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Paul Conrad's Perspective on Civil Rights
 Students review a political cartoon and discuss desegregation. In this cartoon analysis activity, 11th graders discuss the impact of a political cartoon and its relation to a Supreme Court case. Students read additional information...
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Welcome to the Blogosphere
Create a blog spot for your classroom and promote online discussions. There are several blogging websites listed here, and you can create one specific to each class or one collective site. Teach your learners how to post on the blog, and...
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Global Health Issues
Examine global health issues and the philanthropic efforts of Bill Gates. Working in groups, your class will research selected diseases focusing on symptoms, transmission, and prevention. They also conclude by writing grant proposals to...
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Redistricting: Drawing the Lines
Difficult redistricting concepts are covered in a context that will make it understandable to your government scholars. They begin with a KWL on the term redistricting and then watch a video to answer some questions. They analyze...
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Writing Prompts for High School
Here’s a great teacher resource - thirty-five writing prompts designed for high school writers. Categories include cause and effect, definition, expository/informative, persuasive, how to, descriptive, narrative, biographical narrative,...
School Improvement in Maryland
Evaluating Political Advertisements
How do interest groups try to influence elections? As part of their study of the election process, groups view 30-second advertisements produced by advocacy groups and use the provided worksheet to evaluate these ads. They then craft...
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Hypothetical Heights
Learners participate in an interdisciplinary lesson to discuss improvements that would make them want to return to a previously poor neighborhood. For this civics lesson, students work in a budget to make a plan to better their...
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Child Labor in Maryland: An Historical Investigation
Tenth graders, after reading two excerpts about contemporary child labor situations, discuss two broad questions in detail along with the industrial boom following the Civil War conditions in the United States. They investigate how the...
Teaching Tolerance
Film Festival
Everybody's a critic—even your pupils! Using the included resources as a guide, screen films related to social justice and ask film enthusiasts to critique them. Publish the reviews for your school community or develop a film festival...
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Legislators and Representation - Executive, Federal and Interest Group Relations
High schoolers explore the interaction between the legislature and other governmental institutions. They watch videos exploring the relationship between the state legislature and two government institutions, and the role of lobbyists on...
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Civic Engagement for Us?
Learners identify the different forms of civic engagement. They identify their responsibilities at the different levels of government. They also analyze young leaders running for office.
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President Bush Balances Power
Students review the results of the November 2006 mid-term election. Using their text, they read the history of the balance of power and examine recent news articles. They present their findings to the class and may even hold a debate.
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Insulation: Keeping Heat In or Out
Pupils compare different materials on their ability to insulate. They identify the best materials for keeping heat in and keeping heat out. They also examine the importance of insulating homes.
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Window Treatments for Energy Savings
Students participate in an activity in which they determine which rooms are the warmest and coldest and explain why that is the case. They identify the types of energy saving window treatments and list their advantages and disadvantages.
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The Formation of Fossil Fuels
Students participate in an activity in which they explain the difference between renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy. They discover why the supply of fossil fuels is limited and practice using new vocabulary.
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One Million Care Packages
Students read an article about sending care packages to soldiers in the United States military. Using the internet, they research the role of the USO and discuss their findings with the class. They find a local organization...
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What Does It Cost to Use It?
Students investigate how electrical usage is counted. For this electricity lesson, students research an electric bill and define terms such as watts and kilowatts. Students calculate the average electricity cost per year by using a...
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Social Studies: A Quiet Protest
Students examine the protest by Gallaudet University students concerning the hiring of a new school president. They investigate laws related to protests and present their findings to the class in a multimedia show, oral report, or debate.
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Interpreting Political Cartoons
Students review political cartoons and discuss what political impact they can have. They choose a current political cartoon and write an essay exploring its intent and impact.
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The Mozart Effect
Students develop a concept of why skepticism is important in science by looking at actual scientific studies regarding the effect of playing Mozart's music to infants. They record a journal of their inner thoughts and feelings while...
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My Little Island
Students engage in a lesson which features a video trip to the Caribbean Island of Montserrat to teach about the human and physical characteristics of place and human/environmental interactions between the two. Students create their own...
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What's Bugging You?
Students examine the effects of pests on other organisms, crops, and the environment. they construct an insect observation chamber and discover how some insects can be pests in some situations and beneficial in others. They write "pest...
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Who Are the Arab Americans?
Students explore the concept of diversity. In this Teaching Tolerance lesson, students take a quiz titled "Who Are the Arab Americans?" and then use the quiz as a lens through which to discuss misperceptions regarding Arab Americans....
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Politics: Who Is in Control?
Fourth graders read the article "Council Members Clash over Administrator's Job." They be asked to think about how they would feel being placed in the same situation. All students participate in role playing the news article.