LAFS.1112.WHST.2.4Archived Standard

It's Not Waste—It's Matter is an MEA that gives students an opportunity to review matter, their physical properties, and mixtures. The MEA provides students to work in teams to resolve a real-life scenario creating a design method by which recyclable products are separated in order to further process.

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 an extended lesson that will take approximately two to three weeks to complete. Students begin by completing an inertial balance lab, which includes a graphing and data analysis component, in order to introduce them to Newton's First Law of Motion. Students then go on to complete a Webquest to reinforce Newton's First Law and to learn about Newton's Second Law and Free-body Diagrams. The class then participates in a demonstration to learn Newton's Third Law of Motion. Students then either complete a worksheet to practice calculations involving Newton's Second Law or an inquiry lab to understand how Newton's Laws can be used to build Balloon Rocket Cars (or both!). Finally, students complete an original project by writing a letter, recording a song, or creating a poster to demonstrate their mastery of Newton's Three Laws of Motion.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is a differentiated approach to the concept of Dark Energy and the distribution of matter in our Universe. Students begin by simulating the expansion of the Universe by creating balloon Universes which can be inflated. Students are then assigned one of four articles according to reading ability. They read their articles and then form Jigsaw groups to share the information gleaned from the articles. Students are assessed through a writing assignment.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will complete two mini-labs to explore how colors change as you descend in an aquatic environment. Based on their observations they are challenged to design a camouflage pattern which could be used below the upper, sun-lit portions of the ocean, AND defend their design decisions in written form.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this unique 2-day lesson, students reflect on events from their own lives to understand how learning history depends on different perspectives and the reliability of source information. On Day 1, students write their version of their birth and discuss the limitation of their own perspective with a classmate. For homework, they then create an autobiographical "pamphlet" of key events and must interview another person to get their perspective on the event, corroborating the 2 versions and taking notes on the interview. On Day 2, students share their events and what they have learned, and the teacher explains how studying history depends on a similar corroboration-cross-checking-of evidence.

Type: Lesson Plan

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By the end of this module, teachers should be able to:

• Label the College and Career Readiness, also known as CCR, anchor standards for Writing
• Explain the structure and organization of the grade-specific Writing standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects
• Use the grade-specific Writing standards to identify what students should know and be able to do

This is Module 2 of 4 in the series, "Literacy across the Content Areas: Reading and Writing to Build Content Knowledge."

Type: Professional Development