Curated OER
Distinguished Discoveries: Florida quarter reverse
Florida's state quarter has an image of a space shuttle and a Spanish Galleon on its reverse side. Pupils will examine the state quarter and think about how the Spanish explorers and Space explorers are the same and different. The class...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Continental Differences
Students break into groups and closely investigate primary sources associated with the seven different continents. After deciding which continent their primary sources relate to, representatives from each group present their...
Cultures of Dignity
Equity and Equality Lesson
Equality does not equal equity and this lesson explains why. Class members compare two images--one labeled "Equality" and the other "Equity." Using the provided discussion questions, they then develop definitions that distinguish between...
Nuffield Foundation
Perimeter and Area
Use several shapes to practice finding the perimeter and area. Each page presents examples of different items, including money, the floor plan of a room, and a parking lot.
Personal Genetics Education Project
Genetics and Reproduction
Disease prevention or designer babies? Use a set of slides to introduce the growing practice of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD. Teens read related articles and then break into groups to address different scenarios. Afterward,...
Curated OER
Homes of Yesterday and Today
Students explore homes as shelters while they built writing and technology skills. In this homes of yesterday and today lesson, students produce books using digital photography. Students develop vocabulary while researching how homes are...
Curated OER
Good Apples
Students investigate diversity. In this diversity lesson, students look at a variety of apples in order to compare and contrast their physical characteristics. They apply the concept to people by listing how people are the same and...
National Park Service
A Tale of Two Men
Theodore Roosevelt and the Marquis de Mores were both born in 1858, and both came to the Dakota territory in 1883, but they influenced the developing country of America in different ways. Elementary and middle schoolers apply written and...
Curated OER
Designing a Hiking Trail
Put your students' map skills to the test with this engaging cross-curricular project. Given the task of developing new hiking trails for their local community, young cartographers must map out beginner and intermediate...
Curated OER
Australian Aboriginal Art And Storytelling
Students explore Aboriginal storytelling traditions through the spoken word and through visual culture. They listen to stories of the Dreamtime told by the Aboriginal people and investigate Aboriginal storytelling in contemporary dot...
Middle Tennessee State University
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? A Comparison in American Culture
As part of their study of the Progressive Era, class groups examine a 20th century version of "The Three Little Pigs" through a New Era lens and identify how ideals such as the value of hard work, creativity, and problem solving,...
Curated OER
"It's Okay to be Different"
Students discuss the concepts of same and different and then listen to a read aloud of "It's Okay to be Different," by Todd Parr. They compare the outside of brown and white eggs and then the insides. They discuss how this applies to peo
Curated OER
Good Apples
Students choose an apple from a larger group of apples and examine it closely. They return their apples to the group and then attempt to identify their own. They discuss how this activity applies to human similarities and differences.
Curated OER
How Hard Were the Times? Investigating the Meaning and Significance of the Great Depression
Students examine causes and effects of Great Depression and its significance on twentieth-century life, analyze value of various types of historical information, specifically primary sources, and relate events, issues, problems, and...
Idaho State Department of Education
Lessons for Social Studies Educators
Point of view, purpose, and tone: three concepts readers of primary and secondary source materials must take into account when examining documents. Class members view a PowerPoint presentation and use the SOAPS strategy to identify an...
Curated OER
Recognizing Our Similarities and Differences: King Day
Students discover diversity. In this service learning activity, students read The Sneeches and discuss the benefits of being respectful toward one another.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: The Bush and Clinton Years
Examine how the Bush and Clinton years are an example of political dynasties. This cartoon provides a way to explore the concept and activate critical thinking skills in order to better grasp U.S. Politics. A fun and educational way to...
Institute for Humane Education
Not So Fair and Balanced: Analyzing Bias in the Media
Life is not always fair. Who's heard that before? This same concept moves to a larger scale using prejudice and bias. Pupils discuss where prejudice attitudes derive and how they develop throughout life. Reading comprehension...
Curated OER
Schools of the Past and Present
First graders take a look at schools of the past and present, and try to conjure an idea of what schools of the future will look like. After taking a walk around their own school and taking note of the buildings and the things that are...
University of the Desert
What Is Extremism?
By participating in discussions using prompts and statements provided in the lesson plan plan, learners identify the concept of extremism and consider what causes violent acts of extremism in the modern...
Council for Economic Education
Sand Art Brownies
Which is better, Coke or Pepsi? Pupils analyze the concept of substitute goods as they investigate the choice to purchase alternate products for better prices. Fun and practical, the engaging shopping exercise helps savvy scholars get...
Peace Corps
Community
What is a community? Find out with a lesson that sheds light onto the different types of communities—school, local, and global. Scholars read informational text detailing the life of a young girl from Cape Verde and take part in a...
Peace Corps
Family
Family traditions are the focus of a lesson that explores the lives of children in India and those in your classroom. Scholars examine their own family roles and traditions, then respond to an informative text detailing a young...
Curated OER
Comparing How We Are Alike and Different
Students introduced to comparing as a way to observe differences among people.