This story was originally published in the May 1995 issue of
Classroom Connect magazine. Copyright 1995 Wentworth Worldwide Media.
Contact connect@wentworth.com or http://www.wentworth.com for more
information.

-- Lesson plan goldmines
-- Use the Internet to find the instructional materials you need

Subhead: Religious tolerance
This lesson plan challenges students in grades 9-12 to openly discuss the
issue of religious tolerance, while identifying the history and fundamental
beliefs of the five major religions present in the United States. Part of
the lesson involves writing a paper about recent Supreme Court decisions
concerning religious freedoms, and breaking your class into discussion
groups to talk about the similarities and differences between the
religions. 
Gopher to:  ericir.syr.edu
Look in Lesson Plans, Social Studies, Mini-lesson plan on teaching
religious tolerance

Subhead: Dinosaurs
K-12 students learn how to interpret an archeological discovery using
wooden models of dinosaurs through this lesson plan. This hands-on plan
involves placing the pieces of the models in a box. Students use clues
about each dinosaursÕ habitat and skeletal structure to properly assemble
the models, five pieces at a time. By assembling the models and
interpreting the results, students will develop problem solving skills in a
simulated field study.
Ftp to:  ftp.wentworth.com
Go to the wentworth/Classroom-Connect/Lessons subdirectory and
retrieve the dinos.txt file

Subhead: Air pressure
This plan explains an excellent science demonstration your students are
sure to enjoy. It involves heating a soda can containing a small amount of
water over a hotplate or candle, then submerging it in a sink filled with
cold water. The can will immediately implode, offering a graphic example
of what happens when you mix water condensation and air pressure. 
Gopher to:  info.stemnet.ca
Look in StemNet Help and Training, StemNet Training and Tutorials,
Training Projects, Lesson Plans (7-9), popcan.txt

Subhead: Compu-News
Looking for a fresh way to get your fifth or sixth grade students to use the
Internet? This telecomputing lesson plan will challenge them to dig up
sources of local and national news on the Net, then compare it with real-
world sources of news like your local newspaper. For homework, each
student writes a letter (or email) to the local paper explaining why they
should consider offering an online version of the paper.
URL:
http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/Curriculum/Computer.skills/lssnplns/Telecomputing/tctoc.html

Subhead: Plants & animals
Young science students are asked to classify into groups common plants
(flowering, non-flowering; decidious, coniferous) and animals
(invertebrates, vertebrates) in this lesson plan. Students are given
illustrations, models, or descriptions of plants and animals and asked to
identify them and classify organisms that share common characteristics.
Gopher to:  bigcat.missouri.edu
Look in School House, Columbia Public Schools, Resource Library, WISE-
Columbia Library, Key Skills with Test Items, Grade 5, Science 5A1

Subhead: Stock market
The purpose of this activity is to help high school students begin to
understand the stock market, identify the major factors that affect it, and
discover how they can make ÒfunnyÓ money by investing in selected
stocks. All thatÕs needed is copies of the weekÕs stock listings from the
local newspapers, three student volunteers who will act as brokers for
the class, a calculator, and a class ÒbankÓ of funny money. Students invest
their funny money in several stocks, then track their portfolios gains and
losses using the stock listings.
Gopher to:  ericir.syr.edu
Look in Lesson Plans, Social Studies, Economics: Learning about the Stock
Market

Subhead: Weather graphing
Using a simple computer drawing program, students in grades K-9 keep
track of the temperature over a period of 12 weeks then convert their data
into pie or bar charts. This site contains sample charts and more
information about where to find free software on the Internet to create
the charts.
URL: 
http://unite2.tisl.ukans.edu/Generic/Browser/RMathematics253.html