The odds are in your favor that your pupils will love this lesson that uses The Hunger Games to launch a study of gender empowerment, as well as the influence of social constructs of gender. Groups discuss how Katniss Everdeen and Peeta...

"Equal pay for equal work!" may sound logical but it is not the reality. High schoolers begin a study of the gender wage gap with an activity that asks them to position themselves along a line that indicates whether they strongly agree...

Why might toy advertisers use gender stereotypes to sell their products? Young people think critically about media messages and its role in gender stereotyping with a thought-provoking lesson.

What was life like for women in Colonial America? What restrictions were placed upon them and what opportunities were they afforded? A case study of Elizabeth Murray offers high schoolers a chance to investigate primary source...

Young sociologists are asked to read two photographs, identifying how the photographer uses point of view, color, pose, light, and shadow to express a stereotype of women or to challenge those stereotypes. Partners then create their own...

Are you an XX or an XY? Budding scientists learn about cellular fertilization and the determination of gender in a thorough online lesson. They follow their study with a set of interactive reflection questions.

How propaganda was used to change the concept of women's roles during World War II is the focus of an online exhibit provided by the National Women's History Museum. Packed with propaganda posters and pictures, the packet points out how...

Monster trucks, action figures, and video games. Are these toys designed for boys or girls? Scholars work in small groups to find and categorize examples of boy and girl toys from catalogs. Next, learners analyze the two sets of pictures...

Are wages based on race? On gender? Class members research wages for workers according to race and gender, create graphs and charts of their data, and compute differences by percentages. They then share their findings with adults and...

“What do you mean that my language is improper?” Prior to My Fair Lady was Pygmalion. Fair Eliza’s struggles with English, which according to George Bernard Shaw “is not accessible even to Englishmen,” come alive in the 1938 film version...

The propaganda of World War II was a key factor in galvanizing the home front. Class members examine images—without their text—to consider their messages, including those around race and gender. Using pictures and discussion questions,...

Jazz and the City, Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement, Jazz and Gender, Jazz and Literature, Jazz and the Arts, Jazz and Film. Here's a packet of unit plans organized around themes that reflect American culture. Each unit examines how...

What defines a woman as empowered, and how does this definition compare to the ideas and actions of a group of Muslim women in Syria? After watching a series of video clips from a documentary film about a school for girls in Damascus,...

What are the short and long-term consequences for consumers and producers of modern media propaganda? Class members ponder this essential question as their unit study of ethics of propaganda concludes. After examining two case...

How have the women's share of the labor force and chosen occupations evolved in the United States over the last century? Using census reports, graphs detailing the gender makeup of the labor force, and analysis of the careers of...

A university decides not to allow a qualified scholar to enter its institution based on skin and gender—but this case is about a white female? The 2003 Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger lays the foundation for open discussion and...

How do we learn the rules of society? How do beliefs and ideas affect these rules? Introduce your young sociologists to the factors that socialize individuals with a unit that uses observation and experimentation to analyze how factors...

As part of a study of the 1963 quest for civil rights in Birmingham, Alabama, class members view a PowerPoint that details the struggle and analyze Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."

The release of Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Birmingham jail, the Children's March, and the bombings of the Gaston Motel and the home of Reverend A.D. King's home. As part of a study of the civil rights movement, class members...

To launch a study of civil rights, class members brainstorm rules and expectations of behaviors at home, in school, in the workplace, and in sports. They then look at civil rights cases and examine the rules embedded in these cases. 

The verbal techniques and emotional appeals contained in the language used in political ads plays a vital role in creating the impact of the ad. As class members continue their study of Presidential campaign commercials from 1952–2012,...

Young historians investigate how sexism impacted the 2020 United States presidential election. They examine media coverage of the six women candidates, engage in a four-corners debate reacting to statements about gender and the...

The role of women in the early film industry, both on screen and behind the scenes, is the focus of a resource that asks class members to analyze movie posters and DVD covers from the 1910s and 1920s. Using examples drawn from the...

Fly through the gender barrier! Scholars investigate the impact Amelia Earhart had on American aviation and society. After watching a brief biographical video, learners take a look at primary documents to gain insight into her intriguing...