As part of a study of US Presidential elections, class members track the history of an issue in the 2020 campaign. They create a timeline to determine if there are any patterns, if ideas about the issue have evolved, or if in issue is no...

As part of their study of democracy, high schoolers listen to a podcast featuring two South African educators and their efforts to support the process of transforming the nation from apartheid rule into a democracy. Learners also read...

Eric Liu's formula "power plus character equals citizenship" and his three strategies to making change happen model for high schoolers how to develop citizen power, how to get involved and participate to make democracy work. Class...

A unit study of the importance of a free press in a democracy begins with class members listening to a podcast featuring two journalists, one from a United States public radio station and one from Capetown, South Africa. The lesson,...

Revolution and counterrevolution. Protest and counter-protest. Collaborators and bystanders. The focus of the fifth resource in the Reconstruction Era and Fragility of Democracy series is on the political violence that followed Radical...

Two slide shows, viewed side-by-side, permit middle schoolers to compare and contrast the lives of the Pilgrims of the Plimoth colony and the Wampanoags. Four videos take learners on virtual field trips to the Plymouth plantation. And an...

Without structure, things fall apart. Scholars discuss the importance of structuring a podcast to tell a story that makes sense. They walk around the classroom, stopping at stations to answer questions on posters about planning their...

Using an informative resource, scholars view a PowerPoint about working cooperatively in a social system. Pupils then use their newfound knowledge to create a flowchart defining the systems of an organization. 

The ninth lesson in the Health Smart series is designed to get high schoolers to understand the factors that make them feel the way they do about themselves, their bodies, and their self-worth. Pupils watch a video about teens and body...

Fraud alert! Scholars conduct research about consumer fraud and create a presentation detailing the information they find. Additionally, they research and write a report about lawsuits that resulted in large settlements.

A short video introduces viewers to the political struggles involved in passing the First Amendment and the many challenges it has faced since its passage.  Viewers then discuss how to balance issues of freedom of the press,...

The perfect place to do one's math homework? Outside, of course. The third of seven lessons in the Understanding Science and Engineering unit focuses on solar energy. Learners investigate solar-powered calculators and discover how solar...

The Fair Play Act of 2009 came about due to the actions of one woman. Young historians research Lilly Ledbetter and what she went through to get pay equal to that paid to men for the same work at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The...

Personal involvement in any class is essential! That's the takeaway from the first instructional activity in the Getting Started module. Class members participate in games to learn each other's names and details. The goal is to create an...

"Presenting Yourself," the last lesson in the "Looking to the Future" module, asks participants to review and reflect on what they have learned about themselves in the Overcoming Obstacles course. They review their course folder and...

This lesson highlights the struggles of immigrants and the importance of showing empathy. Beginning with a read-aloud of a book in another language and a poem, scholars take part in a thoughtful discussion. Then, the class examines a...

Middle schoolers consider languages as representations of cultures and the importance of preserving various languages, especially the rapidly disappearing languages of indigenous peoples, in a lesson that tells the story of Marie Wilcox...

Save the oceans! The 22nd installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program focuses on laws and marine policy. Pupils take part in an activity investigating fisheries stock data.

Although this is part of a series, lesson plan nine has your class take a break from their close study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) text to read the firsthand account “Teaching Nepalis to Read, Plant, and...

Now that your class has read all of Esperanza Rising, take the time to tackle big metaphors and themes. Pupils will participate in an activity called Chalk Talk, in which they circulate around the room in small groups and add...

How far would your pupils go to be able to have access to books? Revisit Heather Henson and David Small's That Book Woman and challenge class members to take on the role of Cal or the Book Woman. By putting themselves in someone else's...

Assist your class with each angle of geometry as they use exterior angles to form linear pairs with adjacent interior angles. They cover multiple vocabulary terms and work practice problems, complete with justifications, before...

It takes a lot of planning to achieve a random result! Learners compare results of random assignment, and conclude that random assignment allows results to be attributed to chance. They also realize the set of random means...

Not all linear functions are linear transformations, only those that go through the origin. The third lesson plan in the 32-part unit proves that linear transformations are of the form f(x) = ax. The lesson plan takes another look at...