For Teachers

A Message to Middle Tennessee Elementary and Secondary Teachers

YOU ARE IMPORTANT! I KNOW THAT YOUR TIME IS VALUABLE!

K-3 | 4-5 | 6-8 | High School | Comment Form

I value our teachers -- the foundation for continued intellectual and economic growth in Middle Tennessee. Education has always been one of my highest priorities and passionate interests.

Through the legislative process, I have supported education with federal funding increases, school construction funds, scholarships and specific school projects. I also want to provide support for educators though my Web site. I'm starting with a list of Internet lesson plan links for science and math teachers. I hope that these digital links will provide you with quick access to classroom ideas and subject enhancement activities, making your preparation time just a little easier. Many of these lesson plans, freely shared on the Internet, were prepared by busy teachers just like you.

To reach the lesson plans, first click on a grade range below. At the new page, select a lesson plan and click on the title.

Kindergarten through Third Grade

Fourth through Fifth Grade

Sixth through Eighth Grade

High School

Each elementary or middle school section is subdivided into the following categories:

• Life Science: Cell Structure and Function
• Life Science: Interactions Between Living Things and Their Environment
• Life Science: Food Production and Energy for Life
• Life Science: Heredity and Reproduction
• Life Science: Diversity and Adaptation Among Living Things
• Life Science: Biological Change
• Earth and Space Science: Earth and Its Place in the Universe
• Earth and Space Science: Atmospheric Cycles
• Earth and Space Science: Earth Features
• Earth and Space Science: Earth Resources
• Physical Science: Forces and Motion
• Physical Science: Structure and Properties of Matter
• Physical Science: Interactions of Matter
• Physical Science: Energy
• Mathematics: Numbers and Operations
• Mathematics: Algebra
• Mathematics: Geometry
• Mathematics: Measurement
• Mathematics: Data Analysis and Probability

The High School section is subdivided into the following categories:

• Biology: Cells
• Biology: Interactions
• Biology: Photosynthesis and Respiration
• Biology: Genetics and Biotechnology
• Biology: Diversity
• Biology: Biological Evolution
• Chemistry: Atomic Structure
• Chemistry: Matter and Energy
• Chemistry: Interactions of Matter
• Chemistry: Solutions and Acids/Bases
• Physical Science: Forces and Motion
• Physical Science: Structure and Properties of Matter
• Physical Science: Interactions of Matter
• Physical Science: Energy
• Mathematics: Number Sense and Number Theory
• Mathematics: Estimation, Measurement, and Algebra
• Mathematics: Patterns, Functions, and Algebraic Thinking
• Mathematics: Statistics and Probability
• Mathematics: Spatial Sense and Geometric Concepts

Some hints for using the lesson plans and hyperlinks:

• Check out several grade ranges for topics of interest.
• To view certain lesson plans, Acrobat Reader software must be installed on your computer. You should be able to download a free copy from the Internet if your computer doesn't already have it.
• If a site is extremely slow to load, try hitting the "stop" button on your Web browser and then hitting the "refresh" button. However, some of the plans with color graphics will always be slow to load on most computers.
• When you access a lesson plan, at the top of a page, in the address box you will see the Internet address, the Uniform Resource Locator (URL), such as: http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/suntime/expt.htm
• You can explore for more lesson plans at a sponsoring Internet site. The sponsoring site name is embedded in the URL. For example, in the URL above, the site is: http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ -- the science site of Marshall Space Flight Center (msfc) which is a part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (nasa). Just enter this URL in the address box and press the "enter" key.
• To look for even more lesson plans, use your web browser's "search" function. For example, searching for "NASA Lesson Plans" should produce lots of URLs where you can find NASA-sponsored lesson plans.
• Most of the lessons can be done without a computer in the classroom. Those that do require student access to a computer are noted in the description.

I'm providing these lesson plan links because I hope they will be enjoyable and productive for you. But you are the expert. Judge for yourself whether the material is appropriate and helpful for the tasks that you must accomplish in the classroom. Use only those that are value-added for you and your students.

You can use my Lesson Plans Comment Form to provide feedback on these plans and to suggest new plans.