Ohio State University
Exploration Activities with Electrostatic Interactions
Step out of the 21st century and discover protons and electrons through observation. Using common materials, participants continually adjust their explanation of charges. The final assessment requires pupils to design their own...
Curated OER
The Colors of Seasons
Young scholars observe each season and and mark the colors they see. In this colors of the seasons lessons, students read The Mystery of the Missing Hummingbirds and compare their results and note variations of colors in the...
Curated OER
Fires of the 21st Century
Students explore historical perspectives. In this contemporary history lesson, students listen to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," discuss they lyrics, and add a new verse to the song for the years 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005.
Curated OER
The Demise of the Great American Frontier
Young scholars are introduced to Frederick Jackson Turner and how early Census data, when combined visually with maps, effectively demonstrated the end of the frontier.
Teach Hub
New Year’s Resolution Classroom Activity
Create a sense of accountability among scholars with a lesson that focuses on making and keeping New Year's resolutions. Writers compose a five paragraph essay focused on three resolutions—promises to self improvement, to...
Curated OER
The Statue of Liberty: Bringing the 'New Colossus' to America
Students discuss meaning of symbols associated with Statue of Liberty, read and analyze Emma Lazarus' sonnet, "The New Colossus," and write persuasive letter to a nineteenth-century audience to gain support for bringing statue to America.
Illustrative Mathematics
Bike Race
A graph not only tells us who won the bike race, but also what happened during the race. Use this resource to help learners understand graphs. The commentary suggests waiting until the end of the year to introduce this topic, but why...
Curated OER
The Supreme Court and the Fourteenth Amendment
Students examine the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. In this Reconstruction Era instructional activity, students read and analyze 4 Supreme Court decisions regarding the Fourteenth Amendment and determine how the decisions...
Curated OER
Five Artists of the Mexican Revolution
Students discover details about Mexican Revolution era artists. In this Mexican Revolution instructional activity, students research the events and people of the time period. Students then research the artists of the time and create...
National Museum of the American Indian
Lone Dog's Winter Count: Keeping History Alive
What is oral tradition, and what unique tool did the Native Americans of the Northern Great Plains use to help them remember their complex histories? Through pictograph analysis, discussion, research, and an engaging hands-on activity,...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Human Feet Are Strange
Feet are neat! So, if you've already walked the path of examining animal footprints with your class, put them in the shoes of early humans! A well-designed instructional activity incorporates video, discussion, and hands-on learning to...
Curated OER
Witnesses to Joan of Arc and The Hundred Years' War
Learners trace Joan of Ar's history from early childhood through her death and on to her nullification trial. Joan's place in the history of the Hundred Years' War, what motivated her, enabled her, and brought about her demise is the...
Center for Civic Education
What Is Authority?
Young scholars examine the concepts of power and authority as they begin learning about government in this elementary social studies lesson. Through a series of readings, discussions, and problem solving activities, children...
Curated OER
Preparing a 1040EZ Income Tax Form
What do you do at the end of the year when your W2 arrives? File a tax form! Show learners how they to can fill out a basic 1040EZ tax form and play their part as tax paying citizens. Monetary denominations are provided for filling out...
Ken Baker
Phonemic Alliteration Lesson Plan
Old MacDonald had a ... dragon? A shared reading of this funny take on the classic children's song engages beginning readers as they learn about phonemes and alliteration.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Plant Phenology Data Analysis
Beginning in 1851, Thoreau recorded the dates of the first spring blooms in Concord, and this data is helping scientists analyze climate change! The culminating instructional activity in the series of four has pupils graph and analyze...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 15
How much progress has Claudette made at the end of "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves"? Ninth graders note evidence for and against Claudette's successful adaptation into human society with a graphic organizer. Additionally,...
Middle Tennessee State University
Fights, Freedom, and Fraud: Voting Rights in the Reconstruction Era
As part of a study of post Civil War era, young historians investigate the changes in voting rights during the Reconstruction Era (1863-1876), the fraud involved in the Hayes-Tilden presidential election of 1876, and efforts by Pap...
Indiana University
World Literature: "One Evening in the Rainy Season" Shi Zhecun
Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Historical Climate Cycles
Ice core samples give scientists access to climates of old—those from more than 800,000 years ago. Through an analysis of various temperature graphs from ice cores, tree rings, and weather stations, scholars compare historical climates...
Curated OER
Do the Elephants Need Sunscreen? A Study of the Weather Patterns in Etosha
Students analyze the weather patterns in Namibia. They create a graph of the yearly temperatures and use the internet to gather information. They discuss how the weather goes in cycles in the area.
Curated OER
The Legacy of the "Great War"
Young scholars study how the map of Europe changed as a result of the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I. They examine the results of the end of the Cold War.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Historical Climate Cycles
Scientists use ice core samples to obtain temperatures of the earth from 400,000 years ago! The third of five lessons instructs pupils to interpret historical climate data to see changes over time. In part I, participants interpret...
National First Ladies' Library
Trouble in Little Rock: The Desegregation of Central High School
Middle schoolers study one aspect of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States; the battle over desegregating the public schools. They study the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas by producing a newspaper,...