Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this topic.
| Name |
Description |
| Stars: HR Diagram & Classification: | In this lesson students will categorize a list of stars based on absolute brightness, size, and temperature. Students will analyze astronomical data presented in charts and plot their data on a special graph called a Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (H-R Diagram). Using this diagram, they must determine the proper classification of individual stars. Using their data analysis, students completing this lesson will develop two short essay responses to a professional client indicating which stars are Main Sequence Stars and which ones are White Dwarfs, Giants, or Supergiants. |
| The Jet Stream: Rivers of Air: | 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. |
| Carbon Cycle Card Game: | In this lesson, students will create carbon cycle character game cards and work in small groups to play a turn-based game. They will play the game by placing their own card on a central card pile to identify the next step in the carbon cycle. As each card is played, the players will then brainstorm on how the carbon atom was transferred from the previous card to the recently-played card. The final activity will involve student groups creating a poster model of their carbon atom journey and going on a 'gallery walk' to observe the carbon cycles of other groups. Each set of cards is unique because it is produced by the students! |
| Plasmolysis in Plant Cells: | This a inquiry investigates plasmolysis in plant cells when exposed to NaCl solution. The ionic solution causes the water within the cell to move out and the cell membrane shrinks inward. Students will prepare wet mount slides, view, draw, record time data for plasmolysis, and analyze the data generated. |
| POE - Solar Energy and Uneven Heating: | This POE explores the concept of uneven heating of Earth's surfaces by the sun through collecting and analyzing data and comparing results with a gallery walk. |
| This Jar is TOO Difficult to Open!!: | In this lesson, students will review the basic ideas of heat, the direction it flows, and the results of this flow on the kinetic energy and expansion of the particles. Students will investigate this concept in a 5E lesson format using claim, evidence, reasoning in their conclusion. They will determine how different temperature water baths effects the ease/difficulty of opening jars with tight fitting lids and link these results to the knowledge that heat flows from warmer to cooler materials. Applying the knowledge that increasing the amount of heat of the matter will increase the kinetic energy of it's particles, will result in expansion of that matter. Because each type of matter has a different coefficient of expansion, the amount of expansion will vary in different materials. Students will realize that a jar with a tight fitting lid may loosen if hot water is applied. |
| 5E Natural Selection Module: | This resource uses a variety of techniques to address the factors that contribute to natural selection. Included in the lesson is a hook to engage students, a weblab exercise, a poster activity for expression and a hands-on simulation. |
| See it! Read it! Share it! It's the Law!: | What role do Potential and Kinetic energy play in regards to the Law of Conservation of Energy? The lesson consists of a series of shifts from whole group activities to cooperative group activities. This lesson encompasses literacy aspects while providing conceptual knowledge of energy transformation. Included in the lesson is the student's informational text packages, an anticipation guide, answer keys, and links to a video, an interactive, and an energy song to allow comparing multimedia resources to text resources. |
| Climate Challenge MEA: | Climate change is already affecting us in many ways. Students will be asked to read from several sources to determine the most effective plan to address its effects and reduce carbon pollution. 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. |
| Select a Healthcare Plan: | Students are asked to determine a procedure for ranking healthcare plans based on their assumptions and the cost of each plan given as a function. Then, they are asked to revise their ranking based on a new set of data. |
| Zoo Animal Diets MEA: | In this MEA, students will examine the diets of a group of animals being kept in captivity at a local zoo. Something in the diets is causing some of the animals to become ill, while other animals remain completely healthy. Students will analyze the data to determine what is making the animals sick. Additionally, students will explore the idea of diet as a limiting factor. 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. |
| Best Day Care Center for William: | This MEA requires students to formulate a comparison-based solution to a problem involving choosing the BEST daycare based upon safety, playground equipment, meals, teacher to student ratio, cost, holiday availability and toilet training availability. 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. Students will receive practice on calculating a discount, finding the sum of the discounts, working with ratios and ranking day cares based on the data given. 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. |
| Raja Rangoli: | Rangoli is a traditional Indian art that is used in decorating the entrance of the house to welcome guests. In this activity students will explore and practice the concepts of positive numbers, negative numbers, absolute value, origin, coordinates etc. and will create their own Rangoli design at the end. 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. |
| Installing Tile Floor: | This MEA requires students to formulate a comparison-based solution to a problem involving finding the best plan for installing tile floor 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. |
| Gone with the Wind...NOT!: | Students are offered a proposal to rank recommended hurricane proof buildings based on current designs and stability in hurricane season regions. This activity provides students with an open-ended, realistic problem in which students work as a team to evaluate structural designs - resilient and safe, in severe weather conditions, hurricane winds, storm surge, water damage/destruction. Students will research hurricane history, anatomy, and behavior, with the impact on geography and human population. The designs of models demonstrate students’ knowledge of a stable hurricane proof structure used as a basis for coastal structures. 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. |
| Flipping the house: | After reading the market report for the real estate sales in Miami during the first quarter, students will decide which type of property they want to consider for investment that can be sold during the next year and still make a profit from the sale. In addition, students will determine the best location to make the investment. Luxury homes are selling faster this year, while there is not inventory for single families houses. The median prices for condos and apartments are lower, but the number of sales is going up. Students also consider price fluctuation between different locations. 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. |
| Lily's Cola TV Commercial: | In this Model Eliciting Activity, MEA, given a tight budget, students need to find the number of people that can be hired to film a soda commercial. Students will make the selection using a table that contains information about two types of extras. Experienced extras earn more money per hour than novice extras; however, novice extras need more time to shoot the commercial than experienced extras. In addition, students will select the design that would be used for the commercial taking into account the area that needs to be covered and the aesthetic factor. 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. |
| Let's Ride!: | Let's Ride! is a model-eliciting activity that asks students to use pluses and minuses to indicate if eight models of 4-door sedans meet specific standards based on gas mileage, seating capacity, warranty, and type of engine. The students then have to rank the cars and indicate their top four 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. |
| Can You Hear Me Now?: | Students will be given a list of phone rates of 5 different companies and will have to decide which plan(s) are the best according to cost. They will discuss minutes and monthly plan and the cost of each phone. All of the plans are on the prepayment option. 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. |
| Batteries Included: | This resource provides a Model-Eliciting Activity where students will analyze a real-world scenario to solve a client's problem and provide the best possible solution based on a logically justified process. The students will consider a request from E-Z Go Taxi Cab Service to evaluate several batteries and help them decide which battery they should 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. |
| Mystery Isotopes: | Through this engaging activity students work as a group to create models of isotopes with stickers and construction paper. Students also use models created by their peers to analyze the number of subatomic particles and determine isotopes' names. All worksheets and data collection sheets are included. |
| A Healthy Outlook: | In this Model Eliciting Activity, MEA, students will learn about nutrition and the importance of keeping things balanced on their plate using the FDA recommendations. Students will need to rank meal plans and shake plans in order to help a restaurant catering company keep a successful business going. After students have evaluated and created rankings for their meal choice, they will write a letter explaining their rationale and thinking and find the bundle price. They will then receive a second letter asking for their help in ranking vegetarian shakes from highest to lowest to support an expanded customer base and find the bundle price. Students will now have the chance to learn a little more about vegetarians and their food 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. |
| Neighborhood Hunt: | This MEA requires students to formulate a comparison-based solution to a problem involving choosing the best neighborhood for Ms. Jasmine to purchase a house. 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. |
| Feel the Heat!: | This MEA is a great way to implement Florida State Standards for math and language arts. It also supports cooperative learning groups and encourages student engagement. Students will explore different types of materials to determine which absorbs the least amount of heat. Students will also calculate the surface area to determine the cost for constructing the buildings using the materials.
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 |
| Tranquilizer Chemistry - Temperature and Reaction Rates: | Students must select a tranquilizer dart to be used by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for researching large animals. Next, they must help the US Geological Survey choose a new drilling device. Each projectile has varying characteristics based on the temperature of the chemicals inside. Students must select which temperature lends itself to a reaction suitable for service in animal research or geological studies. Other factors due to temperature come into play as well, such as density and melting point.
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. |
| Circulatory System Lesson: | The lesson will begin with the teacher engaging the students with a presentation of "How the Blood Gets Around the Body" following a think quest presentation that covers the parts and functions of the circulatory system, including the brain, veins and arteries, heart and blood. Students will explore blood vessels by watching a short video clip, conducting a hands-on investigation about blood pressure. Next the teacher will lead a discussion and explain about the human heart and will use a "Map of the Human Heart" to show the class exactly how the heart pumps blood throughout your body and learn facts about the human heart. Students will get a chance to elaborate by creating a color picture of blood flow to, through and from the heart in their notebooks. To evaluate the students, they will watch a short video clip about the circulatory system and take the accompanying quiz. |
| Super Hero Genetics - Bioengineering & Heredity: | Students must help geneticists develop a new breed of scientific explorer. Using knowledge of genetics, genotypes, and phenotypes, students must select a combination of alleles that could create people better adapted for exploring dangerous areas and other worlds. Then, students must choose which genetic alterations to apply to themselves! 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. |
| Don't BLOW your vacation plans away!: | This lesson is student-led through small student-groups teaching the major components of volcanoes. Students get the opportunity to utilize and manipulate interactive technology to demonstrate their understanding of volcanic eruptions and apply it to their own learning/discovery of one specific volcano. This is lesson #4 (Volcanoes) of a four part sequential unit on Plate Tectonics: Lesson #1 is 45876 (Plate tectonics), Lesson #2 is 45856 (Earthquakes), and Lesson #3 is 45900 (Tsunamis). |
| Ecology Lesson Part 4 of 4 - Jeopardy Review: | This review game is designed to be part 4 of a 4 part series covering Interdependence. The first two lessons are Powerpoints that go over the information in the game. The third lesson is a biomes lab activity. This can be used as a stand alone activity, however - just make sure that you preview the questions and have covered this material with your students before presenting it to the class. |
| Blast off! The Space Coast and the Economy: | In this lesson, students will research and summarize the effects of space exploration on the economy and culture of Florida and then create a giant flowchart. |
| Survival Journal Part Three: Surviving the Epidemic: Planting Tomatoes: | 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. |
| Quest For Life: Space Exploration: | Students must decide the destination of a multi-billion dollar space flight to an unexplored world. The location must be selected based on its potential for valuable research opportunities. Some locations may have life, while others could hold the answers to global warming or our energy crisis. Students must choose the destination that they feel will be most helpful to human-kind.
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 |
| Future Car - Energy and the Environment: | Students must choose which type of automotive power plant is the best choice for a car company to use in its upcoming eco-friendly model. The students must make this decision based on characteristics of each power plant, such as efficiency, production cost, and production energy. Students must decide what they feel makes the car most “ecological.” They may choose a very low-polluting car that is very difficult and costly to produce, or one that has more emissions, but uses very limited resources to develop. This lesson could be used to either as an introduction or a follow-up to a lesson about ecology, energy use and conservation, or human environmental impacts. 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. |
| Ecology Lesson Part 1 of 4: | This lesson is intended as the first part of a 4 part series. Part 1 is a powerpoint discussing terminology in Ecology including abiotic/biotic factors; symbiotic relationships [descriptions and examples of all 3]; producer/consumers; predator/prey; food chain;food web. Part 2 is a powerpoint that covers the biomes of the world and incorporates the terminology from part 1. Part 3 is a biomes lab activity, and Part 4 is a jeopardy review activity. |
| Don't Let Plate Tectonics Ruin Your Vacation!: | This is Lesson #1 of 4 sequential lessons that scaffold the concepts of Plate Tectonics. It teaches students what plates are and how they move on Earth. Students will learn how and why mountains and islands are created as well as why volcanoes erupt and earthquakes shake~daily! |
| Weathering Erosion Deposition: | Students will actively participate in a guided reading activity on erosion, deposition and weathering. Students will read a specific passage, discuss their findings and support their discussion with their notes from the research. Students will continue this activity while watching a video clip. Students will record important facts. Finally, students will share their "research based" answers with the class. |
| Experiment or Investigation?: | Students will explain how experiments and other kinds of investigations, such as building a model, observing things in the natural world, or researching a science topic are different. |
| Ancient Archery: Scientific Method and Engineering: | Students must assist an archaeological research team to determine which material ancient archers likely used to string their bows. Students must design an experiment to test various materials for power, precision, and durability. After the data is collected, they must develop a system to determine which material would have been most desirable for the ancient archers.
This MEA is a multifaceted lesson designed to address both the processes of discovery through scientific investigation and problem-solving through engineering. The full-scale MEA involves the development of a complete experiment and a proper lab report and then an application of the collected data to address the problem-solving requirement of the 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. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom. |
| Disappearing Frogs: Percentage and Environment: | Students will explore and assess the implications various human and environmental factors are having on the yellow-legged frog population in California. Students will use knowledge of percentages to calculate population size and will complete research to explore the affects of human impact on the environment and the process of adaptation through natural and artificial selection.
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 |
| Using Evidence to Support the Theory of Plate Tectonics: | 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. |
