Bonneville
A Plan for Renewable Energy Goals
The best laid plans can lead to meeting renewable energy goals. A culminating project for the unit has pupils research the amount of solar and wind energy at their locations. They set renewable energy goals and use the information they...
Bonneville
Solar Energy
Put the infinite power of the sun to good use. Young scientists learn about solar energy by completing a challenging project. They imagine that they are in charge of planning a solar panel array for a building and must decide where to...
Bonneville
Wind Energy
Let the wind take pupils to a new understanding of renewable energy. The fifth of seven parts in the A Community Powered by Renewable Energy unit has learners investigate wind energy. They find out why wind occurs, learn about windmills...
Bonneville
Renewable Energy Panel
Plan a panel on public policy. On the first day of lessons, scholars identify local government planners and create questions to ask regarding renewable energy and infrastructure. On the second day, they conduct the panel and learn about...
Bonneville
Home Energy Audit
Reduce energy consumption and save some money at the same time! The third of seven installments in the A Community Powered by Renewable Energy unit focuses on energy use in the home. Learners investigate the energy needs of small and...
Bonneville
What is Electricity and How Do We Use It?
Use some electrifying lessons to learn about electricity. Future scientists discover the history of electricity and the basics of electric circuits. They learn how to read an electricity bill and then create circuits to power a fan,...
Bonneville
Why Use Renewable Energy?
Renew one's interest in renewable energy sources. Scholars learn about the advantages and disadvantages of various renewable and non-renewable energy sources. They conduct an activity to simulate the greenhouse effect and take part in a...
DocsTeach
Containment in Korea: Entering the Korean War
An interesting resource explores President Truman's decision to enter into the Korean War to contain the spread of communism. Historians analyze the document using an online worksheet before participating in group discussion on the...
DocsTeach
WWI America: Babe Ruth's Draft Card
Even the Great Bambino wasn't above suspicion during World War I. An eye-opening activity explores America's greatest pastime through the lens of government officials during WWI. Academics examine Babe Ruth's draft card to understand how...
Center for History Education
The Federal Theatre Project: Analyzing Conflict Among Relief, Art, and Politics in 1930s America
In the effort to soothe the suffering of the Great Depression, New Deal programs funded a variety of approaches - including a theater project that proved controversial! Using documents such as oral histories, as well as photographs of...
Center for History Education
Maryland During the Secession Crisis
While many think the United States was neatly divided between Northern and Southern states during the Civil War, border states like Maryland are more complicated. Using hands-on activities to measure distance and primary sources,...
DocsTeach
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Resolution Analysis
An eye-opening activity honors those soldiers that have fallen in battle but remain nameless. Scholars analyze the Unknown Solider Resolution created after World War I to honor those who died. Academics participate in group discussion to...
DocsTeach
Titanic Survivors: One Ship, Two Different Worlds
Scholars explore claims from two Titanic survivors, a first-class passenger and a person from the steerage class. The activity uses primary documents to help pupils determine whether the White Star Line showed preferential treatment to...
DocsTeach
The Zimmermann Telegram
An enlightening activity explains how a telegram prompted the United States to enter World War I. Scholars examine the telegram and work to decode it. To finish, individuals complete a worksheet and participate in group discussion to...
DocsTeach
The Titanic Disaster: Measuring Loss of Life, Property and Injuries
One man's unsinkable dream became a disaster for many. An intriguing activity uses primary sources to examine the claims made by Titanic survivors against the White Star Line. Scholars analyze the claims, complete a worksheet, and...
DocsTeach
The Titanic Disaster: One Survivor's Story
An activity focuses on Lucy Ridsdale, a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic. Scholars analyze primary sources and place them in the correct sequence. Academics also complete a worksheet and participate in group discussion to...
DocsTeach
Suffrage Photograph Analysis
Votes for women! Young scholars use images to explore the suffrage movement and its impact on the United States. Historians work in groups or pairs to interpret the photograph, complete a worksheet, and discuss how their opinions of the...
Center for History Education
Helping to Move On? An Analysis of the Reconstruction Amendments
Reconstruction amendments: a helping hand or another form of slavery? An inquisitive instructional activity compares the Reconstruction legislation that ended slavery, granted citizenship, and protected voting right for African American...
Center for History Education
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: 19th Century African-American Writer and Reformer
Although some African American abolitionists—such as Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass—are well known, others, like Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, remain in the shadows of history. Harper was a poet and activist who played an...
Center for History Education
Civil War Weaponry and Medicine: A Disastrous Mismatch
Ironically, science was the reason why the Civil War was so deadly. Despite the use of medical practices now considered barbaric—such as conducting surgery with bare, dirty hands—developments in weaponry meant that more men died on and...
Center for History Education
Northern Racism and the New York City Draft Riots of 1863
Just how racist were some people in the North during the American Civil War? Using excerpts of the Conscription Act, as well as graphic images of lynchings, young historians consider why white people in New York City rioted and killed...
Center for History Education
Lincoln and the Republicans: The Cause of the War?
In today's political rhetoric, many forget the pivotal role the Republican Party played in the causes of the Civil War. The party's formation was the final straw for Southerners who saw the enslavement of people of African descent a...
Center for History Education
Slavery and Civil Disobedience: Christiana Riot of 1851
When is it a moral obligation to disobey the law or to fight back? Using primary sources that document the "Christiana Riot" of 1851, learners consider these questions. The firsthand accounts tell the story of the riot, which happened...
PBS
Stop and Animate
Get animated about animations. Future engineers learn about stop-motion animation using an app. Working in groups, they make their own animations where they have figurines move to music.