Curated OER
Let's Move It!
Students create a simple machine that includes a cart and lever system that could have been used to build the ancient pyramids. In this simple machine lesson plan, students learn about the wheel and the axle as simple machines that help...
Curated OER
Old Stone House Lesson Plan
From stagecoach to railroad tracks, your class will discover how advancements in travel in the United States during the nineteenth century played an integral role in the industrialization and development of American society. The main...
Curated OER
Timeline of Historical Fiction
Students create a historical fiction timeline. They review the literature through the perspective of history (writing prompts provided). Students create a book cover illustration to appear with the book review in the appropriate spot on...
Curated OER
Be That As It Maya
Creative projects are a great way to engage your class and can be a fun way to assess mastery! Learners create brochures and postcards that might have been created by and for travelers to ancient Mayan cities. They read and discuss the...
Dade Schools
Ancient Greece
What role does geography play in the development of a culture? How does ancient Greek culture still influence civilization today? These and other questions are explored in a unit study of Ancient Greece. The overview of the unit provided...
Dig-It Games
Mayan Mysteries
Who is Ladrone? Join Fiona and Charlie as they accompany their Uncle Alex to Guatemala to help Chief Mateo determine the identity of the elusive Ladrone and solve Mayan mysteries. Players of this interactive game learn much about Mayan...
School District No. 43
Writing a Greek Myth
Ask your learners to dream up a myth set in modern day. These mythology writing prompts require individuals take on the role of an ancient Greek citizen who just woke up to a totally different world. Through this lens, class members...
Energy for Keeps
The Energy Times
Extra! Extra! Read all about past and present energy use in a classroom-made historical newspaper. Useful as a cross-curricular assignment between science, history, and language arts, the project is sure to get young journalists...
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
King of Prussia Inn: Exploring Historic Places
Learners of any age examine the significance of historic sites, how we understand those sites, and what they mean in terms of history and the culture of the past. They look at maps, artifacts, and data taken from archaeological sites to...
Curated OER
The Antebellum South
Your history students will be on the edges of their seats during this fascinating presentation, which details the abolition movement and slave life during the Antebellum period in the American South. Students will be left agape at the...
National Energy Education Development Project
Exploring Oil and Gas
The United States consumes more oil than any other country, about 1.85 billion barrels (or 77 billion gallons) a day. Viewers learn about the history of fossil fuel exploration and how they are formed in an informative presentation. They...
Oklahoma State Department of Education
Narrative Prompt
Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...
DePaul University
Bold Plans, Big Dreams, City Progress
Determining which statements represent fact or the author's opinion in an integral part of reading informational text. Encourage seventh graders to read a passage about Barack Obama and the city of Chicago, as well as a passage focused...
National Energy Education Development Project
Exploring Hydropower
In 2006, about 20 percent of the world's electricity was generated from hydroelectric power. In the presentation, scholars review the water cycle and gravitational energy to begin to understand how humans harness the power of water. They...
Curated OER
Trade along the Silk Roads
Students explore the Silk Road. In this Asian history and culture lesson, students read a book about the silk Road, then create pictures of the products and landscapes found along the Silk Road.
Curated OER
Whitewater Canal State Historic Site: A Journey into the Past
Students examine the history of the Whitewater Canal Historic Site. They read and discuss an informational handout, define key vocabulary terms, and complete various math and science word problems.
Curated OER
Grand Celebration! Broadside
Learners research the construction and history of the Erie Canal. They answer discussion questions in small groups, draw and label the Erie Canal on a map of New York State, read and discuss a handout, and complete a worksheet.
Curated OER
Mobility: A Green City, Past, Present, and Future
Pupils explore transportation systems through history. In this transportation lesson plan, students determine how modes of transportation affect quality of life and design transportation plans for cities.
Curated OER
"L" Stands for Elevated
Young scholars play a trivia game to learn more about the Chicago public transportation system. For this transportation lesson plan, students also create an "L" car, and write advertising slogans for Chicago's elevated trains.
Curated OER
The Conestoga Wagon
Learners research the Conestoga wagon. In this early transportation lesson, pupils use primary documents to research how the invention of the Conestoga wagon improved transportation.
Curated OER
Underground Rails: The New York City Subway System
Students explore the New York Subway system. They investigate its usefulness as mode of transportation for the people in the city and study its history compared to other city subway systems. They examine how the subway connects the...
Curated OER
Getting from Place to Place
Students examine modes of transportation. In this transportation lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture on modes of transportation over the past 300 years. Students respond to questions about the lecture.
Curated OER
The Golden Spike
Students investigate modern transportation in the 19th century by examining artifacts. In this U.S. history lesson, students read the story Joseph's Railroad Dreams, and discuss the Golden Spike used in the first transcontinental...
Curated OER
Persistent Paths: Trails, Tracks and Turnpikes Across the Alleghenies
High schoolers study maps to determine barriers associated with the Pennsylvania mountains and the Native Americans. In this investigative lesson high schoolers study the routes used by Native Americans, explain physical features of the...