In this lesson, students will examine the amount of annual and seasonal rainfall in four cities to compare decimals to the hundredths place. Students will add and round digits to the thousandths place. Students will utilize technology by navigating to a specific United States climate website to get relatively current and accurate data. This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development Summit.

In this lesson, students will work in groups to design a ramp to increase the speed of a ball. The teacher will guide students' work through careful questioning. After creating different ramps, students will record and report their findings to the class. This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

At the turn of the 20th century, illiteracy was common across the United States. Percentages ranged from 10-30%, depending on location. Rural Alabama suffered from a high illiteracy rate. During this lesson, students will read and analyze primary documents that focus on the importance of literacy for Alabamian soldiers - LIT2010 (6-8)(2 & 7). Students will create a propaganda poster that asks citizens to do their part [ SS2010 (6)(3)] in changing the culture of Alabama illiteracy and for teaching A labama soldiers that literacy is a powerful weapon [SS2010 (6)(1)]. This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Students will interpret various primary sources for reconstructing the past, including documents and photographs about dam designs. Students will gain skills necessary for researching by locating credible and original sources, determining if the sources are primary or secondary. Students will use technology to create a presentation, highlighting primary and secondary sources. This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development Summit.

James Reese Europe was an "accomplished orchestra conductor, bandleader, and composer of popular songs, marches and dance music during the early twentieth century...Europe was an effective champion of African-American musical performers and composers and helped to gain acceptance for them in the United States and abroad." Born in Mobile, Alabama, Europe accomplished much in his brief lifetime and deserves a place in every study of World War I. Students will annotate a biography of James Reese Europe and analyze two photographs of the orchestra Reese led across France. Students will view a documentary film of Europe and his "Hellfighter" orchestra as they fought, performed, and received medals for their efforts during the war. As a culminating activity on the second day, students will write a eulogy for Europe detailing his role as a leader in Jazz and as an African American officer. This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

During this lesson, students will learn the different aspects of a wave, including the crest, trough, wavelength, and amplitude. Additionally, they will learn that waves cause objects to move. At the end of the lesson, they will be able to develop a model of waves and describe patterns. This could be the first lesson into waves that can jump start other lessons on other types of waves. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will design a roller coaster using marbles and foam pipe insulation to observe the relationship between potential and kinetic energy. Students will calculate the average speed of the marble and relate that speed to the potential and kinetic energy of the marble. Students will use various angles and track designs to see the impact it has on marble speed. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

First, students will view an engaging video about the recent arrival of the New Horizons spacecraft at Pluto. Students will create a sketch of the solar system to show their current understanding of the relative sizes and distances of the objects in our solar system. Students will then scale the diameters of the Sun, eight main planets, and Pluto, as well as the planets' distances from the sun. Students will be required to utilize mathematical skills, such as division, rounding, and metric system conversions. After scaling the diameters and orbits of the objects in our solar system, students will create a scaled model of the solar system using a roll of toilet paper. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will create a Rube Goldberg Machine while working in a small group through this lesson. They will then explain the energy transformations present in their own machine and in those of their classmates. This will ensure their understanding of the law of conservation of energy as well as energy transformations. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will develop a scale model of the sun, Earth, and moon system based on a one-meter sun. Students will first interact with a technology-based scaled model and view a video clip on scaling the solar system. Students will then scale the diameter of the Earth and moon, as well as the distance from the Earth to the sun, and from the Earth to moon. Students will be required to utilize mathematical skills, such as division, rounding, and metric system conversions. After scaling the diameters and distances, students will create the scaled model. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will explore an article about education in the early nineteenth century and a newspaper article from 1818 to determine what education was like in the early nineteenth century. Students will investigate the documents and find text evidence to find out what schools were like in the early nineteenth century. Students will use their findings to write a story. This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

In this lesson, students will be able to describe cultural aspects of early nineteenth century townspeople by reading a newspaper article describing the opening of a new school. Students will also be able to discuss, infer, and write from a variety of perspectives when explaining the roles of various people mentioned in the article. This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

After researching the formation of each type of rock, students use the evidence from knowledge of the rock cycle to write a story about a pet rock. The story will include the rock changing from magma to each type of rock including igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Students will present their pet rock story to the class. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

In this lesson, students will explore the practice of hiding secret messages within text or data known as steganography. Students will compare advantages and disadvantages of different techniques of steganography. Students will create their own secret code to communicate with each other. Students will create a digital form of steganography with their group. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

In this lesson, students will read and critically examine a letter from an Alabama farm owner to a U.S. Senator from Alabama regarding exemption status for the 1917 Selective Service Act on behalf of one of her workers. This primary source document will allow the students to practice evaluating a complex text. The students will answer active reading questions in order to participate in a "Philosophical Chairs" class debate regarding the merit of the farm owner's request. The Philosophical Chairs activity will allow the students to verbally articulate an argumentative position while specifically using textual evidence in order to be able to defend his or her position. *Note: Bibliography of resources used can be found at the end of the "Lesson Procedures Section" of this lesson. This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

This 7 th grade life science educational module is designed to provide a hands-on approach to learning how genetics determine the fate of a cell. This is an interactive "student-centered" module that utilizes technology, manipulatives, and hands-on activities to provide exceptional resources for teachers and a dynamic learning experience for students with various learning styles. Specifically, the lesson focuses on understanding how Sickle Cell Anemia is an inherited genetic disorder, illustrates how the structure of the red blood cells affect blood flow, and explains how possible gene combinations can be passed from parents to offspring. This lesson serves as lesson 3 of a 3 lesson plan module. This lesson was created under Tuskegee University Math and Science Partnership Grant (MSP), NSF Funded.

The lesson will begin by engaging students with a video of a natural landform in Alabama called Neversink Pit. Students will then research the natural and human-made causes and effects of sinkhole formation in Alabama. Lastly, students will create a video PSA to communicate information about sinkhole dangers and methods to protect people and property from sinkhole damage. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will explore two NCSS Notable Trade Books and a newspaper advertisement to develop an understanding of what life was like for slaves in the nineteenth century. Students will use their understanding to write a narrative story about being a slave in the nineteenth century. Students will use the website MyStorybook to create and publish their stories. This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

In this activity, students will model how the directness of sunlight affects the heating of Earth's atmosphere at the equator. Students will demonstrate that Earth's shape has a direct effect on the unequal heating of the atmosphere. The students will discover how the tilt of Earth's axis affects the amount of sunlight that reaches different regions of the earth's surface thus causing different seasons. This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

This investigation allows students to explore the real-life meaning of solar energy. Students designing and engineering a solar oven using a pizza box. Completed projects will be tested and then evaluated for effectiveness. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.