Astronauts train underwater to simulate the change in gravity. An out-of-this-world unit includes three hands-on activities, one teacher demonstration, and a discussion related to some of the challenges astronauts face. Scholars apply...

Stop, thief! Do your pupils understand the consequences of plagiarism? Lesson three of six in a series of college and career readiness activities demonstrates the dangers of taking credit for someone else's work. Learners engage in...

Learners view and analyze three different images related to the Battle of Lexington and Concord. They also answer a variety of questions in a graphic organizer to help keep the information straight.

Middle-schoolers still enjoy playing with bubbles! In this series of eight laboratory activities, science learners explore convex and concave surfaces, angles, gas laws, buoyancy, density and more! 

Focusing on the judicial branch of government, the fourth lesson in this series explores the structure of the US courts system. Beginning with an engaging activity based on the short story The Lady or the Tiger, students go on...

Unless you are a lawyer, you might not understand just how unrealistic Law and Order and other legal dramas actually are. Here's a great resource to help scholars of criminology gain a more realistic perspective. The lesson outlines the...

Explore the importance of rules in a community with the engaging first lesson plan of this series on the US government. To begin, children play a paper clip game that requires them to make up their own rules as they go, after which...

Fair use, intellectual property, public domain ... what does it all mean? Scholars act as judges to determine if different scenarios constitute fair use. They also advance their research skills by practicing paraphrasing and citing...

The Fair Play Act of 2009 came about due to the actions of one woman. Young historians research Lilly Ledbetter and what she went through to get pay equal to that paid to men for the same work at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The...

Encourage your class to create rules and regulations for cyberbullying. Learners explore civic participation by thinking about the rules and regulations already in place in their lives and studying Canada's Canada Gazette. As a final...

As part of the study of the legislative process, scholars research redistricting and gerrymandering and the effects of these activities on lawmaking. On day one of the two-day plans, individuals redistrict the state of Elbonia so that...

Five hundred schoolchildren first performed the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing" in 1900 to celebrate President Lincoln's birthday. Scholars listen to the historic song and discuss the lyrics with partners. They continue preparing notes...

What is the balance between democracy and security? Using articles and videos that examine state voting procedures, learners explore the difficult question. After looking at voting regulations in their state and nationally, they consider...

"Redlining," "Blockbusting," and "White Flight" may not be terms familiar to young historians. Here's a lesson that introduces middle schoolers to these terms and the actions associated with them. Class members examine a series of...

Your kids have probably heard these idioms before, but do they know what they mean? Help them learn that haste makes waste, an ill wind blows no good, and that ignorance is bliss with a list of popular expressions.

Is it worth the risk? Class members examine a framework for assessing and managing risks and then apply the model to the provided scenarios. To conclude the session individuals apply the model to a personal situation and record their...

Who had power over trade in the early days of the United States? Who has power now? Viewers investigate the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. Using an AP Exam review video, learners examine issues surrounding authority...

Elmer Imes was not only a brilliant physicist but also a civil rights activist. After an introductory lecture, groups read two articles about a traffic accident that killed one Fisk University student and injured several others. The...

Young social scientists investigate recent legislative proposals for reparations for African Americans. They examine the rationale behind the proposals by viewing videos and reading related articles. To close the lesson plan, scholars...

This is a fantastic collection of a wide variety of rubrics for writing, listening, and speaking! The resource contains over 14 rubrics for assessing such items as a summary, autobiographical sketch and narrative, speech, oral...

Here's a great resource for your curriculum library. The 240-page packet, organized into units by topics, includes sample lesson plans, links to primary and secondary source documents, worksheets, activities, and sample assessments.

3D printers, selfie sticks, smart watches. GPS, self-driving cars, YouTube. Imagine life without inventions. Believe it or not, these items were all invented in the last 10 years. Inventions, and the inventors responsible for them,...

What do cereal, fog, and space shuttles have to do with newspapers? A collection of science investigations encourage critical thinking using connections to the various parts of the newspaper. Activities range from building origami seed...

Is there such a thing as fate/luck? Can one fight destiny? As part of their study of Chinua Achebe's purpose in writing Things Fall Apart, class members answer these questions from Achebe's point of view and then from William...