Curated OER
Popular Mechanics
Students explore the five essential parts of every robot and design their own robots to perform everyday tasks. They explore robots created for fighting competitions by reading and discussing "When Nerds Collide: Robots at War."
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You've Got Infected Mail!
Students use New York Times articles to trace the causes, effects, and predicted impact of the Melissa e-mail virus. In small groups, students create diagrams of the information about the virus that serves as ongoing timelines of this...
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What's Old Is New Again
Students explore cultural trends in the United States in the 20th century and examine the resurgence of some of those trends in today's society.
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It's Just a Game?
Students consider their attitudes toward concrete and abstract violence in the media before developing hypotheses that assess the effect of gender and age on people's attitudes toward such violence and designing a survey to test those...
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Occupational Oxymoron
Learners consider their own notions of poverty, examine the life of a woman classified as "working poor" from a variety of perspectives, and present their findings to the class. Then, students synthesize their knowledge in a paper.
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Over-the-Counter Culture
Learners explore the changing consumer habits of Americans of various socioeconomic classes. They examine the exact costs of products, services and interest rates mentioned in the article and reflect on their own spending habits and...
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A Maya Masterpiece
Young scholars analyze the symbols presented in a Maya artifact. They create collages that depict a theme related to contemporary life in their community, and write brief analyses explaining the symbolism of the images they chose.
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Spirit Bear Speaks
Students read an online article about Canadian efforts to preserve Great Bear Rain Forest. They create ecotourism brochures on the forest and write and essay.
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Let the Good Times Roll
Learners read an online New York Times article and investigate the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans. They examine how Hurricane Katrina affected the celebration. They design a float that represents the Mardi Gras celebration.
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Feeling Vulnerable
Students discover some of the ways the developing world is vulnerable to the impact and effects of natural disasters. They investigate some "natural disaster hotspots" around the globe and assess how vulnerable these areas are.
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Eyes Worldwide on the Prize
Students examine Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and see how it has been produced in China by reading an online article. They study discrimination in the world and write responses to the speech.
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Our Town
Students read and discuss an online article as they consider what makes a center of activity in a city or town. They produce a documentary film of the hub of activity in their school.
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Flight of the Imagination
Students study the success of video games by reading an online article. They work in groups to design settings, storylines, characters and technical features for their own fantasy video games. Finally, they write scripts for previews of...
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To Freeze or Not to Freeze
Students examine the non-verbal elements of a theatrical performance. They read an article, answer discussion questions, conduct Internet research, and stage frozen tableaux based on lines from Shakespeare's works.
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Funny Business
Students discuss how much they understand of satire and parody. They read an article about an Iraq news parody show. They create and act out their own parody skit. They write an essay about using humor in grave situations.
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Serving Memory
Students read an article about a woman who lost her fiance in Iraq. Reading a letter he left his son, they discuss how his words will affect his son once he is old enough to understand. They research the number of casualties in the war...
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Let the Music Play
Students create auditory presentations on festivals and celebrations around the world. They begin by reading about how the New Orleans high school marching bands have overcome many obstacles to keep their music traditions alive. Then...
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Can Justice Be Taylor-Made?
Students examine and discuss a quotation used as a slogan for Liberia's former president Charles G. Taylor. After reading an article, they consider the allegations against Taylor. In groups, they research a time period of his life and...
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Rock Around the Map
Students research the geographical histories of various musical genres and make maps that note important places in music history. They Write geographical biographies about one of their favorite musical artists.
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Do You Recall?
Students share reactions to Mattel CEO Bob Eckert's message to consumers. They identify how Mattel is responding to several product recalls by reading and discussing the article "After Stumbling, Mattel Cracks Down in China." Students...
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Gotta Dance
Students share dance moves that reflect their personalities or depict how they are feeling, explore popularity of recreational and competitive social dancing by reading and discussing the article "Follow the Flying Feet,"
present...
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Touring Tradition
Students study about the Venezuelan government's promotion of the Dancing Devils ritual in San Francisco de Yare as a tourist attraction. They investigate a number of traditional regional events around the world to explore the...
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Human Fingerprints: No Two the Same
Sixth graders explore scientific observations by analyzing a group of data. In this fingerprint identification activity, 6th graders identify the reasoning behind fingerprinting and create their own ink fingerprints. Students discuss the...
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A Roman Experience
Students in 6th grade compile questions about ancient Rome and they chat via the internet with the 10th graders across town. They in 10th grade research the internet for answers for the 6th graders and convey the information via an...