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Pioneer Scramble
Students explore the concept of Manifest Destiny. In this Westward Movement lesson, students study why Americans emigrated west in the 1840s and 1850s. Students create interactive timelines, write exploration reports, and complete an art...
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Classroom Identity
Students explore fingerprints. In this finger prints lesson, students investigate how to classify fingerprints. Students study large pictures of fingerprints and circle the patterns they know how to identify. Students then take their own...
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Going to the Promised Land (Dust Bowl Migration)
Students examine Dust Bowl migration. In this Great Depression activity, students research primary sources regarding migration issues in the United States during the Great Depression. Students discuss their research findings and...
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Relative Dating - Telling Time Using Fossils
Learners use fossil range charts to explain relative dating. They graph for ammonites, marine organisms that went extinct at the same time as dinosaurs.
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Colorado: Reading Comprehension
In this Colorado reading comprehension learning exercise, students read a 2-page selection regarding the state and then respond to 10 true or false questions.
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Colonial America
Fourth graders explore Internet sites about Colonial America, and create multimedia presentations.
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Up, Up, and Away
Students research hot-ballooning using Internet resources including an around-the-world balloon flight. They determine fact from opinion, examine point of view, and determine main idea, and details. They write a journal entry taking the...
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Arguments Against Ratifying the Constitution
Learners define federalism, Federalist, and Anti-Federalist, debate issue of ratification in classroom convention, and take vote on whether to add bill of rights. Three lessons on one page.
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Summarizing and Mapping for Comprehension
Students practice summarization in order to increase their comprehension of non-fiction text. They read and summarize passages by finding the main ideas in passages from a Social Studies textbook. After silently reading the passage they...
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Hydraulic Mining
Students explore reasons for supporting and opposing hydraulic mining. It was the most efficient and used mining method until 1884. A simulated court hearing is held where a decision is made whether to allow the continued use of this...
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Earthquakes
Sixth graders explain that earthquakes are sudden motions along breaks in the crust called faults. They list the major geologic events including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and mountain building, which are the result of crustal plate...
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Economic Use of Public Natural Areas
Students examine the public controversy between the use of public natural areas for economic activities by viewing video clips, researching on the Internet, and calculating sustainable land.
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Floods: Rising Waters and You
Students examine the relationship between human-made structures, flood waters and the increasing population through video clips, websites and a lab experiment.
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Co-evolution of Plants and Pollinators
Students, while studying the rolls of pollinators and plants, explore co-evolution of mutualistic relationships.
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Ecotourism in National Parks and Wilderness
Middle schoolers research a wilderness or natural area and develop a plan for ecotourism.
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Non Native Species: English Ivy-Landscape Plant or Deadly Killer?
Students examine an area overrun by English Ivy. They explore how invasive species affect an ecosystem. They also study about the lack of biodiversity and how to measure it out in the field.
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Threatened Species and Public Policy
Students discuss the Endangered Species Act and its impact on people and the environment. They read the act and watch video footage. They examine why sea turtles are endangered and efforts to protect them. They analyze numerical results...
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Salmon vs. Dams: The Dam Removal Debate on the Elwha River
Students use roll playing to discuss the merits of tearing down these dams so that the Elwha River can run free. The activity is presented in the form of a council meeting to encourage students to try to build consensus in finding...
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Volcanoes:How Safe Are They?
Students explore volcanoes, locate them on maps, record general information about volcanoes, and organize information on a fact sheet.
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Testing the Caverns
Students build model caverns using paper mache or clay and bury them in a tray of sand. They test the models by dropping balls onto them to simulate an asteroid hitting the earth. They evaluate the effectiveness of a structure against...
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Mexican and American Views of Texas
Students study the territorial status of Texas in 1830, 1840, and 1846 and interpret an historical timeline. They develop a general statement of Mexican and American views of Texas.
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Earthquakes
Sixth graders explore reasons for earthquakes. They discuss and describe the types of faults. Using the internet, 6th graders research a specific location of a former earthquake. They describe the damage, magnitude, the epicenter,...
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Children of War
Young scholars discuss children's rights during wartime and watch public service announcements. After reading excerpts from children's diaries of war, they work in groups to create a storyboard for their own PSA on children's rights...
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Reading Comprehension: Oregon
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read a 2-page article regarding Oregon and respond to 10 true or false questions regarding the selection.