This lesson is a comparison between the Bill of Rights from the United States and the Bill of Rights from Texas. By the end of the lesson, students will have an opportunity to discover how the understanding of the two constitutions can give them a brighter future, being more confident in their rights as citizens. Students will have the opportunity to collaborate with their peers and generate conversations guiding them to deepen their thinking about both constitutions.
Glaciologist in Action (Lab)
Students participate in a hands-on lab in which glacier (ice) effects on the Earth’s surface is demonstrated.
Communication in Space
Students will work in cooperative groups to create an accurate arrangement of mirrors that work together to relay a laser beam from a Mars space station to Earth’s Mission Control, which will model utilizing satellites in space for communication, an accommodation necessary for manned space exploration.
This lesson was designed by Elicia Josselet and Nancy Reed at William J. Winkley Elementary in Leander Independent School District of ESC Region 13. The Lesson Observation (video) was taught by Elicia Josselet to 18 students in the 2020 spring semester.
Stages of Ecological Succession
Students will collaborate on a electronic slideshow presentation and observe, record, and describe the role of ecological succession including both primary and secondary succession.
Demonstration and Analysis of Dihybrid Crosses
The students will review related vocabulary, watch the teacher model a dihybrid cross, and then perform a dihybrid cross and answer questions about the outcomes with a partner.
Biodiversity
Students will explore biodiversity concepts through several activities including a video, a card sort, think-pair-shares, food webs, and four corners.
Consumers and Producers
Students will investigate various ecosystems to determine what producers and consumers are, as well as their needs within an ecosystem.
Building a Watershed
Students will model the effects of human activity on watersheds.
Save the Factory!
Students will design an experiment to test the outcome of friction in force and motion. The students will create an inclined plane demonstrating their knowledge of mechanical energy and the effects of gravity on an object. Students will use previous knowledge of friction to complete their task of stopping their object. Critical thinking skills will be the focus of the lesson as students will have to utilize their scientific problem-solving skills to make decisions regarding their experiment.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Vertical Alignment
Click below to learn about the TEKS related to the unit and Research Lesson. The highlighted student expectation(s) is the chosen focus for the Research Lesson.
Modeling the Path of Digestion
Students model the path of digestion using household items.
Students will use major events during the late 19th century to decide what a presidential candidate’s platform should be in order to improve the country at that time.
Push Back, Pull Forward
Students will conduct an experiment to demonstrate force such as pushes and pulls.
Escaping the Nucleus
Students will work in groups to complete an escape room challenge that replicates the process of gene expression.
Students will participate in a cross-curricular lesson. They will understand how life for the American Indians changed through engaging in activities that include combining social studies and how life for the American Indians changed, mathematics with perimeter, area, frequency tables, dot plots, and stem-and-leaf plots, science and analyzing a chart to draw conclusions, and English language arts and reading with finding the meaning of unknown words, inferring, and summarizing.
Stoichiometry
Students will model real-world formulas and chemical reactions to investigate the meaning of limiting reactants.