Curated OER
Clara Barton
Young scholars explore the social change during the nineteenth sand early twentieth centuries. The founding of the American Red Cross by Clara Barton and the role it played in organizing help for those in need is examined in this lesson.
Curated OER
Birthplace of John F. Kennedy: Home of the Boy Who Would Be President
Learners explore the upbringing of John Kennedy and how it effected his culture, character and personality. They investigate their own family traditions, values, and interests.
Curated OER
African-American Civil War Soldiers Lesson Plan
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this Civil War lesson, students examine the service of African Americans in the Civil War and consider their plight to secure the rights and...
Curated OER
My Favorite Place
Students identify important buildings in their community. They discuss the variety of places and services available in their local community. Indivually, students write a paragraph describing their favorite place(s) in the community....
Curated OER
Get to Know: Plants
Students complete a research activity in a schoolyard or park to learn about plants. In this plant lesson plan, students learn the name of the one of more plants. Students describe or draw the plant, pointing our features that...
Curated OER
Ansley Wilcox House
Students complete activities that go along with the study of and possible fieldtrip to the Ansley Wilcox House (T. Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site) in Buffalo, NY. They trace the background of a historical building in their...
National Park Service
Fire Ecology on the Rim
An engaging unit on wildfires includes three sections, including a background section with eight lessons and five activities, a field experience section with 13 lessons and five activities, and a conclusion section featuring an analysis...
Teach Engineering
Introduction to Environmental Engineering
A series on environmental engineering introduces the class to issues that environmental engineers work to solve. This first instructional activity focuses on air and land issues, and looks at ways to reduce pollution.
Curated OER
Places Where Women Made History
Using places can help students identify with the history-making women associated with them.
Curated OER
Women of Substance ~ Broadcasting Their Stories
Students research the Boston Women's Memorial. Showing their fifth grade buddies around the memorial, they examine the lives of Abigail Adams, Phillis Wheatley and Lucy Stone. They create scripts for a public service announcement while...
Stanford University
Solstice and Equinox Season Model
How can December 21 be the shortest day of the year when all days are 24 hours long? Pupils see how to build a model showing the differences between winter and summer solstices and equinoxes. Using this model, classes can then discuss...
National Park Service
Civil War to Civil Rights: From Pea Ridge to Central High
Explore how the Civil War impacted the Civil Rights Movement. Class members complete a series of projects for a unit that uses a layered curriculum approach to learning.
Curated OER
Discovering Fossils
Students explore fossils. In this fossils geology instructional activity, students use tools to reveal embedded "fossils" (made with plaster of Paris by the teacher-instructions included), then describe and illustrate their findings.
National Park Service
Glaciers and Water
Explore the amazing power of glaciers with a hands-on earth science experiment! After first learning basic background information, learners go on to create their very own chunks of frozen water and gravel in order to observe first-hand...
Curated OER
African-American Soldiers in World War I: The 92nd and 93rd Divisions
Students research the role played and contributions made by African American soldiers during World War I. They discuss the evolution of civil rights in America's history, and the progress that has been made in the last 100 years.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Two Different African-American Visions: W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington
The strategies civil rights activists Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois proposed for blacks to achieve racial progress is the focus of an activity in which class groups identify the strategies as well as the benefits and drawbacks...
Civil War Trust
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address may have been four score and seven years ago, but its message is still as relevant today. Young historians explore the context of the famous speech, as well as its central theme and argument, before discussing the...
National Park Service
Biodiversity—Bee Week
If you want scholars to fall in love with bees, this is the unit for you! Celebrate bees with a full week of material—designed for the Next Generation Science Standards—that addresses the importance of pollination and fertilization....
Global Oneness Project
Protecting Wilderness
Would you live in a tree for three years to protect a redwood forest? Viewers of Rainhouse Cinema's Among Giants documentary consider the actions of Earth First! environmental activists who moved into the treetops of a grove of giant...
Channel Islands Film
Who Owns the Bones
A study of the history of the Channel Islands, located off the coast of southern California, continues as class members conduct a mock trial to determine which group of stakeholders should have the right to claim the remains of Juan...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 4
Foster's Rule? Allopatric speciation? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation, class members use Venn diagrams to compare endemic species on the Channel Islands with mainland related species. They then create a...
Stanford University
United Farm Workers
What do primary sources tell people about important events in history? The assessment geared toward high school social studies focuses on primary sources. Learners analyze a poster and a blueprint to determine how the documents show the...
Curated OER
This Land Is Our Land
Young scholars research federal land holdings. They explore how those lands are used. They map these lands and design their own legends. They discuss whether or not the land is being used accordingly.
Curated OER
Seepy Sandwich
Students explore Earth science by participating in a pollution activity. In this water infiltration lesson, students utilize a water sprayer, food coloring and slices of bread to simulate how pollution can spread into our drinking water...