Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Underground Rails: The New York City Subway System

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students explore the New York Subway system. They investigate its usefulness as mode of transportation for the people in the city and study its history compared to other city subway systems. They examine how the subway connects the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Study of New York City

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders read A Cricket in Times Square and examine the essence of living in New York City. They examine subway maps and other resources concerning NYC and then complete several writing activities about the city. They also create...
Worksheet
Curated OER

New York Vocabulary

For Students 3rd - 4th
In this vocabulary activity learning exercise, students read the statements about New York and write 10 vocabulary words from the word bank to complete the statements.
Worksheet
Curated OER

New York Challenge

For Students 4th - 5th
In this state facts worksheet, students read the phrases relating to the statehood of New York. Students select the best answer to complete the 10 statements.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Green Transportation System

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Consider the effects of green transportation. In this environmental stewardship lesson, determine how transportation has changed throughout history and then collaborate to solve New York City transportation issues.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Power Builders: Leaders and Cities

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are explained that they are going to consider why cities are built and what needs they meet for their residents. They view a video "The Building of New York City." Students work in small groups to plan imaginary city. They...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

People Movers

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Students think about rapid transit systems and to design one for the kids in their own community. They start off with a discussion of the New York City subway system: why it was built, how it was built, how it changed the city.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bike-Sharing Catches On

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students discuss how people are reducing their fuel consumption, then read a news article about a new bike-sharing program in Washington, D.C. In this current events and alternative transportation lesson plan, the teacher introduces the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Does Security Mean Safer? Exploring Issues of Security in Public Places

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore various scenarios that may or may not make them suspicious in the post-September 11 world, and discuss and write position papers about a fatal shooting involving air marshals and a mentally ill passenger.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Shuttle's Eye View

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the goals of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission as a springboard to exploring the topographical features of their own state or region. They synthesize their understanding of landforms and topography by mapping their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students investigate the African American culture in the 1920's and the Harlem Renaissance. They read and analyze poems written by poets of the Harlem Renaissance, listen to jazz music and identify the characteristics of the music, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Drawing Movement

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students 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. Students utilize paper and oil pastels to create paintings...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Drawing with Wire

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students identify visual arts by examining visual models. In this art analysis lesson, students discuss the history of Keith Haring by researching information on the Internet. Students view images showing Keith Haring's work and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lewis Hine

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students define the term Industrialization. They use specific examples, discuss why and how industrialization grew during the early twentieth century in America. Students evaluate the contributions of technological advances, geography...
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: America in Class: America in the 1920s: New York City Subway Posters

For Students 9th - 10th
The National Humanities Center presents collections of primary resources compatible with the Common Core State Standards - historical documents, literary texts, and works of art - thematically organized with notes and discussion...
Article
DOGO Media

Dogo News: Nyc Subway Cars Transform Into Condominiums for Fish

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the disposal of New York City subway cars into the Atlanic Ocean, and how these cars are then used by the marine life. Includes video.
Website
Other

New York City Subway: Early Transit in New York City

For Students 9th - 10th
Pictures, primary source documents, and articles about the subway system and rapid transit in New York City at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century.
Website
NPR: National Public Radio

Npr: Nyc Subway Turns 100

For Students 9th - 10th
America's most famous subway has turned 100! NPR does a fun series that looks at the early technology and the usage of subway in film and song. Be sure to view the galleries of photos and listen to the memories and music!
Handout
Other

Bhra: Granville Woods

For Students 9th - 10th
Read this homage to Granville Woods, whose inventions and improvements to the railway system not only made railroad travel safer, but also made the New York City railway system a possibility.
Website
Other

New York Subway History: Beach Pneumatic Transit

For Students 9th - 10th
Not all inventions turn out to be good ideas! Read about Alfred Ely Beach's idea to build a pneumatic tube under the streets of New York City for subway trains to use.
Website
PBS

Pbs: American Experience: New York Underground: Beyond the Irt

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the developments in underground transit systems during 1905.
Unit Plan
University of Missouri

Famous Trials: Bernhard Goetz Trial (1987)

For Students 9th - 10th
The Saturday afternoon before Christmas in 1984, on a New York City subway car making its run downtown, two black teenagers approached Bernhard Goetz. One of the teens said to the slightly built blond man, "Give me five dollars." Seconds...