Learners investigate the Fourth Amendment principles and how its interpretation changed in the 1990's. They answer questions based on the interpretation in small groups.

An interesting lesson on juvenile law, and the juvenile court system. Young law makers are given a lengthy document to read on the basics of juvenile law, then they must answer some questions about what they've read. Additionally, they...

Here is a great secondary source reading that includes the primary ideas and philosophies of the famed Enlightenment philosophers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Charles Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In additional to discussing...

Why should classes care about the First Amendment? An engaging lesson serves as a powerful tool for answering just that. As all four cases in the lesson relate directly to freedom of expression in schools, young scholars explore the...

All rise! Scholars put their skills to the test in a mock trial. Using evidence, photographs, and testimony, they role play the trial in the classroom. Rules of law—and the court room—come to life as the class becomes a place of law! 

Middle schoolers find out about the social changes that caused the collapse of important ancient civilizations in Central America, Mesopotamia, the southwestern United States, and western Africa.

Every political system has advantages and disadvantages. To gain an understanding of these differences, groups investigate the political system of another country—oligarchy, monarchy, dictatorship, parliamentary—and prepare a...

Do governments have the right to authorize individuals to perform illegal acts during times of war? Did the US government really employ pirates? Use the War of 1812 as your vessel to answering these questions through class discussion and...

How far have we come and how far do we still need to go to achieve equality and full civil rights in the United States? Include a packet of materials collected in your observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Making conclusions from graphs doesn't need to seem like magic. Learners explore an interactive lesson on reading graphs to strengthen their skills. The content discusses how to read the axes of a graph and draw conclusions based on the...

Students investigate the Exclusionary Rule and other ways of to enforce the protections found in the Bill of Rights. They study how effective criminal control and public safety is carried out while citizens Constitutional rights are...

Earth is 149,600,000 km, or 92,957,130.4 miles, from the sun. Young astronauts create an interactive model to learn the distances between planets. Nine groups, each representing a different planet, are spread around at class-calculated...

Popular culture often portrays the Feds as the most fearsome of law enforcement agencies. Yet, someone charged with a crime is considerably more likely to end up in a state court. The lesson, one of six covering the Organization of the...

Teach cube roots by building on an understanding of square roots. The third installment of a 25-part series asks learners to solve simple quadratic and cubic equations using roots. Scholars compare square roots and cube roots throughout...

Whether out of choice or necessity, people want to know what will happen on a typical day in court. A helpful lesson walks scholars in the field of criminology through the trial process from opening statements to the final verdict. 

Newspaper in Education (NIE) Week honors the contributions of the newspaper and is celebrated in the resource within a civics, mathematics, and fine arts setting. The resource represents every grade from 3rd to 12th with questions...

Students examine the need for laws. In this government activity, students participate in 2 classroom activities that require them to consider the impact of laws on their personal lives. Students discuss how laws solve societal problems...

Using a game, learners discuss laws and fairness in society. In order to play the game, they line up in rows in the classroom. The teacher gives them paper clips based on their sex or other criteria. They can begin to discuss issues of...

Emerging engineers work in teams to design pipe insulation roller coasters for marbles that meet specific parameters. They are required to label along the track the areas where kinetic and potential energy are highest and lowest, where...

A major turning point in world history is the focus of this presentation. Rome has fallen, and with its descent comes the Dark Ages. With pictures, maps, and important information about the Middle Ages, this slideshow would be a great...

Patch up any misconceptions about writing functions. Scholars undertake a performance task that has them first examine a pattern in patchwork cushions. They represent the patterns in triangular and rectangular blocks using a table and as...

Introducing exponential equations means learners need to take all the rules and tricks they learned for exponents and actually apply them. This presentation comes to the rescue by touching on changing bases in exponential...

How is federal policy established? To gain insight into this complex and often messy process, class members read an article that uses information on attempts to establish public policy in immigration to illustrate the role proposed...

Here is a beautifully designed volleyball lesson plan on the forearm pass/bump and overhead pass/set. It includes a detailed multimedia presentation and set of instructional guidelines, skill cues, and lists of strategies for...