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.

This is one of three lessons that can be taught alone, or as the first part of a series, "Solutions from Nature." In this lesson, students explore characteristics of animals that provide insulation. They experiment with different materials to build a "glove" that can protect their hands from a cold ice bath. A YouTube link to a similar demonstration is provided below. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

This is one of three lessons that can be taught alone, or as the third part of a series, "Solutions from Nature." In this lesson, students examine outer parts of animals that provide protection (turtles, crabs, pill bugs, snails, etc.). They choose from different materials to construct a "helmet" that can protect an egg from breaking if it is dropped. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

This is one of three lessons that can be taught alone, or as the second part of a series, "Solutions from Nature." In this lesson, students explore the structure of plants, and the parts that provide stability. They choose from different materials to construct a house that is sturdy (like the stem) and has a foundation (like the roots). Students test the strength of their design to determine which elements/materials provide increased stability. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

This lesson will use the process of inverse operations to solve formulas for a given variable. Some formulas will not be recognized by the student. The actual formula is not important, but the variables are. This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

This lesson is the second part of solving systems of linear equations. The lesson will be taught in one class period. The concept for the lesson is to solve one equation in terms of "x" or "y" and substitute the results into the other equation. Calculating the final solution to the system will take a few more steps. This lesson will describe the remaining steps as well as examples to follow. This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

This is an inquiry-based lesson that allows the students to create a string telephone to investigate how sound can be used to communicate over a given distance. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

This lesson will develop the knowledge of squared and cubed numbers. The students will know when to use the square root and cube root to solve an equation. The students will memorize perfect squares and some cube roots. The answers will be left in radical form. Finally, the students will be able to identify the radicals as rational or irrational. This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

The lesson will begin by students accessing their prior knowledge of fossils and the fossil record by creating a "chain letter" with their classmates. Next, students will participate in an introductory WebQuest which will explain how the anatomical structure of the whale has changed over time. With a collaborative group, students will create a timeline of the Eocene epoch that will depict the chronological order of whale fossil appearance in rock layers. Using the jigsaw strategy, students will read an informational text pertaining to the change in the anatomical structures of the whale over time and complete a data table. Lastly, students will complete an exit slip, which will serve as the summative assessment for the lesson's objectives. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will construct and test pendulums with varying weights, string types, release positions, and lengths. They will collect, graph, and analyze data to see which variables affect the speed of the pendulum in order to predict the movement of new pendulums. Then they will then use this data to solve a real-world problem and explain their thinking. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will begin the lesson by viewing a video clip that will explain the difference between classical and transgenic breeding of plants. Next, students will work in groups to identify common foods that contain genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). Students will further explore this concept by gathering and synthesizing information regarding the impact of genetically modified organisms on the appearance of desired traits in organisms. Lastly, students will engage in the "RAFT" writing strategy, by taking on the role of a farmer persuading their employees to consider the positive or negative impacts of genetically-modified food crops. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

This lesson will focus on American symbols. Students will identify American symbols and explain how they represent the United States of America. Symbols include the Liberty Bell, Bald Eagle, Statue of Liberty, United States Flag, Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. Students will work in pairs and conduct research about American symbols and create a digital story about a symbol of their choosing. This lesson was created as part of a collaboration between Alabama Technology in Motion and ALEX.

Systems of Equations will be taught over a three-day period: the first day will include a lesson regarding equations that can be solved by graphing, the second day will include a lesson regarding equations that can be solved by substitution, and the third day will include a lesson regarding equations that can be solved by elimination. The students will graph two lines on the same coordinate axis and determine where the two lines cross. The teacher will be able to rock the teenage world with the website " DESMOS ". Solving the equations graphically will enhance the graphing skill of the students. The lesson will explain all the ways to graph a line. This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

This lesson will be completed in one class period. This lesson, the third in the series, will focus on another way of solving linear systems, the elimination method. When using this method, the students will multiply one or both of equations to make one of the variables equal. Afterward, the students will add the equations to eliminate the variable. This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

The lesson will begin by students accessing their prior knowledge of the anatomical similarities and differences among modern and fossil organisms by creating a Venn diagram with a partner, which will compare and contrast two organisms. Next, students will complete the online modules found at "What did T. rex Taste Like?" from the University of California Museum of Paleontology, which will explain how a cladogram diagram can be used to show lines of lineage and evolutionary relationships. Students will use a cladogram to infer how a T. rex is related to modern organisms. Lastly, students will construct a written explanation to describe the anatomical similarities and differences between the T. rex and modern organisms based on evidence from the cladograms in a claim-evidence-reasoning format. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

This lesson will focus on creating timelines. Students will use important dates from their lives to create a personal 5 event timeline. Students will use rulers to measure equal spaces for their timelines. This lesson will require two 1 hour sessions. The first lesson will include the lesson introduction, work on timelines and time for formative assessments as students work. The second session will be used to complete timelines, share projects, and complete exit tickets. Sample of completed timeline: Video sample of completed timeline: https://goo.gl/1JwF0I This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development Summit.

The lesson will begin with a brief review of the previous lesson on how climates and geographic locations can affect weather patterns and produce natural disasters. Students will watch a short video during the before strategy to engage learners in the lesson on a particular natural disaster--tornadoes. Students will read various texts and charts in order to understand the causes and effects of tornadoes, putting the information in a T-chart to help organize their thoughts. Students will then discuss their findings with an elbow partner and then write a two-paragraph cause and effect essay which will serve as the summative assessment. This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development Summit.

In this activity, the students will be engineers who compete to create their own "safe" and fast free fall ride. Using graphing and calculations, the students will calculate the fastest ride and determine the minimum and maximum passenger sizes that their ride will hold. The team that designs the fastest ride that doesn't "hurt" the passenger(s) wins! This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

Students will conduct an experiment to determine the effect of mass on the distance a toy car will roll. Students will calculate the effect that mass has on the acceleration of the car (the distance the car will roll). Students will also make a prediction of how far the car will roll if more mass is added. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

The students will work together to design a magnetic system that can float from one point to another. The students will design a graphic organizer showing the sequence and steps needed to design a Maglev Train system by applying a scientific understanding of the forces between interacting magnets. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA