as a team to rank various fabrics to see which one is the best at blocking the sun.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is designed for 7th grade students and is best suited for advanced students. It can be used (with modifications) in the general education classroom for 7th grade or in an advanced 6th grade classroom. In this MEA, students select jars for candles based on a variety of factors and then design boxes to contain the jars.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This MEA requires students to formulate a comparison-based solution to a problem involving finding the fastest driving routes from home to work considering different aspects. Students are provided the context of the problem, a request letter from a client asking them to provide a recommendation, and data relevant to the situation. Students utilize the data to create a defensible model solution to present to the client.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will use their skills as scientists to identify a mystery white powder. This lesson is a hands-on, engaging way to build students' understanding of physical and chemical properties of several common compounds.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text, a simulation and a video intended to support reading in the content area. The article addresses the use of computer models to predict that the Earth's tectonic plates will cease to move in the future. The evidence provided by these resources will be used to write an argument supporting the theory of plate tectonics. This lesson includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

Learn what genetic engineering is and some of the applications of this technology. In this interactive tutorial, you’ll gain an understanding of some of the benefits and potential drawbacks of genetic engineering. Ultimately, you’ll be able to think critically about genetic engineering and write an argument describing your own perspective on its impacts.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

This web resource from Discovery Education provides teaching ideas on using James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier's My Brother Sam is Dead to help students understand how they can learn about the past through historical novels. Students will investigate how some people take one side or another in a war or other conflict; some people find themselves caught in the middle.

Type: Teaching Idea

This text is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes future possible outcomes for the tectonic plates and the movement of the Earth’s crust. Using computer models, the article first discusses when crustal plate movement is thought to have begun. Then, it provides the reader with an account of some of the ways the Earth has changed due to the movement of plate tectonics. It then continues to use computer models to produce a simulation to show that these plate movements may stop millions of years from now.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article highlights the work of cell biologist, Yoshinori Ohsumi, who won the Nobel Prize for physiology for his research on how cells recycle unused materials in order to maintain homeostasis. Ohsumi studied what the cell did if it started to "starve." He noticed how the cell would start "eating" some of the parts it didn't really need in order to survive. This process is called autophagy. Scientists hope that Ohsumi’s discovery will help find a cure for diseases like Alzheimer's, which is caused by cell trash buildup in the brain.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. In parts of China, pandas are threatened by horses. The pandas have a specific diet - bamboo that grows on the gently sloping areas far from human populations. But some farmers allow their horses to roam free and graze upon bamboo, taking away the only source of food for pandas.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article introduces the reader to the importance and role of pollinators, factors contributing to their decline, and easy steps that can be taken to help pollinators.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes how climate change impacts ocean currents which, in turn, can affect the countries which lie along these currents. A description of a model is included to make a prediction of what will happen to the currents if climate change continues with increasing amounts of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. It describes new research suggesting urban life creates evolutionary changes in plants and animals. Examples of changes to an urban growing plant (the white clover) and a Leapin' Lizard are presented as they evolve to suit their new environment.

Type: Text Resource

This resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes the emergence of the Zika virus and the threat it may pose to the United States. Information is provided about how the virus is transmitted, and the connection between Zika and microcephaly is explored.

Type: Text Resource

This resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text includes information on a newly discovered planet that orbits the nearest star to our sun. Proxima b, while close, is actually quite far—more than four light years from our sun—yet it shows potential for life, close enough for the planet to receive radiation and energy from its star. The article also discusses the possibility of sending robotic missions there using new technology that could perhaps reach the planet in twenty years.

Type: Text Resource

This resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes new research on the ways Asian jumping worms are affecting American forests. Findings show they are much more of a problem than initially feared. Because Asian jumping worms have bigger appetites than other earthworms found in the U.S., they are much more successful at eating the debris on the forest floor. This exposes vulnerable areas that may bring more diseases and invasive plants. It can also prevent delicate seedlings from taking root.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. This article from NASA addresses how our solar system’s moons may be a more interesting study than some of the planets because they show a possibility of harboring life due to their composition, atmospheres and presence of water.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes what causes lightning and examines the science behind cloud-to-ground lightning strikes. It also discusses what causes thunder and explains why we see the lightning before we hear the thunder. The last section of the text provides important rules about lightning safety and lists ways to stay safe during a lightning storm.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The purpose of the article is to define and describe the jet stream. It explains how the earth's rotation and axis affect the movement of wind bands around the Earth. Interactions from variables such as locations of high and low pressure systems, warm and cold air, and seasonal changes are also discussed.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. This article describes some of the organelles in a cell and explains their functions. It takes students "inside" the cell, by "shrinking" the students and giving the students perspective to the size of these organelles by comparing them to familiar objects.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article is provided by NASA and discusses how farmers in Australia are able to use digital data provided by U.S. satellites. These farmers are able to use this satellite data to monitor the condition of their land, and enables them to better manage their farms. The author also provides additional examples of how this data is used by countries throughout the world. The article helps demonstrate how space technology positively impacts the world. The text also discusses the impact of human activities on the environment.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. This short article was written to answer the question, "Why don't I fall out when a roller coaster goes upside down?" The answer to the question results in an interesting article that combines scientific information about the physics of roller coasters, along with some fun facts and photographs.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text supports reading in the content area. This text discusses the findings of studying mite speed and mite's affinity for high temperatures. The article explores how the data could be used in the field of biomechanics.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. In 2012, the rover Curiosity was sent on a mission to Mars in order to explore the planet for signs of life. This article describes the research required to build the rover, its flight and landing on Mars, and the objectives of its mission.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This is a clearly organized high-interest informative text explaining how astronauts use the bathroom, sleep and eat in zero gravity. The web version has a video, library of photos, and many other related sites that students can independently investigate.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This NBC News science article describes the success of a young inventor's polymer and salt filled sandbags, designed for more efficient flood protection and deployment.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. This news article describes an astronomer's theory that a particularly strong series of tides contributed to an abundance of icebergs and may have resulted in the sinking of the Titanic. It is complete with the evidence behind the theory and a contrary opinion from another astronomer.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article discusses deforestation, its causes, and its effects on ecosystems.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. In this text, scientists conduct experiments to determine the decomposition rate of plastic bags.

Type: Text Resource