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Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Pbs Idea Channel Collection

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore the crossroads of art, science, and pop culture with PBS Idea Channel. Hosted by Mike Rugnetta, the Idea Channel launched in 2012 and has since posted over 100 videos, with more added every Wednesday. The program has quickly...
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Handout
Vassar College

Vassar College: 1896: The Popularity of Bicycles

For Students 9th - 10th
As part of the larger site about the year 1896, this article describes the bicycle craze at the end of the 19th century and includes newspaper articles and cartoons about this fad.
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Website
PBS

Pbs: Skin Stories the Art and Culture of Polynesian Tattoo

For Students 9th - 10th
Delve into the rich history of the Oceania people by exploring their art and culture. Find that the art of tattooing is much more than a popular trend of young adults.
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Website
Other

Parlor Songs Academy: Music as Propaganda in World War I

For Students 9th - 10th
Scroll through the history of the use of popular music as propaganda until reaching the lengthy section about how music was used, not just in the United States, but throughout the world as propaganda in World War I. Find the lyrics and...
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Website
Other

Anti Discrimination Committee: Arab Stereotypes & Educators

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
This site provides an analysis of stereotypes of Arabs in US pop culture and textbooks, the role of educators in combating these stereotypes, and the effects of such stereotypes on Arab American children. It includes a bibliography for...
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Website
Other

The Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource explores the history of film and visual arts. There is a tour, virtual exhibits, and related materials.
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Graphic
Other

Aiga: Design Observer

For Students 9th - 10th
A designer's portal featuring writings, news, and critical essays on graphic design, social innovation, urbanism, popular culture, and criticism.
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Interactive
Other

National Geographic Channel: Rule the 90s

For Students 9th - 10th
Expand your trivia knowledge, and explore the news, culture, music, television and film of the 1990s.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs: Broadway: The American Musical: Operetta

For Students 9th - 10th
As part of a larger look at the American musical, this brief look at the popularity of the operetta in the last part of the 19th century discusses why it was so popular with the middle class. Included is a short video that discusses...
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Lesson Plan
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Sti Lesson 32: The John Travolta Syndrome

For Teachers 9th - 10th
The songs and movies of modern times have had a major influence on fashion. Coincidentally, many of these important fashion-influencing films of recent times had one thing in common: John Travolta. From the white leisure suits ofSaturday...
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Activity
Digital History

Digital History: Avant Garde

For Students 9th - 10th
Synopsis of the huge cultural shifts that occurred in America in the 1920s in art, music, literature, and among intelligentsia.
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Website
Other

Smithsonian Institution: Musica Del Pueblo

For Students 9th - 10th
Musica del Pueblo is a full-featured resource that explores the traditions of Latino music. Using a colorful mural titled "Song of Unity" as a navigation tool, visitors can watch videos of performances, listen to different varieties of...
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Handout
Other

American Film Institute: 100 Years . . . 100 Songs

For Students 9th - 10th
With this list, the American Film Institute presents its choices for the 100 greatest songs in film. The list includes choices from popular films such as The Sound of Music, Cabaret and The Producers.
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Graphic
Library of Congress

Loc: American Variety Stage: Bijou Theater

For Students 9th - 10th
Musical theater and vaudeville were popular in the Gilded Age. Here is a theater program from the Bijou Theater in Boston. Leaafing through the pages gives a great slice of life at the time, not only because of the playbills, but also...
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Handout
Other

American Studies Online: Theme Parks and Mass Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
This site is provided for by American Studies Online. The Disney concept and philosophy has had a widespread influence on American life beyond the amusement parks. This article shows the influence has even spread to shopping malls and...
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Activity
Other

For Many, One: Eugenics in the Culture Wars of the 1920s

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the bizarre ideas of those who believed in the role of eugenics in society. Find out about "bad" heredity and "good" heredity and see the form from the Eugenics Society of America that determined the "fitness" of individual...
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Website
Other

China Vista: Ancient Chinese Fables

For Students 9th - 10th
Fables have enriched the Chinese language and the morals of these tales have found their way into the Chinese language. Six popular ancient Chinese fables are found here in Chinese and English.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Mexico: Religion

For Students 9th - 10th
Scroll down to read about religion in Mexico. Push the "forward" button to read about church-state relations and popular beliefs.
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Website
Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Web Japan: A Japanese Cookbook for Kids

For Students 3rd - 5th
This introduction--suitable for younger students--to Japanese food features a lesson in using chopsticks and surveys popular dishes among school children in Japan.
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Activity
Columbia University

Ling Long Women's Magazine, Shanghai 1931 to 1937

For Students 9th - 10th
Chinese social and cultural history will benefit greatly from the preservation of a nearly complete run (228 of 298 issues) of Ling Lung, a weekly Chinese women's magazine published in Shanghai from 1931 to 1937.
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Website
Other

Gobierno Bolivariano De Venezuela: Ministerio Del Poder Popular Para La Cultura

For Students 9th - 10th
Spanish content; this is the government run web-site of the ministry of culture for Venezuela where one can find information about cultural offering and projects in the country.
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Website
Other

San Francisco Visitor Activities

For Students 9th - 10th
From the city and county of San Francisco, this site offers an image gallery, links to popular cultural activities, and a state-wide visitors guide.
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Website
Other

Don Quijote: Bullfighting in Spain

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the controversial Spanish popular custom of bullfighting and the history of this great event.
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: A Biography of America: The Twenties 1913 1929

For Students 9th - 10th
How would you describe the 1920s? The decade was called the Roaring Twenties, the beginning of modern America. Take a look at the economic prosperity, prohibition, popular culture, and the invention of the automobile, then you decide, a...