This is the news article which is attached to the lesson plan of the same name.

Students will use Lego WeDo kits or any other building kit such as k’nex, or geomags or craft materials to build the alligator or alligator mouth and then use a protractor to measure the angle of the mouth opening. Connecting math and the everyday world through the use of building an object to incorporate angle measurements.   As an extension of learning students will then attempt to vary the measurement by adjusting the bands or speed of the motor if using wedo or programmable build kits or non-robotic version by adjusting the hinge of the mouth. Students should attempt to alter the build in efforts to change the angle.

This unit, designed for a freshman Civics course, focuses on the basics of American citizenship.  The unit introduces the requirements of being an American citizen, how one can become an American citizen, and how American citizenship has been molded over the course of our nation's history.   This unit is introduced after students have had an introduction to American Government and have taken an American history course.  

Civics HSCEs:  C.5:  Citizenship in the United States of America

Grouped by each state, by genre, or thematically, this resource has hundreds of folklores, fairy tales and fables for any age group.

During the week, students will spend 10-12 minutes in both watching and annotating a video from www.history.com relating to a specific decade's historical and/or cultural developments and events.

Students will watch various documentary videos (10-12 minutes) about significant events in the United States in the 1990s. For each short video, students will complete a graphic organizer. Students will then engage in discussions with their peers about the documentaries using a set of predetermined questions and through a variety of suggested discussion strategies.

Students will learn about the events leading up to the Revolutionary War and develop an understanding of the causes of Patriot resentment of the British. Students will experience emotions similar to those felt by colonists by participating in an experiential activity. They will then represent various opinions of the time by creating a political cartoon focused on a particular event, tax, act, or law.

Seventeen-year-old best friends dream of becoming light-weight boxing champions of the world. They train together until they find out that they will meet in the ring to determine who will fight in a championship tournament. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students recognize the cultural contributions of ancient Greek and Roman mythology and drama. They will read and analyze a myth and then create a puppet skit to demonstrate the myth.

Ultimately, why something happened in the past is the question that history is all about. And here’s the fun part (or the hard part!). It’s up to you to answer the why question. You will read about many things that happened in the past and some reasons why people think they happened. People who look at the same facts sometimes come to different conclusions. Answering the other “W” questions will help you answer the question, why: Why did this happen? Answering Why -- that’s what thinking like a historian is about.

Before we can begin to study the first peoples, it is important to establish the concept of time. Historians use timelines to help aid in the understanding of the time frame in which the topic under study has taken place. The first step is to establish how the past is organized into sections of time. The organization of time into Eras is a choice made by historians. The sections of time that are being used in this book are divided by major turning points (big events that change humans forever) in history. This book is organizing the major Eras into the following four categories: Prehistory, Ancient History, Middle Ages, and Modern History.

Location, location, location. You may have heard this phrase before. It is used by realtors to explain that the most important thing in selling a house is its location. With the civilizations you are about to study, location might be the most important thing that determined the success of those civilizations.

What is an empire? How did they grow? What did they do? How did they work? Why do they decline and fall? These are some of the questions that historians have studied and tried to figure out for centuries. In this chapter you will learn about the difference between a civilization and an empire, the characteristics of empires, the impact of geography on civilizations and empires, how trade developed, and how empires were governed. Finally you will look at some examples of empires from this age.

In this chapter you will learn about religion. What is religion? Simply put, religion is the belief in a god or set of gods. Unfortunately, the study of religion is not simply put. Religion is very complex; it is one of the most interesting parts of human existence. Religion is a belief in a god or set of gods and so much more. It is part of a cultural system that includes practice, world views, ethics, and a social organization that connects humans to each other and to a source of existence. A religious belief system is also a way of explaining the mysteries of life.

War, poverty, environmental disasters, lack of resources, the struggle for power, and the quest for freedom and rights have been the common threads throughout history. These issues are still the core of the modern world’s agenda in hopes of improving the lives of all humans. In this unit you are going to identify a significant issue that is still plaguing the world today, research the issue, write a persuasive essay that presents your solution to the problem you investigated, and, finally create a campaign to put your solution into action. Basically, you are going to witness what a positive difference you can make in the world!

In this lesson, students contrast new farming technologies and market-based agriculture with traditional farming practices and natural resource management. Students will view a film about the Gamo people who live in the African Rift Valley of southwestern Ethiopia. Students will then conduct a mini-debate on the question: "Does the modern world negatively or positively influence the traditional Gamo culture?"

After reading several stories by Sandra Markle, and researching a landform of choice, students will make a list of adaptations that an animal living in that environment would need such as, fur, wings, claws, sharp teeth etc. Then using recycled materials such as paper rolls and craft materials such as wiggly eyes and pom poms, create a new animal.

 This is a hands-on project that uses George Orwell's novel, Animal Farm, as the touchstone text. Students work in groups to construct a functioning windmill that can generate electricity. Each student has a role based on the characters in the book. There are also segments of the project that focus on extracting key information from the text.

This Animal Needs research project helps early elementary students explore animal needs around a specific animal. The project provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate speaking/listening skills, organize and present information, and write informative texts at a developmentally appropriate level. It can be completed in a variety of ways with multiple final products: posters, sculptures (playdoh/air-dry clay), oral presentations (in class or on video), and/or research papers. Students can ask and answer questions following presentations. Students may work independently or in pairs/small groups at school or complete the project at home using books, magazines, and internet resources. Focus on local animals, native species, invasive species, or leave the choice completely open to students' interests.