Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Spirits of Toys Past, Present and Future

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the evolution of toys and explore how the toy industry has adapted their products in response to advances in technology and changing customer expectations.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Toys and Games:Then and Now

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
  Students participate in a class discussion about toys that the teacher played with when they were a child.  In this community lesson, students compare and contrast the games of now and then by their discussion and also...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Create Your Own Native American Board Game

For Teachers K - 5th
Young scholars are asked to identify different parts of the Monopoly game. They discuss the different tokens, the play money, the houses, and the different places. Students are asked to hypothesize why the creator of the game, Charles...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Cardboard History

For Teachers 3rd - 11th
A PBS clip focused on collecting sports memorabilia launches this research project lesson. Class members then read Dan Gutman’s Honus and Me in which Wagner’s baseball card is used to time travel. The lesson ends with researchers...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making Corn-Husk Dolls

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders create corn husk dolls. In this pioneers lesson, 2nd graders use corn husks, thread, scissors and simple cloth to create corn husk dolls. They discuss how the pioneer children used these toys, this discussion is intended...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

New Haven Families: Artifacts and Attitudes, 1770s to 1890s

For Teachers All
Students investigate their own city's cultural past in New England. They
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Observations From the Past

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders explore direct and indirect evidence. For this astronomy lesson, 9th graders investigate the contribution of early astronomers to their field. They create a model of the solar system.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Games Children Play: Then and Now

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders examine primary documents to discover similarities and differences in life today and life before.  In this toys then and now lesson, 2nd graders complete a graphic organizer to show how things have changed or stayed...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today

For Teachers K - 8th
Students use Web technology to access immigration history and develop an understanding of the concept of immigration. Then they develop oral history writing skills, including note-taking and conducting an interview and read for detail....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Vertebrate Dioramas

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students are able to describe the development of their chosen form of vertebrate life from the past to the present in a four to six page typed paper. They explain the use of phylogenetic tree. Students use the phylogenetic tree to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Vertebrate Dioramas

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students describe the development of their chosen form of vertebrate life from the past to the present in a four to six page paper. They explain the use of a phylogenetic tree, and use this to exemplify an organism's evolutionary change...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Down on the Farm

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students are introduced to a map of an Illinois farm. They determine whether the map is of the past, present, or future by looking at features on the map. They also use the map to make a three-dimensional model.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Forces and Motion

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders study straight line motion and the forces that affect motion, including the terms force, gravity, and speed. They determine that gravity, weight, and other forces have an effect on speed and motion.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wagons Ho! Hard Times! Hard Choices!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
You have just hit the lesson plan jackpot! This isn't just a lesson plan, it's a ten-day unit covering westward expansion, pioneer life, and the Oregon Trail. Activities include baking, model building, role-play, newspaper writing,...
Lesson Plan
Japan Society

Popular Culture and Japan’s Gross National Cool

For Teachers 7th - 9th
From Manga to Godzilla and Pokemon, Japanese pop culture has been taking the globe by storm. This phenomenon is called "soft power." Learners will examine the differences between hard and soft power, as well as learn the historical...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Catch of the Day: Electric Eel

For Teachers K
Students identify and work to eliminate electrical safety hazards in the home. They identify items that use electricity. Students use a fishing game that allows students to cut pictures of items from magazine; glue the items on the 3" x...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Performance Standards/Competencies

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research how children dressed during Colonial times. Students design and create life-sized likenesses of themselves, dressing the paper dolls in colonial dress.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Archaeology and Prehistoric Native Americans

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students study the terms paleontology and archaeology and examine how they can help us learn about prehistoric Native Iowans.  In this archaeology lesson students discuss these terms and view a video on Native Americans. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Immigration For Grades K-2

For Teachers K - 2nd
Pupils engage in a lesson about the concept of immigration. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The information is used in order to create context for class discussion or a class presentation topic. They also read stories...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cardboard History

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students investigate the history of baseball and create baseball cards based on research they have collected about early baseball players.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Americas Idols

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of American Idol and the controversy that surrounds the broadcast. They conduct research using a variety of resources and write paragraphs that state opinions about the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Joaquin Torres Garcia Art

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Students analyze the art of Joaquin Torres Garcia in 'Composition.' In this art analysis lesson, students read about the artist's work and the artist. Students answer discussion and follow-up questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Moving Objects

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students discover the history of the United States by examining the Great Migration.  In this U.S. History instructional activity, students research the immigration movement on the Internet and complete a worksheet about the large...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Smiley Face Circle Stories

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine different artifacts from the 1970's. In this history instructional activity, students discover what each artifact is by seeing the artifact and reading a card defining what the artifact represents. On the second day,...