Inspired by Pokémon Go's use of maps, this curriculum gets students coming back to school this fall outside observing nature. The curriculum activities can be used at all grade levels and for all abilities. It includes school activities, as well as flipped classroom activities at home. Goal To teach observation, investigation, and presentation skills using integrated curricula to become more aware of natural phenomena in neighborhood and school environments and how to use science, math, geography, and oral/written descriptive language to study, record, and share environmental information and understanding. Objectives: 1. Students will observe natural phenomena (birds, trees, and in SchoolZone and MyZone). 2. Students will record information collected and synthesize through scientific thinking based on observation, research, inquiry, and presentation. 3. Students will work in pairs/groups to record, assess, and synthesize data, using research and observations made during investigations of their natural environments.

Goal: Start the new school year establishing a relationship with each students' parents. Send a short text or email introducing your students' family to the teacher and permission to send or drop by with a short list of things students can do to get ready to start the school year, each of which relates to the nine activities planned for the first week of school. Objectives: 1. Students and parental figuers will get acquainted with teacher, expectations for students and PF's participation in class activities. 2. Students and PF's will learn things about each other and establish a rapport. 3. Students will be asked to complete specific simple tasks and to be sure to bring very specific items to them the first day of school. 4. Students and parents will be introduced to and experience flipped classroom activities right from the start of school, using fun activities for children and adults. 5. Students will engage in several mysterious activities that will have them anticipating the first day eagerly. 6. Parents will be provided with contact information and told they will be contacted by text or email regarding their children's progress and/or any issues that may arise. 7. Students will also have an opportunity to communicate with teacher before the first day of school.

STEAMLASS/Super Moon Study The study of this year's second and third super moons can start 11/16 or later and end 12/14. In it students will learn about the closest super moon since 1948. STEAMLASS (STEM plus Art, Language Art, and social studies) by reading information about super moons and answering open-ended questions, participating in activities such as creating a Super Moon Anticipation Calendar to mark off the days to the last super moon and locating places where super moons were photographed using U.S. and world maps. Students will also have a flipped classroom assignment that will require them to create their own simple language using various types of graphics that they display on their own Rosetta Stone and bring to school for other students to try to decipher. Goal: Working together in pairs, groups, and individually, students will learn about Super Moons investigating STEAMLASS concepts. Objective: Students will use mathematical, science, engineering, language arts, history, technology, and observation/photography to study and engage in activities to learn what super moons are, their history, and why they appear in the sky. This unit is for Upper Elementary and Middle School students, but can be adapted for lower and higher grades.

A.C.T.S. (Assessing Content in Theatrical Scenes) for Zombie Apocalypse Brainiac Smorgasbord Goal Students use theatre to identify scientific concepts Objectives: 1. Students divide into groups of five to read-through and perform scene as readers' theatre. 2. Students complete assessment following their performances, then check answers with script. 3. Students will research science to find the one premise mentioned in the script that is not valid. 4. Student group that identifies the invalid premise first will learn lines and perform the scene as a roving drama group performing in other classes/schools. 5. Student group with the highest scores on the assessment given to each group will understudy the actors while the remaining groups will also go to other classes with to set up the set and props. 6. Students in other classes will complete assessment individually or in groups. 7. Students in other classes will rate performance and scene using a survey. SCRIPT PROPS LIST Pizza box Plastic flower pots Bag of Sand Tealight containers (used) Cheesecloth or thin white or brige scarf Generator Small plastic bottle with yellow water Simulated trap

Goal: To facilitate understanding of solar energy and its uses and develop an appreciation on how animals depend on humans during cold weather, as well as undertaking an engineering project and conducting an informal scientific study Objectives: 1. Students will learn how to use passive solar energy to melt ice in a bird bath so the birds can have a water source for drinking during the winter 2. Students will create the schematics to use in constructing a passive solar bird bath with assistance and/or guidance from an adult expert. 3. Students will use the schematics to build the passive solar bird bath with expery adult assistance. 4. Students will install the passive solar bird bath with expert adult assistance and present the project to parents, peers, and school staff. 5. Students will conduct and present the results of an informal scientific study. This unit project can be used at any grade level; however, the informal scentific study should be conducted by older children and gifted students Younger children and students with special needs can learn to observe and count/record data with teacher assistance.

As part of the U.S. government's commitment to Let Girls Learn, First Lady Michelle Obama and the Peace Corps have formed a powerful collaboration to expand access to education for adolescent girls around the world. Educating girls is essential to healthy and thriving communities but, globally, 62 million girls are not in school, and barriers to adolescent girls completing school are particularly significant. In some countries, fewer than 10% of teenage girls complete secondary school. This programme will address that challenge by empowering local leaders to put lasting solutions in place. Peace Corps Volunteers who live and work at the grassroots level will serve as catalysts of community-led change, and everyone can get involved and make a difference. https://letgirlslearn.peacecorps.gov/ FOR SCHOOLS FOR GIRLS AND OTHER EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES SPECIFICALLY FOR GIRLS Let Girls Learn STEM: Elementary Science States of Matter: This science lesson is for young students and older students with learning disabilities. Ice, Water, and Steam Goal: Students will learn about the states of matter through observation and engagement. Objective: Students will physically interact with matter at three different states - solid, liquid, and gas - by identifying snow or ice as a solid, water from melted snow or ice as a liquid, and steam from melted snow or ice as a gas. Outcomes: 1. Student provide information to create a concept map on a white board or other display area showing the three states of matter, using the students’ pictures and/or photographs, and images from the video. 2. Students work collaboratively in small groups or pairs using their collective pictures/photos showing the states of matter to create a “states of matter” timeline. 3. Students make their own picture or video books referring to the concept map and their group discussion timeline.

Language, Science, Math, and Art Plus Any Other Subjects That Can Be Added to This Fun Unit to Start the School Year Introducing Specific Skills, Collaborating with Peers, Investigating and Researching Online, and Including Family in Creating an Artifact for Display Students will learn how to investigate a topic that involves multiple subject areas and gain understanding about the topic and how the various subjects covered relate to each other.

As part of the U.S. government’s commitment to Let Girls Learn, First Lady Michelle Obama and the Peace Corps have formed a powerful collaboration to expand access to education for adolescent girls around the world. Educating girls is essential to healthy and thriving communities but, globally, 62 million girls are not in school, and barriers to adolescent girls completing school are particularly significant. In some countries, fewer than 10% of teenage girls complete secondary school. This programme will address that challenge by empowering local leaders to put lasting solutions in place. Peace Corps Volunteers who live and work at the grassroots level will serve as catalysts of community-led change, and every American can get involved and make a difference. https://letgirlslearn.peacecorps.gov/ FOR SCHOOLS FOR GIRLS AND OTHER EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES SPECIFICALLY FOR GIRLS Let Girls Learn STEM: Technology From Ancient Technology to the Technology of the Future Goal: Students will learn that technologies have been developed throughout history and that ancient technologies influenced present ones Objective: Students will learn about ancient technologies, how they created present technologies, the impact of technology on humans and how we live, and develop their own 22nd century technology design and prototype. FOR GIRLS’ SCHOOLS OR SCHOOL PROGRAMS FOR GIRLS This lesson is for students in middle grades and students with learning disabilities in higher grades. Outcomes: 1. Students will understand how ancient technologies influence present technologies 2. Students will identify modern technologies that developed from ancient ones. 3. Students will design and create an artefact of a future technology.