Learners examine the roles of mothers and grandmothers by looking at black-and-white photographs of one American family and comparing that family's multi-generational story with their own. In this mothers and grandmothers lesson plan,...

While he may not be as well known as civil rights activists such as Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, or Malcolm X, Ralph Bunche's contributions certainly made him a leader in the struggle for civil rights in the United States and...

Learners analyze visual arts by creating drawings in their classroom. In this art analysis lesson, students identify the paintings of Keith Haring by researching the web. Learners utilize paper and oil pastels to create paintings...

Students investigate the types of footwear worn during ten periods of history.  In this secondary, art/math/social studies lesson, students view documentaries and popular films to study the time periods.  Students research the...

Young scholars watch a varietry of films showing college life. In groups, they take different scenerios from the films and determine how they would have reacted. As a class, they discuss more in depth the issues they might face in...

Twelfth graders examine the steps that one can take to turn awareness of a human rights abuse into action it.  In this Current events instructional activity, 12th graders analyze the compelling factors which can influence personal...

Is it possible to judge a book by its cover? Scholars analyze and make predictions using various cover images of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. They then discuss the difference between autobiographies and biographies....

Students discover details about the genus Ardipithecus. In this prehistory activity, students listen to a lecture about the attributes of Ardipithecus. Students then conduct further research on either Ardipithecus ramidus or...

Students explore world geography by viewing a documentary film in class. In this national parks lesson, students view the Ken Burns documentary about the subject and identify the contributions of individuals in support of the parks...

Students examine the history of the Holocaust and complete a KWL chart. Using the Internet, they research an aspect of the Holocaust they are interested in and watch a documentary. They read testimonies of survivors and identify other...

Students identify subtle messages advertisers send (often unintentionally) about age in the course of trying to sell products; to analyze the consequences, both positive and negative, those messages have on the American audience; to...

Fourth graders, using Apple's iMovie, create a digital documentary to raise awareness about the existing child labor in Nepal.

Tenth graders debate a resolution about a planned waterfront community from the point of view of various interest groups. They have a "Town Meeting" in which members from each interest group debate their researched opinions for points....

Synthesizing information from a PBS documentary Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey, its companion website, and several other resources (links to which are provided), high schoolers evaluate whether Bunche did all he could to advance the...

Learners promote philanthropy. In this service learning lesson, students create video documentaries based on service learning projects they completed and then share the video with their peers and community. 

Pupils use their photo analysis skills to gain an understanding of what pioneer life in Canada may have been like by examining historical photos. Students are then given an opportunity to present their findings to the class in a...

Students explore the importance of images in telling a story in film, analyze movie clips and identify some visual cues that help them explain the story; students work collaboratively to storyboard a passage from a book and present them...

Students research the Civil War and make connections between the war and the interpretation of the war in the novel The Red Badge of Courage to help them understand realism. For this Civil War recounting lesson, students complete several...

Students explore and document historic elements of Horatio's journey by creating a fictitious journal in Jackson's voice.

Students differentiate the employer/employee relationship before and after the introduction of new technology through not-taking research using the Industrial Revolution as a point of reference. They explore how industry is made up of in...

Students view the film The Persuaders that discuss the perspective and spin of language use for a variety of issues. They discuss the career of Frank Luntz, a man that runs focus groups to determine how to advantageously phrase issues in...

Students identify the elements of a community. They watch a video excerpt, complete a class web diagram, answer discussion questions, and describe the controversy from the video.

Students explore social issues that are meaningful to them and create documentaries in which they share their information, thoughts and impressions.

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...