America was founded by dreamers, and the American dream still resonates in our country today. Track the American dream from its Puritan beginnings to its optimistic descendants with a instructional activity that focuses on speeches...

Werner Herzog's film, Lessons of Darkness is the topic of this lesson on art, politics, and culture. Learners discuss the concepts of utopia, dystopia, detournment, and Scorched Earth then compose a paper which describes dystopian reality.

Students discuss "their community" and the elements they have chosen to include in their ideal community by presenting to the class a collage of ideas incorporating the ideas presented by the instructional activity rubric.

Students complete compare and contrast activities for two stories about racism and tolerance in the science fiction genre. For this literary analysis lesson, students read a Ray Bradbury short story and Walter Mosley poem, watch a...

Students create an image symbolic of their ideal world. In this lesson plan inspired by To Kill a Mockingbird and the artwork of Edward Hicks, students use Adobe Photoshop to create an image symbolic of their personal utopia.

Paul Chan's latest exhibit includes seven manifestations of light. Today, kids analyze the pieces 1st Light  and 5th Light. They consider the concept of opposed or dualistic realities found in literature, society, and Chan's work....

As the culminating activity in a unit study of science fiction, young writers demonstrate their understanding of the genre by producing their own graphic novel. After deciding on the main elements of their story, individuals use a comic...

Students investigate the history of Gary, Indiana by looking at its history, demographics and points of interest. They create a timeline of important events in the city's history.

Students read excerpts from Jon Scieszka's novel, 2095, prior to presenting their vision of the future in a creative project accompanied by written explanation. They design a museum exhibit which shows a scene from a science fiction book...

Students observe images of amazing places, either real, or imagined by Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, and Ansel Adams. They think about a time when they wanted to escape and where they wanted to go. They draw their getaway and then...

Ninth graders design a healthy city. They identify the essential elements of a city and describe how climate and geography can determine the layout of a city. They create a blueprint of their design and share in small groups.