Curated OER
Hurricane Katrina
Students examine emergency response systems. In this Hurricane Katrina lesson plan, students determine how government and emergency aid providers dealt with the aftermath of the hurricane. Students consider personal stories and actual...
Curated OER
Tales of King Arthur
Students discover how historical events led to the stories of King Arthur and his Court. Students read stories about chivalry and the Round Table, discuss the Holy Grail's symbolism, and role-play an Arthurian character.
Curated OER
The Cold War And Beyond
Learners interview an adult that grew up in the United States during the Cold War to develop an understanding of the concept of mutually assured destruction. They focus the interview on how the person dealt with the threat of nuclear...
Curated OER
Israel and Palestine: The Roots of Conflict
Students examine the causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this world conflict lesson, students research print and Internet sources about the roots of the conflict and the status of the conflict today. Students use their...
Curated OER
American Frontiers
Learners study the settlement of the American frontier through literature. In this literature lesson, students read and discuss works by James Fenimore Cooper, Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Willa Cather, and Hamlin Garland. Learners compare...
Curated OER
A Picture Says a Thousand Words
Students create a writing selection with a well-developed plot. They use a personal photograph in which they are visible to base their autobiographical writing. They write a description of the events surrounding the photograph in the...
Curated OER
Taxes
Fourth graders read Stone Fax and explore earning money, saving, credit and taxes. In this taxes lesson, 4th graders complete a worksheet to develop understanding of paying off debts, keeping a checkbook, calculating sales tax and...
Curated OER
The Electric Hearth
Students examine popular media. In this media awareness instructional activity, students keep logs of their interactions with media and then write an essay regarding the data.
Curated OER
Immigration: U.S. Policy in the New Millennium
Students explore U.S. immigration policies. In this immigration lesson, students read about the history of immigration policies in the U.S., uncover controversial issues regarding immigration, and speak to immigrants as well as...
Curated OER
Introduction to Urban & Community Forestry: Why Do We Need Trees?
Twelfth graders construct a timeline to show changes and trends in the future of urban and community forestry. In this forestry instructional activity, 12th graders discuss the importance of trees. They read a timeline and add future...
Curated OER
Naturalized Citizens and the Presidency
Students consider the presidential requirements. For this U.S. Constitution lesson, students participate in a role play that requires them to act as senators and debate an amendment to allow naturalized citizens to run for the presidency.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 4 James Madison: Internal Improvements Balancing Act—Federal/State and Executive/Legislative
Who has the power? The founding fathers asked the same question when the United States was formed. Learners explore issues that arose during Madison’s presidency that raised constitutional questions. Through discovery, discussion, and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Upton Sinclair, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harvey W. Wiley
Though Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle shocked the American public into a thorough examination of the meat-packing industry, the author was disappointed that his book's main argument—the exploitation of American immigrants—was not...
Civil War Trust
Civil War Photography: Photography as a Primary Source
Can we learn a thing or two about history by looking at pictures from the past? As young historians view 2-D and 3-D primary source photographs, they respond to a series of worksheets that guides them toward unveiling clues...
Space Race
Sensory Detectives
Test your learners' sensory awareness with three hands-on activities that ask pupils to use their other senses to identify and describe everyday objects hidden from sight.
Population Connection
A Demographically Divided World
Did you know that birth and life rates vary across the world? The resource, the second in a six-part series, discusses just how demographics differ across countries and why it might be the case. Scholars complete worksheets, watch...
Population Connection
The Peopling of Our Planet
How many people live on the planet, anyway? The first resource in a six-part series covers the topic of the world population. Scholars work in groups to conduct research and make population posters after learning about the global...
American Chemical Society
Joseph Priestley, Discoverer of Oxygen
Do you want to hear a joke about nitrogen and oxygen? NO. We all know there is oxygen in the air and that plants produce oxygen, but how was it discovered? Scholars read a handout, answer questions, and analyze material in the...
Curated OER
The Aztecs - Mighty Warriors of Mexico
Upper elementary learners identify the Aztecs as the builders of a great city and rich civilization in what is now Mexico. They locate the Aztec Empire and its capital on a map and place the Aztecs in the chronology of American history....
Population Connection
The Human-Made Landscape
Agriculture, deforestation, and urbanization. How have human's changed the planet and how might we mitigate the effects of human activity on the planet? To answer these questions class members research the changes in human land use from...
Curated OER
Civil War Literature Circle
Historical fiction can be a valuable asset when learning about the past. Integrate several novels written about the Civil War into your social studies unit, with groups of four working collaboratively to comprehend the novel from...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
What is the Chance?
Fourth and fifth graders make predictions using data. In this analyzing data lesson, pupils use experimental data, frequency tables, and line plots to look for patterns in the data in order to determine chance. You will need to make a...
State Bar of Texas
McCullough v. Maryland
Can a state government tax the federal government? The Supreme Court case McCullough v. Maryland explores different governments in the United States. Scholars research the court's decision with a video and discussion. They formulate...
Curated OER
Slave Narratives: Constructing U.S. History Through Analyzing Primary Sources
Learners access oral histories that contain slave narratives from the Library of Congress. They describe the lives of former slaves, sample varied individual experiences and make generalizations about their research in journal entries.