Social Scientist Teacher Resources

A charming interactive comic book introduces readers to three lesser-known, yet pivotal, scientists from the Renaissance era. Their discoveries, which took place during the Scientific Revolution in Europe, are the basis for many of...

Between 1957 and 1962, thousands of infants born in Canada, Great Britain, and Germany had serious deformities due to thalidomide, a drug marketed to pregnant women as a mild sleeping aid and to relieve pregnancy nausea. However, the...

In this social scientist learning exercise, high schoolers respond to 10 matching and short answer questions about the work of economists, archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and political scientists.

Which electricity pioneer made the largest contribution to where we are today? Pupils select a scientist or inventor to research and present to the class. From Celcius in 1701 to Ed Hammer in 1976, many scientists contributed to the...

Learners examine different areas of social studies and tell classmates about what social scientists do. They work in small groups: each group member researches a different social science focus, then presents to the class.

During the first few sniffles of a cold, you can't help wondering where you picked up the illness. Watch an Ed Ted video that details the difference between miasma theory and germ theory, and the ways that Dr. John Snow's research...

Increased oxytocin helps people read facial expressions with greater accuracy. Video explores the way this hormone impacts social interactions and highlights the way scientists perform research to confirm the findings. Then the video...

What role does trust play in diffusing a tense situation? Young social scientists explore trust on a personal and global level during a lesson on peace and conflict. After participating in a trust sit, participants work in groups to...

The question of how to balance Fourth Amendment Rights with national security concerns becomes critical in an age of planned terrorist attacks, election interference, and fake news. Get young social scientists involved in the debate with...

Help middle schoolers conduct Internet research and develop a working definition for the discipline of social studies. From a list of websites, they develop classification skills and differentiate between primary and secondary sources....

Satellite photographs prove the dramatic changes to the environment over long periods of time. Young scientists observe photographs and make hypotheses. They then check real data of weather and climate patterns to better understand the...

The challenge surrounding a transition to alternative fuels may fall on the next generation of scientists, innovators, and creative thinkers. Get them started on their journey with a research and discussion activity focuses on the...

Philosopher John Locke's ideas about tabula rasa, natural rights, the social contract, and how these ideas influenced Thomas Jefferson are the focus of an information packet that also includes worksheets, games, and a writing prompt.

Students discuss methods used by forensic scientists and the basics of DNA and how it can be used to identify an individual after reading an article from The New York Times.

High school scientists reasearch and illustrate changes in the local environment and consider relationships among agriculture, industry, economy, natural events, and social interactions. They construct a timeline to discover if there are...

Is peace simply the absence of war, or is there more to the story? Young social scientists define peace in the second installment of a 15-part series. Groups work together to explore cultural concepts of peace and the peacemaking process...

The Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an area of low oxygen that kills marine life, costs the United States $82 million every year. Young scientists research anoxic ocean environments then come up with a hypothesis for the cause of the Gulf of...

In collaborative groups, emerging engineers or environmental scientists plan and construct a water wheel or watermill that rotates for a total of three minutes. Everything you need to carry out this lesson is included: objectives,...

High school chemists receive a blast of history as Hank paraphrases the life and times of Glenn Seaborg, the renowned American scientist. Highlights of his long and illustrious career are displayed, educating and inspiring your class to...

According to NASA, global sea levels rose 17 cm in the last century and 30 cm in the last decade. The video highlights a scientist who predicted climate change, and who offers solutions to change the course of global warming. 

Computers have changed the world but how have computers themselves changed? A Crash Course History of Science episode focuses on the the history of the computer. It opens with defining what a computer is and continues by introducing the...

Skeletons may not be able to speak, but they can still tell us a lot. High schoolers watch a short video about the ways biological anthropologists can use a skeleton's bone structure to determine age, gender, place of birth, and social...

Scientists discovered empathy is a learned behavior, not an instinct or inherited behavior. The second lesson in a 12-part series focuses on teaching empathy, an important life skill. Scholars use discussion and role playing to practice...