NASA
Let's Investigate Mars
Take your science class on a hypothetical field trip to Mars with an engaging astronomy lesson. After first learning about NASA's Mars rover missions, young scientists plan their own scientific investigations of Earth's nearest neighbor.
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Matthew Henson: Heroic Explore Who Conquered Racism
Students explore the concept of racism. In this character building lesson, students read a biography about a hero Matthew Henson. Students discover the challenges he, and others, faced during a time of unfairness.
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Tribal Truths
Students research and analyze the interactions of American Indian tribes with Meriwether Lewis and iam Clark. Then they stage displays to inform the public about their findings.
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The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Students explore the challenges of the Lewis and Clark Expedition through a physical education simulation. In this cross-curriculum physical education instructional activity, students work in groups of three to log 8000 steps, stopping...
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Hernando De Soto's Trip Through South Carolina
Fourth graders become familiar with the explorations of Hernando DeSoto. In this DeSoto lesson plan, 4th graders recognize the routes and territories of DeSoto's explorations. Students use primary and secondary sources and research to...
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Make Me an Offer
First graders examine the significance of the Louisiana Purchase and the journey of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. They become familiar with the features of the Keelboat Nickel reverse and identify trade goods used by Lewis and...
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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Students work in groups to imagine, research and simulate a dinner party involving an author, a fictional character, and a significant historical figure as dinner guests. The activity uses Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and the time...
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Isolation or Intervention?
Students research the attitudes and politics of pre-World War II America. They become isolationists or interventionists and present their points of view during a simulated city council meeting.
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Lewis and Clark: Prized Possessions
Students consider the role of Sacagawea as part of the Corps of Discovery. In this Lewis and Clark expedition lesson, students discover details about Sacagawea's wampum belt and then create their own wampum belts using their computer and...
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Pioneer America: Legendary Westerners - Can One Person Really Make a Difference?
Fourth graders research famous Americans from the Westward Movement and complete an interview. In this Westward Movement lesson, 4th graders work in pairs to research someone who was important during this time period. They prepare and...
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Challenge to Communicate
Learners use Lewis and Clark's journals to identify the forms of non-verbal communication they used. They discover the problems they faced on their journey and how they overcame them. They practice using the non-verbal language of the...
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Lon Chaney: Three Faces of Lon Chaney
Students watch the Lon Chaney episode of American Masters, read chapters from three original books on which Chaney's films were based, and use a reading strategy called Reader's Theater to adapt each chapter into a script. After...
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It Ain't Necessarily So
High schoolers examine characterization of African Americans in literature, popular culture, and opera. For this stereotypes lessons, students conduct research that requires them to analyze the origins and content of stereotypes...
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New York City: Passionate About Shakespeare
Students explore Shakespeare as part of American culture. In this Shakespearean culture lesson, students view video clips about modern theater. Students read excerpts from Shakespearean plays and other commentaries.
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I Have a Metaphor
Learners locate the literary devices used in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. For this figurative language lesson plan, students first distinguish between similes, metaphors, analogies, personification, etc. Learners...
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Heading West
Students study the concept of the westward expansion. In this exploration of the western U.S. lesson, students participate in different activities that explain economic hardships, jobs, and land opportunities. Students describe...
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On the Road with Marco Polo: Marco Polo in China
Students trace Marco Polo's route into China and use the Internet to research major products fabricated in 13th century China. They discuss their findings and write a report on either: silk, porcelain, jade, lacquerware or tea.
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Jackie Steals Home
Students read articles relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial barrier in professional baseball. This leads to a deeper exploration of racism in the United States. They use a variety of worksheets imbedded in this plan to...
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The West "The People": The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Fourth graders become familiar with the conditions facing the members of the Expedition in the early 1800's, as well as the causes and consequences of the Expedition. They describe the conditions of the land in the 1800's and during the...
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The Media is the Lesson
Students work as a member of a creative team and develop a media campaign for a client.
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Willie Nelson: All Together Now!
Students recite Willie Nelson's lyrics in one voice and then analyze their tone and vocabulary usage. They research Willie Nelson's history and dramatize the song: "On the Road Again."
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New Frontiers
Students compare/contrast the expeditions of Dr. Horatio Jackson and Lewis and Clark. They read and discuss journals from both trips, watch segments from the Ken Burns film about Lewis and Clark, conduct Internet research, and complete...
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Hip on Hemingway
Students participate in an official "Hip on Hemingway Club." They explore Hemingway and create a biography of Ernest Hemingway patterned after an alphabet book. They record their "key word" with each of the twenty-six letters of the...
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Oh, Baby!
Students explore one's goals and dreams using a combination of research and imagination. They produce a web site that portrays a vision of one's future. They plan, conduct and write up an informal journalistic interview.