Students read sections of the novel, "The Jungle". They identify the problems of the meat industry during the Progressive Era. They discuss food concerns of today and make connections between the two time periods.

Students conduct Internet research on China's economic development and use a worksheet to organize their findings. They participate in class discussion and compare and contrast the economies of the U.S. and China.

Eleventh graders research different documents pertaining to the reconstruction era. They present their findings to the class in structured presentations and unstructured discussions. Students compare and contrast their findings about...

Though the murder of Emmett Till shocked 1950's America into turning attention to the racial crimes of the South, it was far from the first time racism had erupted into violence. High schoolers examine the killing in context with the...

High schoolers view film footage of the Ku Klux Klan in the U.S. in the early 1920s and examine how the actions of the KKK have been viewed by different strands of the civil rights movement. They watch the film and answer discussion...

Students examine journalism in extreme conditions. In this war-zone journalism instructional activity, students research media coverage of Vietnam, Grenada, the Gulf War, and military actions in Somalia and Kosovo. Students compare...

Middle schoolers investigate methods of pollination for various flowers. In this plant biology lesson, students learn the parts of a flower and form a hypothesis about the method of pollination for the flower. They determine the...

The choices made by Roy Bryant and J.W. Millam, the men who murdered Emmett Till in 1955, are usually the ones people ponder when they examine the case. But other individuals made choices that contributed to the event and its subsequent...

Fifth graders become familiar with the role of African Americans during WWII.  In this WWII lesson, 5th graders watch a newsreel and discuss its use as a primary source.  Students answer questions about the newsreel.

Young scholars explore triptychs.  For this art history lesson, students define the terms "photograph" and "triptych".  Young scholars discuss changes that occur between mothers and daughters and create an original...

Events related to the Civil Rights Movement in Sacramento, California during the 1960s offer class members an opportunity to compare the nonviolent resistance approach favored by Dr. Martin Luther King and the NAACP with those of the...

Students study the settlement of the American frontier through literature. In this literature instructional activity, students read and discuss works by James Fenimore Cooper, Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Willa Cather, and Hamlin Garland....

Students research psychology by participating in a role-play activity. In this human relationship lesson, students define the term "family" and read assigned text which discusses how family relationships work. Students answer study...

Students experience Zen philosophies reflected in artwork, poetry, and architecture. Students will explore these connections and expand the discussion to include a professional author of their choice.

Middle schoolers work with primary documents and latter-day photographs to recapture the experience of traveling on the Oregon Trail. Working in groups, they write a scene for the movie that is historically accurate and based on the...

Sudents compare specific excerpts from The Red Badge of Courage to first-hand accounts of Civil War battles, in text and images and list elements of Crane's style in The Red Badge of Courage that contribute to its realism.

This lesson will help students learn more about current immigrant experience, nvestigate U.S. immigration and labor laws, consider the meaning of citizenship, gain knowledge about the economics of poverty, practice research skills and...

This lesson will help students practice conducting an oral history interview, increase knowledge about what it is like to be a soldier, gain knowledge about the Vietnam War and gain knowledge about the Chicano experience in the U.S.

Students study the state of the world before the slave trade. They explain the geography and economics of the slave trade. They explore primary sources and how historians use these sources to create historical interpretations.

Learners research the initial labeling and classification of Jews through the use of images on the Web. They gather additional information about the history and effects of the Holocaust on survivors.

Middle schoolers, in groups, take various roles in evaluating the costs/benefits of the Three Gorges Dam project on the Yangtze River in China.

Students view the video "Jefferson's Blood" and complete a series of activities, dealing with both Thomas Jefferson's public and private life, in order to better explain Jefferson as a man and politician.

Students discuss the Constitution of the United States and its amendments, then apply this discussion by creating a "Who should Decide What?" list, based upon their ideas about whether controversial issues such as abortion and medical...

Young scholars research the history of the Depression particularly in the ways it was documented by photography. Then they take their own pictures in the style of one of the best documentarians, Dorothea Lange.