Platypus Puzzles

An interactive lesson introducing elementary or middle school students to the three major divisions of the brain: the Cerebrum, Cerebellum, and Brain Stem.

An engaging, highly visual science lesson exploring beetles as the armored tanks of the insect world, designed specifically for fifth-grade students reading below grade level. Students learn about elytra, beetle adaptation, and compare insect armor to that of the armadillo through scaffolded activities.

A active learning station rotation lesson where sixth-grade students discover the dangers of confirmation bias and learn the power of testing hypotheses by trying to disprove them. Based on the Veritasium 'Can You Solve This?' video, students rotate through digital and hands-on offline inquiry challenges to build robust scientific thinking skills aligned with Indiana SEPS.

A lesson focused on the physics of hitting a home run in baseball. Students explore cause-and-effect relationships and vocabulary context clues through a reading passage, followed by comprehension questions and a creative writing prompt.

An introductory 3-day coding unit for 6th-grade students using Micro:bits. Students learn basic programming concepts like algorithms, loops, and event handlers through interactive physical computing and cooperative pair programming.

A science lesson investigating the massive Sargassum seaweed bloom stretching across the Atlantic Ocean. Students explore its ecological benefits in the open ocean, the hazards it poses to coastlines, and the human and environmental factors driving its growth.

This lesson guides students through reflecting on their experiences with the OpenSciEd Grade 6 units on Light Energy and Thermal Energy. It includes a comprehensive survey for students to share their feedback, highlights, and conceptual growth.

An interactive vocabulary lesson on Earth and Space Science, featuring visual matching card decks and tactile fill-in-the-blank cloze activities covering rocks, weather, water cycles, and space.

An end-of-year science project lesson where 6th-grade students explore plant and animal cells through creative coloring worksheets and a student-designed cell analogy project. Includes high-quality coloring diagrams and a comprehensive graphic organizer guide.

A comprehensive STEM lesson where students design, build, and launch water bottle rockets to explore pressure, volume, and Newton's laws. Students apply physics principles and mathematical formulas to model trajectories and calculate apogee height from hang time.

A high-energy, relationship-building transition lesson designed to introduce rising 7th graders to their future 7th-grade science classroom and teacher through interactive activities on the last day of school.

A promotional and planning resource bundle for Zeal Online School's 'AI Superstar' program. Includes a highly descriptive scene-by-scene video storyboard guide for the presenter and a vibrant promotional flyer and informational packet for parents.

A comprehensive project-based lesson where middle school students embark on a research journey to analyze a specific ecosystem, mapping out food webs, calculating energy pyramids, and identifying symbiotic relationships in a structured field-portfolio format.

A dynamic science lesson on simple machines focusing on levers and fulcrums. Students explore the three classes of levers through hands-on scenarios, visual models, and interactive challenges.

A comprehensive safety and preparation kit for students and teachers participating in a neighborhood trash pick-up community service project. It includes safety slides, a student contract and checklist, and a detailed teacher instruction guide.

A comprehensive learning suite focused on identifying chemical reactions through visual clues, contrasting physical and chemical changes, and sorting real-world household examples. Includes a complete anchor chart, student fill-in chart, pocket resources, and a hands-on sorting kit.

An engineering design challenge where students design, prototype, and test an insulated cup to keep water cold. Emphasizes thermal energy transfer, materials science properties, the engineering process, and data analysis.

A foundational computer science lesson for middle school students introducing essential concepts of hardware, networks, and pseudocode through engaging visual slides, interactive vocabulary cards, Frayer organizers, and a diagnostic worksheet/quiz combo.

A hands-on STEM challenge based on The Wizard of Oz where students design and build a balloon-powered rescue vehicle to save Dorothy and her friends from the sleeping effects of the Poppy Field. This lesson guides students through the complete engineering design process, combining physical science concepts with literary connections.

A weather and climate science unit featuring a complete class set of ready-to-print Bingo cards and a comprehensive teacher calling and tracking guide.

A highly visual, scaffolded lesson introducing recessive inheritance. Students explore how recessive alleles manifest as physical phenotypes using concrete bunny fur examples, guided diagrams, and sentence frames.

Students participate in a high-stakes, realistic mock Livestock Skillathon, rotating through four hands-on stations to test their knowledge and earn points.

Students learn to identify common feed ingredients and forages, and practice identifying retail cuts of beef, pork, and lamb by wholesale origin and cooking style.

Students learn to identify major breeds of beef cattle, swine, sheep, and goats, along with essential veterinary, handling, and breeding equipment.

A comprehensive preparation lesson for youth competing in livestock skillathon contests. Covers crucial quality assurance principles, reading medication labels, calculating withdrawal times, and executing proper injection practices to ensure animal health and food safety.

A hands-on STEM lesson where students explore aerodynamics and variables by testing how adding paperclips to different parts of a paper airplane affects its flight path, stability, and distance.