Curated OER
Describe That State
Students broaden knowledge about all the 50 states. They combine their knowledge about states with their knowledge about parts of speech to create grammatically correct sentences that describe the characteristics of the states.
Curated OER
States
Second graders look up their assigned states on the internet, cut and paste pictures on word document, and print out the pictures.
Curated OER
Tools of the Trade: The Use of Geographic Tools
Students examine the tools of demographic analysis and apply them to real-world situations. They analyze maps, define terminology, and write an information paper for the appropriate government agency to recommend an action or policy change.
Curated OER
National Expansion
Middle schoolers investigate the Manifest Denstiny. They explore how the idea was evident in 19th century American maps. Students brainstorm the relationships between maps and national expansion. They review a map from 1816 that called...
Curated OER
Orienteering - Introductory Lesson
Gain knowledge of directions and degrees while learning how to read a compass. NEWS - north, east, west, south, and everything in between. It's crucial to be accurate in reading a compass and understanding degrees and direction when...
Curated OER
Learning the 50 States
Students become familiar with all 50 states over the course of ten days.
Syracuse University
Erie Canal
While canals are not the way to travel today, in the first half of the nineteenth century, they were sometimes the best way to move goods and people. Scholars examine primary sources, including maps and pictures, to investigate the role...
Curated OER
Electronic Survey Activity
Fifth graders conduct a class survey and share the results with a class in another state via an electronic bulletin board. This technology-rich lesson plan is an ideal way to have learners practice communicating with others through the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
African-American Communities in the North Before the Civil War
Middle schoolers may be surprised to learn that before the American Civil War there were more slaves living in New York than there were in Kentucky! Young historians examine maps and census data to gather statistics about...
Baylor College
Microbes and Disease
Discuss how diseases have impacted human history. Divide your class into groups and assign each group one of the following: tuberculosis, malaria, plague, cholera, smallpox, and AIDS. They read up on, complete a concept map, and present...
American Battlefield Trust
Experiencing the Battle of Franklin
Scholars watch videos, study an animated map, and read a firsthand written account to explore the impact of the Battle of Franklin during the Civil War. Academics analyze images, complete worksheets, and create journal entries to...
Curated OER
NATO Geography & Language
The class receives background information on NATO, an atlas, and a blank world map. They color the original 1949 countries in red, the 1952 additions in green, and the 1990 additions in blue. This exercise would be a good starting point...
Curated OER
BIGGER AND BIGGER: (We Live in a family, a neighborhood, a city, and the United States)
Students discover that they are part of bigger and bigger groups. They begin with families and work up to belonging to North America as they initiate a study of the whole country.
Curated OER
Rice Farming History
Second graders map the progress of rice farming by using a map of the United States. In this rice farming lesson plan, 2nd graders draw a line on the map from where rice farming started to the progression of its growth.
Curated OER
When Turtle Grew Feathers
Students explore the Choctaw Native American tribe. In this cross curriculum literacy and U.S. history lesson, students locate where the Choctaw Indians lived on a United States map. Students listen to When Turtle Grew...
Curated OER
Mapping the Prairie
Fifth graders study maps of the Chicago area looking at defining characteristics and place names. They investigate settlement patterns by looking at the maps.
Curated OER
Great Explorers
Students research an explorer and present a multimedia presentation on the explorer. In this United States explorers lesson, students watch a video about Lewis and Clark. Students use Google Earth to study their journey and keep a KWL...
MARS - Mathematics Assessment Resource Service
Applying Properties of Exponents
The properties of exponents are all linked together and it is your mathematicians' job to discover and apply those rules. The comprehensive instructional activity begins with a pre-assessment task to check for prior knowledge and then...
Curated OER
Flat Stanley
The geography of the United States is the focus of this lesson, as well as writing friendly letters. Your second graders read, "Flat Stanley," by Jeff Brown. They create their own Flat Stanley out of poster board, markers, crayons and...
Curated OER
Energy Resources: Where Are They and How Do We Get Them?
Future energy engineers visit several stations, each one dedicated to a different alternative source of energy. They describe how solar energy is converted into other forms of energy, the patterns of distribution of energy resources in...
Curated OER
Barrels and Buckets: Access to Water - What Would It Be Like to Live in Africa?
Students compare water access in the United States with that of Africa. In this water access lesson, students located Ghana and Kenya on a globe before reading Peace Corps Volunteer accounts of the difficulty of accessing clean water....
Curated OER
Family and Household Structure
Students examine what the word "family" means today. They identify cultural traditions that are still popular in the United States. They read primary source documents and discover how advice is passed on from generation to generation.
Curated OER
Enough To Make Your Head Spin
Students examine body language in the United States and Bulgaria. They also discover other forms of communication. They also examine a map of Bulgaria.
Curated OER
Immigration - A Promise of Better Life
What a great way to discuss European immigration in the 1700's to 1800's in America. Learners identify regions where immigration occurred, list the reasons people moved to the United States, and interview an immigrant about their...