Keeping track of the weather is especially important in communities where severe weather endangers property and lives. Science education may mean talking with children about scary or tragic events. Although teachers should not avoid teaching about severe weather events, they can be sensitive to students' fears and stress by first asking families…

"Composting" is a way to purposefully use the process of decay to break down organic materials in a location where the resulting mixture can be harvested for enriching garden soil. The large body of literature about the science of composting provides many options for early childhood educators to choose from to incorporate into their…

This article describes the design of a social studies unit about the Johnstown Flood of 1889 with a particular emphasis on how specific unit resources engaged middle school students in learning about the geographical and historical context of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. We also report on how the resources supported the teaching and learning of the…

When Shirley Chisholm (in 1972) and then Hillary Clinton (in 2008, and again in 2016) ran for president, there was great excitement. Indeed, electing the "first woman" to the Office of the President would be an important milestone. Yet, Indigenous women have long held positions of leadership, including the position of President,…

Indigenous sovereignty is an essential component of civics education. Historical and contemporary examples of infringements on the sovereign rights of Native nations exist, in part, due to the disregard of tribal sovereignty, nationhood, and citizenship. Given the aims of inquiry leading to informed action, we see a strong fit for using the…

The focus on construction in T&E education has drastically changed. This article presents a series of topics and design-based labs that can be taught at various grade levels to integrate STEM concepts while also increasing students' overall awareness of construction and structural technologies.

Researchers at the Center for the Study of Curriculum at Michigan State University have developed a tool to help teachers implement the Common Core State Standards in mathematics by letting standards, not textbooks, guide their instruction. Using the web-based Textbook Navigator/Journal, teachers can pick a standard and ask which portions of the…

Louisiana's land, coast, and inland waterways are home to many natural resources such as seafood, petroleum, natural gas, and timber--and freshwater crawfish, or "mudbugs" as the locals like to call them. These natural resources are vital to Louisiana's economy. The author describes a unit of study on economics in which a teacher taught…

This anthology places art at the center of meaningful urban education reform. Providing a fresh perspective on urban education, the contributors describe a positive, asset-based community development model designed to tap into the teaching/learning potential already available in urban cities. Rather than focusing on a lack of resources, this…

Mary Ledbetter's fifth grade students at the University of Texas Elementary School know immigration well. Some of them are recent immigrants from Mexico, or they have family members who are. Several of Mary's students are first or second generation Americans. For Mary, immigration is one of the most important units she teaches, one that integrates…

This resource is part of a series produced by the Center for Standards and Assessment Implementation (CSAI) to assist teachers and those who support teachers to plan teaching and learning from College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS) for all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, academically at-risk students, students…

Regardless of your stage at implementing the design tools and using the improved template for Understanding by Design[R] (UbD), this companion to "The UbD Guide to Creating High-Quality Units" is essential for taking your work to a higher plane. This volume features a set of hands-on modules containing worksheets, models, and self-assessments that…

Using module-based courses has been suggested to improve undergraduate science courses. A course based around a series of modules focused on major environmental issues might be an effective way to teach non-science majors about ecology and ecology's role in helping to solve environmental problems. I have used such a module-based environmental…

This unit is one of a series in environmental education for grades 1-12. The unit is designed to be used with secondary school students and includes the following sections: (1) Preface; (2) Riverview; (3) A Healthy Waterway; (4) An Unhealthy Waterway; (5) Cleanup Technology; (6) Effects of Certain Other Pollutants; (7) Lake Tahoe; (8) The Role of…

While it is easy to find lesson plans on the Internet, the quality of plans and the formats in which they are written vary considerably, and the process of sifting through the chaff in order to find the wheat can be time-consuming and discouraging. To address these concerns the authors of this Technology in Literacy column introduce…