Lesson Plan

How Paper Is Made Lesson Plan

Turn a stack of scrap paper into fresh, handmade sheets, and find out how people first figured out how to do it.

This five-day paper unit gives you a ready-to-teach plan for Littles (K-3), Middles (4-6) and Bigs (7-8). Littles test papers, tour a paper mill and make recycled paper with a grown-up. Middles learn why papyrus is not true paper, and run a wicking lab with a bar graph. Bigs weigh the evidence on who invented paper, follow it from China through Samarkand and Baghdad to Europe and America, test fiber strength with and across the grain, and work real recycling math.

Perfect for homeschool families, multi-age classrooms, Earth Day, recycling units and ancient China studies.

What's inside

• 5 ready-to-teach days for each of three levels
• Inside a Paper Mill label sheet with answer key
• Lab sheets: paper test, wicking lab, fiber strength lab
• Make-your-own recycled paper project for every level
• Sequence cards, cut-and-sort pages and a writing page for every level
• Word search, crossword or maze, scramble and secret code puzzles
• 8 fact cards, 9 vocabulary cards, a book list and a certificate per level

Instant PDF download after checkout. Print at home.