Constitutional Rights Foundation
Criminal Justice in America
The allure of true crime television shows often leads to intrigue of the criminal justice system. Using a six-unit curriculum, learners explore criminology and the justice system in the United States. Topics include the police, trial...
Curriculum Development Institute
Relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War
Class members consider what they would have done during the Berlin Blockade or how they would handle the Communist revolution in China using graphic organizers and activities to help build arguments. They also consider the philosophies...
University of Richmond
Canals 1820-1860
While canals are not a common mode of transportation today, they were part of the fuel for America's industrialization. However, most of them were located in the North, also feeding regional differences and sectionalism. Using an...
University of Richmond
Foreign-Born Population 1850-2010
If America is a nation of immigrants, where are they from and why did they come? Demographic data and interactive maps help pupils consider answers to these questions by examining the statistics of foreign-born Americans. Features allow...
University of Richmond
The Overland Trails 1840-1860
What led Americans to head west in the 1800s? Using an interactive map and journals from those who traveled, pupils explore the stories of those who migrated. In addition, they see how the numbers fluctuated in response to the push-pull...
University of Richmond
The Forced Migration of Enslaved People 1810-1860
Slavery not only involved the forced migration of African people from their homes, it also meant the forced removal of people within the United States. Using data and interactive graphics, scholars see how the tragedy of human slavery...
University of Richmond
The Executive Abroad 1905-2016
While the president often appears to jet around the world on diplomatic missions, having the commander in chief travel abroad is a modern phenomenon, starting in the 20th century. Using a graphic, learners explore which presidents...
University of Richmond
Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America 1935-1940
Redlining—or the practice of racial discrimination in housing loans—directly led to today's segregated living patterns in America. Using data from the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation, classmates visualize the impact of policy on...
University of Richmond
Renewing Inequality: Family Displacements through Urban Renewal 1950-1966
What is progress? Who bears its cost? High schoolers consider the questions as they review data on families displaced by urban renewal projects in the 1950s and 1960s. An interactive, curated data project asks historians to consider the...
iCivics
Win the White House
What does it take to win the White House? A video game allows young political operatives to try their hand at winning 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by deciding on key issues, where and how to spend campaign dollars, and the role of polling...
iCivics
We The Jury
A jury must decide: are the names of two businesses so similar that one is hurt by customer confusion? Learners play the role of a juror who must decide—and convince others—whether Trio Taco and Trio Pizza are too similar. Using...
iCivics
Supreme Decision
Is the right to wear a band t-shirt included in our freedom of speech? Budding historians consider the question by using a video game. After a brief animated video, users drop in and listen to Supreme Court justices as they debate the...
iCivics
Sortify: U.S. Citizenship
What is the difference between a right and a responsibility? Scholars consider the question while sorting characteristics of citizenship into buckets using a video game. After playing, class members see how effectively they sorted the...
iCivics
LawCraft
What's it like to be a senator or member of the House of Representatives? Using a video game simulation, learners discover what it is like to craft and pass legislation from its idea through conference committee. Pop ups and annotation...
iCivics
Executive Command
What is it like to be the commander in chief? Learners find out using an engaging video game simulation. As they juggle diplomacy and bills sent from Congress, they make choices to push forward an agenda on issues they think are important.
Curriculum Development Institute
Life in the Age of Machines
What was life like during the Industrial Revolution? Using a variety of activities, including writing out the dreams of laborers, industrialists, and urban dwellers, learners consider the positive and negative impacts of the Age of...
iCivics
Responsibility Launcher
So how would pupils solve a town's problems? Using a video game, scholars tell residents of a town how to solve their problems by taking steps such as going back to school, voting, or serving in the military. As they make good choices,...
Echoes & Reflections
Contemporary Antisemitism
Despite the recognized atrocities of the Holocaust, anti-semitism continues. The 11th and final installment of the Teaching the Holocaust series explores the long-term effects of the Holocaust on modern anti-semitism, asking pupils to...
Echoes & Reflections
Perpetrators, Collaborators, and Bystanders
After the Holocaust, the world grappled with how to bring justice to the Nazis. But what to do with the thousands—if not millions—who allowed it to happen? Young historians consider the issues of guilt, collaboration, and responsibility...
Echoes & Reflections
Antisemitism
Propaganda and anti-semitism were linked to evil ends during the Holocaust. Using video testimony of Holocaust survivors, examples of Nazi propaganda, and discussion questions, learners explore the roots of anti-semitism in Europe and...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Pedigrees and the Inheritance of Lactose Intolerance
What, exactly, causes lactose intolerance? Scholars view a video describing a Finnish study that determined why some people are tolerant while others are intolerant. They then use the data from the study to reenact the experiment and...
PBS
The Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment was extremely important to civil rights and is a crucial one to remember. The resource teaches about the Supreme Court decisions related to the amendment through writing exercises, reading, and working in small...
Penguin Books
An Educators' Guide to Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Books can help teens understand complex global issues. A helpful educator's guide introduces readers to what it's like to be a refugee. Lesson components for the novel Shades of Gray include an anticipation guide and writing and research...
National Park Service
Teaching with Historic Places: Discover the Jackie Robinson Ballpark
Can sports and popular culture change public opinion? That's the essential question asked by a lesson plan that looks at the role Jackie Robinson's appearance at City Island Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Florida played in the desegregation...