Curated OER
Desert Ecosystems
Introduce your class to the desert ecosystems using this colorful and informative presentation. This resource discusses desert plants and animals. It also identifies the deserts in the Southwest region of the United States. There are...
Curated OER
The Great Depression and Everyday Life
Examine everyday life during the Great Depression, as well as the effects if the Depression on American population, society, and economy. Learners write who, what, where, when, and why summaries of a person who relocated to California...
University of California
The Civil War: Strategies and Battles
Was it the War against Northern Aggression or the War to Unify the Union? Scholars investigate the key battles and strategies of the American Civil War to determine just why the North was victorious in the end.
Curated OER
Settlement Patterns of the United States
Students examine the conditions that affected the way people settled in the United States. Using maps, they examine the topography and climate of different locations and determine the factors that do and do not allow settlement to occur....
Curated OER
Manifest Destiny and the Commercial Conquest of the United States
Students examine the role of commerce in the United States to help fulfill Manifest Destiny. They write commercials that could have been used by the Mexicans or Americans during the Mexican War.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Refugees From Vietnam and Cambodia
The United States may have pulled its troops from the Vietnam War in 1973, but the conflict was far from over for the citizens living in Asia at the time. An informative resource lets learners know about the wave of over 220,000...
Curated OER
Tibet and the U.S.
Students examine the relationship between Tibet and the United States. They explore the political relationship between the two countries. Students identify geographical features and political boundaries of the Tibetan and Chinese regions.
Curated OER
Culture Regions of the U.S.
High schoolers identify the location of different cultural groups within the United States (agricultural, retirement, urban, etc.) They map these areas and analyze the correlation between the landscape of a given region and the type of...
K12 Reader
National Symbols
What are the most prominent symbols of the United States? Learn about the bald eagle, the American flag, and the Statue of Liberty in a reading comprehension activity that includes a short passage and five reflective questions.
National Endowment for the Humanities
The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson: Expansion of the Voting Base
Students give examples to indicate how the franchise was extended and limited in the first half of the 19th century, and cite some differences in the newly enfranchised population that could affect the way they would vote.
Curated OER
Facts, Fictions and Perceptions of Regions
Students examine the different characteristics of the regions of the United States. They discuss places they have visited in the U.S., and in small groups conduct research on a selected region of the U.S. Each group labels a map of...
National Endowment for the Humanities
People and Places in the North and South
North and South: two opposite directions and two opposite economic and social systems in time of the Civil War. Pupils peruse census websites and primary source photographs to understand what life was like for the everyday person before...
Curated OER
Regions of the United States
Students present a travelogue, an alternate format to preparing their writing, of a specific U.S. geographic region that includes the aspects of population, climate, landforms, economics, culture, famous people and places and natural...
Pardee Home Museum
Geography of Alaska
A unit on the 49th state covers a variety of topics from the geography of Alaska to Native American myths. Academics work to analyze information found in primary source materials including old newspaper articles and artifacts....
Curated OER
Oil Crisis: What Would You Do?
The dynamics between the economies and politics of the United States and the Middle East are here to study. Upper graders read and discuss scenarios relating to OPEC and the current oil crisis, then in small groups role-play members of...
Curated OER
Social Studies: Regions of the United States
Third graders create Powerpoint presentations of various geographic regions of the United States. They focus on the Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest regions. Students combine their individual slides into a class presentation.
US Department of Commerce
How Are Single-Parent Households Distributed Across the United States?
There sure are a lot of single-parent households in the country. After selecting one of four US regions to investigate, pupils create dot plots and box plots on the percentage of single-parent households with male parents and female...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Life Before the Civil War
American life before the Civil War was very different from American life today. To show this difference in a full spectrum, learners compare two communities that illustrate the differences between Northern and Southern life. Throughout...
Australian Government
The Great Artesian Basin
Covering 23% of the continent and holding 64,900 cubic kilometers of water, the Great Artesian Basin is the primary source of water for much of inland Australia. Using detailed student worksheets, experiments, and case studies,...
Curated OER
The Civil War: A Nation Divided
Discuss the differences between the North and the South and how those differences led to the Civil War. Middle schoolers examine and analyze a famous speech or writing by President Lincoln in order to better understand the speaker's...
Ohio Literacy Resource Center
Regions of the United States
Young scholars create a travelogue of a particular U.S geographic region that includes aspects of population, climate, landforms, culture, famous people, and places as well as any natural resources. They present the travelogue to the class.
US Mint
The Growth of a Nation
Young historians explore the identity of the early United States in this four-part lesson series. Working in groups of three, students research the political, economic, and cultural atmosphere of each member of the...
Little 10 Robot
Geography Drive USA™
A trivia-style virtual road trip in which the player's car is moved from state to state as questions are correctly answered. Ideally, a player would learn about different states by reading the simple brochures available in the...
Illustrative Mathematics
Tilt of Earth's Axis and the Four Seasons
Geometry meets earth science as high schoolers investigate the cause and features of the four seasons. The effects of Earth's axis tilt features prominently, along with both the rotation of the earth about the axis and its orbit...