Classroom Resources

Most people have heard Earth referred to as "the water planet." With that name comes the rightful image of a world with plentiful water. In photographs taken from space, we can see that our planet has more water than land. However, of all the water on Earth, more than 99 percent of Earth's water is unusable by humans and many other living things - only about 0.3 percent of our freshwater is found in the surface water of lakes, rivers, and swamps. The teacher guide describes our current understanding of water cycling and freshwater issues that affect natural and human communities.

This guide was developed to support teachers in teaching topics with real-world context and provide them with the background to feel competent and comfortable when teaching about the ocean. It provides a solid introduction to the ocean and the ocean literacy principles in an accessible and reader-friendly manner. In addition to general information about the ocean, the guide includes numerous education features, such as teaching tips and student thinking, that help to connect the content to classroom practice.

Students explore the human effects of climate change and global strategies for mitigation and adaptation. Next, they track their own carbon footprint and interview school community members to identify key carbon-emitting behaviors. Finally, students design and present a Climate Change Challenge Pledge to help others in the school community commit to reducing their climate impact. This lesson is part of the Climate Change Challenge unit.

Students learn about solutions to plastic waste that have been implemented in other places. They conduct a policymaker analysis to decide which organizational level is the most appropriate for implementing their proposed solutions to plastic waste in the community. Students campaign for a policy change in the community before a class vote on which proposal has the most impact and should be brought to the appropriate decision-maker. This lesson is part of the Toward a Plastic-Responsible Future unit.

This classroom resource from Epic! is a book that helps students learn about maps and globes. Students can read about how maps and globes are similar, how they're different, and how they're used. The book includes a glossary, additional websites to visit, and a quiz.

This classroom resource from Epic! is an interactive book that explains how Earth is covered by landforms and bodies of water, all of which change shape over time. A glossary and additional suggested websites and books are included. The age range is 5-8 years old. The AR level is 3.4. This book also includes directions for making a model of a landform.

This classroom resource from Epic! is a book all about map types. It can be used to help students identify landforms and bodies of water on a map or globe. The age range is 8-11 years old. The AR level is 3.5.

This classroom resource is a book from Epic! that introduces emergent readers to opposing directions with fun animals. AR level is 0.8. The age range is 5-7 years old. Teachers can choose for this book to be read to students. It also includes a glossary.

This classroom activity is an interactive book from Epic! that introduces emergent readers to opposing spatial directions they see every day. The age range is 5-7 years old. The AR level is 0.9. The book includes a glossary.

In this interactive activity, students will be led through steps to create and analyze line plots. The terms range and mode will be introduced. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this interactive activity, students will be led through steps to find the median of a data set. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. There is a karaoke song with printable lyrics that will help students learn and review the steps taught during the activity. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

This classroom resource provides a video that introduces bar graphs and how they can be used to analyze data. The vocabulary words vertical and horizontal will be introduced. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

This classroom resource provides a video that describes how to use a circle graph to analyze data. The vocabulary words sector and protractor will be introduced. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this interactive activity, students will be led through steps to interpret data shown in double-line graphs. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this interactive activity, students will be led through steps to calculate the mean (or average) of a data set. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. A karaoke song with printable lyrics will help students learn and review the steps taught during the activity. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this interactive activity, students will be led through steps to find the mode of a data set and describe the difference between the mean, median, and mode. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. A karaoke song with printable lyrics will help students learn and review the steps taught during the activity. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this interactive activity, students will be introduced to pictographs and led through steps to create a pictograph. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this interactive activity, students will be led through steps to create a stem-and-leaf plot. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this interactive activity, students will learn the purpose of a histogram and be led through steps to create a histogram graph. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this interactive activity, students will be led through steps to choose the correct graph for a particular data set. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. There is a karaoke song with printable lyrics that will help students learn and review the steps taught during the activity. 

Students will sing echo songs and call and response songs. Students will take turns being the soloist or leader. Songs include "Che Che Kule" and "Follow the Drinking Gourd." There are videos to demonstrate the lesson. 

In this interactive activity, students will be led through steps to find all the combinations of a particular event. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

This classroom resource provides a video that introduces the terms outcomes and predictions as related to probability and describes how to use outcomes to make predictions. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this interactive activity, students will be introduced to the concept of probability and led through steps to find the probability of an event occurring. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this interactive activity, students will be led through steps to create a tree diagram to identify the probability of a particular event occurring. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this interactive activity, students will be led through steps to identify missing or extra information in word problems in order to create appropriate equations. By identifying missing or extra information in word problems, students will be able to correctly interpret and solve multistep word problems. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. Students will write mathematical equations and expressions when completing the teaching and practice problems. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this interactive activity, students will be led through steps to estimate numbers by rounding in order to make problems easier to solve. There are teaching activities as well as practice activities available. A handout that reviews the strategies taught during the activity can be printed. After utilizing this resource, the students can complete the short quiz to assess their understanding.

In this lesson, students will calculate savings for different products when using coupons. They will also decide what factors will influence the choices they make when choosing products. Students will practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing monetary amounts using decimals to the hundredths place. 

In this lesson, students will explore the concept of interest by means of two activities. The first, a simple activity with jellybeans, introduces the concept of interest accruement, and the second, a practical, "real world" activity, reinforces the concept and places it into a larger context. This lesson will help students learn about compound interests and give them real-world practice in making these calculations. 

This lesson begins with students visiting a website that gives them practice in counting money. The second site goes one step further in that students are given opportunities to make change for make-believe purchases. This lesson will help students practice solving word problems involving money using the four mathematical operations. 

In this economics and personal finance lesson plan, students will make decisions about saving and spending. Students will practice calculating interest and creating a budget to practice their mathematics and financial literacy skills. 

This classroom resource from Epic! is an interactive book that uses modes of transportation to compare the directions near and far. This book introduces emergent readers to opposing spatial directions. It features a read-to-me mode. There is also a glossary included. The reading level is 5-7 years old and the AR level is 0.6. 

This classroom resource is a video from A Kid Explains History available on the YouTube channel. In this video, Quinn explains the history of Jim Crow Laws, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement. With his precocious personality and kid-friendly terminology, Quinn is able to explain history in easy-to-understand terms. This video can be used to introduce the Civil Rights Movement and/or essential persons involved in the Civil Rights Movement. 

In this video from A Kid Explains History, Quinn explains the history of the life of Frederick Douglass and his work as an abolitionist. Quinn's precocious personality and kid-friendly vocabulary bring history to life in this video.

In this video from A Kid Explains History, Quinn explains the history and life of Harriet Tubman and her work on the underground railroad. With his precocious personality and kid-friendly vocabulary, Quinn makes learning history easy and fun for students of all ages. This video can be used to introduce Harriet Tubman, abolitionists, and/or the underground railroad.