Alabama Department of Archives and History
An African American Represents Alabama during Reconstruction
The era after the Civil War saw a flourishing of African Americans exercising their rights. Using graphic organizers and Internet research, pupils consider the legacy of Benjamin Sterling Turner, who sat in Congress. Afterward, they...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Changes in Transportation over Time
Planes, trains, and automobiles. How many ways to travel are there? Scholars learn about modes of transportation in the past and how they have changed over time. Budding historians view a timeline, participate in group discussion, and...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Voting Rights for Alabama Women
What were the arguments put forth by those who opposed the 19th Amendment? For those in favor? Class members examine primary source materials that illustrate the intense debate in Alabama about women's suffrage.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, and Jim Crow
Class members use the think-pair-share strategy to compare the views of W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington and to consider how each man's backgrounds influenced his philosophy.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
World War I and Alabama's Rainbow Division
As part of their study of World War I, class members investigate the role of Alabama's 167th Infantry Regiment, part of the Rainbow Division, in World War I.
Sea World
Splash of Math
How can kids use math to learn about marine life? Combine math skills with science lessons in a resource featuring activities about life in the sea. Kids graph and calculate data, solve complex word problems, measure geometric shapes,...
NASA
Science Fiction Story
A instructional activity allows you to go back in time and see the big bang actually happen. Bazinga! In reality, pupils research the Big Bang Theory and theorize what it would be like to go back in time and see it happen. There are four...
NASA
Unsung Heroes of Science
Scholars research scientific heroes who haven't been given enough credit for their discoveries. While many are women, there are also men to whom credit is overdue.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You
Ask not what the lesson here can do for you, but what you can do with the lesson. The answer is quite a lot! Young scholars revisit JFK's famous inaugural address with a focus on his plea for civic engagement. There's a letter to JFK...
Curated OER
Biotechnology/Bioinformatics Activity
Students demonstrate the genetic principles of Heredity. They discover that each species has a unique Genetic fingerprint and that people can use "Genetic fingerprints" to solve a number of problems. They discuss examples of uses of DNA...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Jacksonian Democracy and Indian Removal
Introduce a study of the presidency of Andrew Jackson with a lesson that uses video clips, primary source documents, group activities, and debates to examine Jackson's early life and career. The lesson focuses on the 1828 election and...
Federal Reserve Bank
What Really Caused the Great Depression?
Falling wages. Rising unemployment. Falling prices. Sound familiar? Young economists look at the role the US banking system had in causing the Great Depression.
Federal Reserve Bank
What Do People Say?
After reading a series of fictitious letters that represent actual events during the time period, young historians craft a small town newsletter to explain the causes of the Great Depression.
Curated OER
A Dollar Goes A Long Way
Investigate life along the Old Spanish Trail! They visit websites and identify the history and environment. They create journals, dramatic enactments, and maps to discover the role individuals played in society. They also explore the...
Curated OER
Postcards For Your Ears
Here is a great way to have your students make audio postcards to share by recording a message on the computer. They write and revise an appropriate message about an object from home, choose a background, and font colors for the...
Federal Reserve Bank
Saturday Sancocho
What does stew have to do with bartering? Learners will find out how by reading the story Saturday Sancocho, discussing the text, participating in a bartering activity in class (once with goods only and once with money), and discussing...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Red States/Blue States: Mapping the Presidential Election
Young historians investigate how voting patterns have changed by comparing the outcome of the 1960 election to the outcome of the recent election. A creative final assessment has participants making a news show wherein they provide...
Smithsonian Institution
African American Music: Let’s Sing and Play Clapping Games
Two lessons focus on making a beat. Using popular African American music of its time, scholars listen and analyze the rhythm then recreate it with hands drums, and cups.
Curated OER
The New York School: Action and Abstraction
Young scholars examine the influences and similarities between the New York School poets and Abstract Expressionist artists. They analyze paintings and poems, and write original poetry.
Curated OER
Lights, Sounds, Fabrics and Designs: Careers in the World of Design
Students investigate the broad range of jobs that can be found in the world of design. Students explore sound design, language architecture, etc. Students design a resource book and post it on a website for others to share.
Curated OER
Reading the Dna Code: Making Protein
Learners study DNA decoding and protein synthesis. They use the amino acid table to translate DNA, break DNA strands into three nucleotide codes, and translate nucleotides into amino acid protein codes. They research the importance of...
Curated OER
Reviewing Good Playing Habits
The string section of your school orchestra can get a proper form make-over by incorporating this lesson. They reestablish proper playing form, posture, and sound as they compose an essay on how to maintain good playing habits during...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama Tenant Farmers and Sharecroppers, 1865 to Present
The tenant farming and sharecropping systems that developed in the South after the Civil War, the reasons for their development, and the eventual decline of these systems are the focus of this two-day plan.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Clotilde, The Last Slave Ship
The Clotilde was the last known ship to bring slaves from Africa to the United States - good riddance! Dive into the details of the ship, its cargo, origin, and route, and learn about the future of the Africans on board with a...