Ninth graders study how cities affect the environment and design an ecologically-sound city. They focus their study on the benefits and constraints of life on the Northern Great Plains.

Beginning a persuasive writing unit with your middle schoolers? Approach it through something that persuades us all: advertising! Through studying video and print advertisement, your class will practice Common Core skills for reading...

More of a math lesson than physics or space science, high schoolers take a set of data and plot it on a log-log coordinate system. The write-up for day two was never completed, but day one, "Stars and Slopes," is complex and cohesive....

Clichés, paradoxes, and equivocations are detailed in a short, animated video that defines and illustrates these writing traps. The resource also includes a quiz and the transcript for the video. Users can register to access free course...

Twelfth graders compare and contrast the work of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. In this racism lesson, 12th graders read The Autobiography of Malcolm X and discuss how Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. approached ending racism.

Students examine George Washington's belief in etiquette and respect for others, which he achieved by following 110 rules of civility, and create their own rule of civility.

Students examine the importance of limiting power in governments. In this government lesson, students investigate the importance of placing limits on government by looking at the US Constitution. They look at ways that being an active...

Students apply the mechanical advantages and problem-solving capabilities of six types of simple machines (wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, screw, pulley) as they discuss modern structures in the spirit of the engineers and...

Fourth graders investigate the ways in which horses made transportation, hunting and agriculture much easier for the native peoples. They then compare advantages of a horse "back then" to the ease transportation (mainly cars) make on our...

Acquire over 1000 Chinese words while playing games! Mandarin Chinese, one of the most desired languages in business and technology, is the focus of this teaching tool. Users will pick up vocabulary and practice tones, all while tapping...

Using geoboards, computer programs, and hands-on manipulative materials, elementary schoolers engage in a study of two and three-dimensional geometric shapes. This lesson is chock full of good teaching ideas on the subject, and the...

Students study the elements in the production of an opera including the personalities, ideas, and stage presence. They examine the skills that are necessary to be a performer in an opera in this series of lessons including making...

Students take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas. Then they select and evaluate a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas of...

Third graders select a product to produce. In teams, pupils participate in hands-on activities to explore the concept of specialization. They discover the differences between a division of labor and independent production. Classmates...

Students analyze the effects of outsourcing. In this globalization lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture regarding the outsourcing of American jobs to other countries. Students respond to discussion questions and...

Students engage in some form of classroom decision making and look at possible options and consequences of each decision.  In this investigative lesson students look at different options in solving social issues and can debate...

Students visit a school or public library and study how information is organized. In this information management lesson, students answer a group of questions about the organizational method of the library. Students then practice sorting...

Students debate whether manifest destiny is right or wrong.  In this manifest destiny lesson, students discuss the westward movement and the role of manifest destiny as they focus on the Native Americans.  Students view the...

Ninth graders examine Canadian natural resources. In this geography skills lesson, 9th graders research answers to questions regarding Canada's water, energy, forests, and wildlife. Students use their findings to create posters that...

Eleventh graders explore the impact the automobile had on Iowans and their ways of life.  In this technology lesson, 11th graders research how Iowans promoted "Good roads" and the reasons for paving roads. 

Second graders study Fulton and his Steamboat, the "Trail of Tears," the Oregon Trail, the Transcontinental Railroad and the Pony Express in this series of lessons.

Fifth graders discover the history of their hometown Des Moines River.  In this U.S. Geography lesson students speak with Iowans that tell stories of the settlers and early villages near the Des Moines River.  Students document...