Curated OER
Pioneer America: Journey West
Fourth graders experience pioneer life on the Oregon trail. In this pioneer lesson, 4th graders research the reasons for moving west and what life was like on the trail. They create a map, complete an oral presentation, and write about...
Curated OER
Twain: Tom Sawyer—Mythic Adventurer
Students take a closer look at archetypes. In this characterization lesson, students examine the setting and the characters of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as they read and analyze the novel. Students consider how Twain mythically...
Curated OER
Decision-Making Scenerios
Eleventh graders review what they have gathered on the Gold Rush and how the Native Americans lived in the Plains. Using a worksheet, they choose one scenerio they would have liked to be a part of and write their opionions about it...
Curated OER
Assignment Discovery Lesson Plan World War II
High schoolers examine primary and secondary documents about life on the homefront during World War II. In this World War II lesson, students research the conditions of daily life in the United Kingdom, the United States, and...
Curated OER
Evolving Views about Minority Rights in the United States
Tenth graders compare and contrast majority and minority outlooks on issues. In this social justice lesson, 10th graders research majority and minority values regarding the Salem Witch Trials, Plessy v. Ferguson, the McCarthy hearings,...
Curated OER
Pioneer America: Pioneer Living
Fourth graders research pioneer life. In this pioneer lesson, 4th graders read the book Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder and discuss what life was like for early pioneers. They research pioneers and show what they...
Curated OER
Twain: Icon and Iconoclast
Students examine work by Mark Twain in the context of pre- and post-Civil War America. In this cross curricular lesson plan, students gather biographical information about Twain, use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast him with...
Curated OER
Assessing the Character of the Colonies: Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior
Students read a primary source document about the rules of civility and behavior in the presence of company. Using the text, they make assumptions about how life was like in the colonies. They compare and contrast the culture of the...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The Progressive Era: Muckrakers
Using Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, guide your class in the process of identifying unknown terms using context clues and formulating text-based answers. The lesson plan includes a useful worksheet incorporating scaffolding questions on an...
Indiana Historical Society
Lesson One – Vietnam War Time Line
To prepare for an in-depth study of the Vietnam Era, class members research and create a timeline that tracks the United States' involvement in Southeast Asia and especially Vietnam.
Foreign Policy Research Institute
A Geography Lesson
Fewer and fewer people have a strong grasp of world geography, but this activity helps students understand geopolitics by creating their own original historical map. The activity requires selecting a country from the list provided,...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Understanding China: The Prospects for Democracy in China
This document provides useful information for a unit on democracy in China. While it does not include detailed activities, it does have a list of democratic principles, and important facts about China that facilitate understanding of its...
PBS
Baseball: The Tenth Inning
The intent of this resource is to explore Latin American accomplishments in baseball, recognizing the changes in demographics of players over the last century. Social studies classes begin with a discussion and brainstorm surrounding...
Curated OER
Debates On Important Court Cases
Students debate important court cases. Divided into three groups, students accept a position as first debater, second debater and the third group is neutral. At the conclusion of each debate, students vote to determine the winning side.
Curated OER
Why Vote?
Students design a ballot slip for student voting. They create a slogan and political brochure.
Curated OER
How Diverse is That?
After reviewing biodiversity, learners work in small groups to analyze actual species distribution data. They learn to calculate the Shannon-Weaver diversity index for different communities. Though not particularly engaging, the content...
Curated OER
Political Issues and Opinions
The emergent adults in your US Government class can become informed, self-aware voters. This activity enables them to form an opinion about particular political issues then identify themselves on the political spectrum. Informed and...
Curated OER
Nevada Trilogy
Learners, after watching Gone West, discuss and make some of the decisions people faced in travelling westward.
Curated OER
Life is Weird
Separate your science class into small groups and assign each a specific deep-sea organism to research. The class will learn about all of the organisms as each group presents their assigned animal. Following their presentations, you can...
Curated OER
This Life Stinks
Chemosynthetic communities of cold seep areas are considered in this instructional activity. Working in collaborative groups, marine biology or oceanography learners research and prepare a report about oxidation-reduction reactions...
Curated OER
Immigration
Students explore the effects of immigration on the immigrants and on society as a whole. They survey opportunities to understand the complex issues of the immigrant experience, both past and present. Illustrations of immigration...
Curated OER
Who Owns Water
Students role play how water is allocated to different holders of water rights. In this ecology lesson, students identify the different water rights available. They explore problems associated with water use including drought, degraded...
Curated OER
Making Lewis and Clark's Journals Come Alive
Students are presented daily excerpts from Lewis and Clark's experiences. The dates and activities are tracked on a classroom map.
Curated OER
Cell Wall Recipe: A Lesson on Biofuels
Biotech engineers discover that changes in the DNA code for cell wall formation can help create crops better suited for biofuel production. They extract DNA from wheat germ. They decode paper strips with codes and relate the activity to...