Free Teaching Resources ▸ Project Based Learning Lesson Plans
Last updated: August 24, 2022
These 17 outstanding free PBL resources will give you a running start on your project based learning lesson plans. They include examples, ideas, and plenty of how-to’s. The projects are designed and used by teachers in the classroom. Select one of the titles below to view more detailed info and reviews from teachers about the resource.
For subject-specific listings, check out one of the following articles:
- English Project Based Learning – PBL Lessons for Language Arts
- PBL Science Lesson Ideas
- PBL Math Project Ideas
- PBL Social Studies Project Ideas
To learn more about PBL, read Ideas & Resources To Help You Kick-Start Project Based Learning.
The Best PBL Websites with Examples and Resources
Project Based Learning Professional Development
The Department of Education offers a comprehensive free online course on project based learning for the classroom. The course entire course takes 8-10 hours to complete and requires registration to obtain a certificate of completion. The training is divided into ...
YSA Project-Based Service Learning
For teachers looking for service-based projects, Youth Service America is a real treasure. Their Service-Learning Experience Toolkit offers options for week-long, month-long, and semester-long projects. Each project type has an outstanding set of downloadable blueprints divided into Before, During and ...
Project Based Learning Examples on Curriki
Curriki's resource library has dozens of PBL projects in all subjects and grade levels, developed and submitted by its teacher members. The advanced search feature is extensive, and will help you narrow your choices down using multiple criteria. In addition ...
Project Work in Language Teaching
This is a practical in-depth guide to conducting a project-based-learning short film project for English language learners. It would also be suitable for group of students studying any foreign language. It includes planning guides, lessons, evaluation tools, deliverables, samples and ...
Real World Math Projects
These six projects are targeted for students in grades 3-12 and use Google Earth and SketchUp in math applications. The projects take from several days to weeks long to accomplish. Each project identifies math skills and national standards for the ...
Project-Based Learning Space
Here are five PBL lesson plans for projects in science, math and social studies for students in grades 4-12. Each project poses a problem or challenge and provides guidelines and help in modeling the process. There is also a section ...
Historical Voyages and Events
In this project, kids create a historic web page of their school's community, researching explorers and significant events from its past. Carol LaRow, a Google certified teacher and Smithsonian Laureate, is the site administrator. She invites teachers to submit projects ...
CIESE
CIESE provides interdisciplinary STEM projects that make use of online real-time data. Their focus is on collaborative projects that connect students to peers and experts around the world. The project catalog is organized by Science (Life, Earth, Physical, Environmental); Technology ...
Global SchoolNet PBL
Update for 2022: This site is no longer active. But there is still a large archive of projects to help your generate ideas. This site is a clearinghouse for teacher-conducted global learning projects at all grade levels. Collaborate with other ...
Designing Effective Projects
Designing Effective Projects provides guidance on how to create a project-based learning unit. In addition to the design process, it provides an overview of the types of thinking skills a teacher can target, and suggested instructional strategies. There is also ...
Take Action Science Projects
Sue Boudreau blogs about her PBL journey with middle school students, using projects within her science-based curriculum. You'll find projects on topics such as "Problems with Oil", "Egg Head Helmet Challenge", "The Great Carbon Race", and "The Re-Wilding Project". Sprinkled ...
HTH Student Projects
HTH posts sample student project work and videos that model best PBL practices in classroom management, project management, critiques, and assessments. HTH staff have created an amazing Planning Guide for Teachers on Integrating Units. This planning guide offers teachers a ...
Project Approach
This Canadian site offers about a dozen examples of projects for grades K-12. The emphasis is on local resources, ecological awareness, and the use of 21st Century skill sets. Each project is documented with illustrations and photos. A sample study ...
Project Exchange
This is a place for teachers to share high school PBL plans. There are about a dozen projects. The site was designed primarily for Envision teachers to collaborate and share best practices in project design and implementation. But they also ...
Edutopia: Project-Based Learning
Edutopia's online magazine focuses on innovative teaching practices, with a section devoted to project based learning. It explores PBL concepts, history, research, and classroom practices. Articles include several examples of PBL lessons. Podcasts and videos of teachers and students in ...
