Explore the inception and evolution of hip-hop music as a springboard for writing music reviews and researching other genres of music. Learners will read and discuss the Times' article, From Underground Music to Fashion Statement to then...

How does the formation of currents and waves in the ocean happen? High schoolers will learn about the primary causes for ocean currents and waves by calculating a wave's amplitude and nautical mile speed. Then they will complete a...

Live Strong! High schoolers will discuss some of the reasons behind Lance Armstrong's success in cycling and chart those reasons into four categories: Physiology, Psychology, Equipment, Training/Strategy. They will then choose one sport...

Discuss personal ideas about science and how a filmmaker can employ the arts to promote science. After reading an article, young scientists will discover how James Cameron is trying to interest people in the oceans. In groups, they will...

The zombies have invaded! Only a few safe regions remain, and class members must decide where they and the remaining world refugees should flee. After researching the cultures and creating poster presentations of various parts of the...

Do you want to be a detective by analyzing situations? An engaging lesson provides young historians with the tools to help them understand the difference between data types and how to analyze them to draw conclusions. Scholars complete...

Students examine the experiences of African-American women during the Civil War. Reading letters and autobiographies, they gain insight into how they dealt with slavery and losing their children. They create a model to evaluate the...

Learners determine their perspective on women's empowerment and then compare it to how it is seen in Syria. They watch four documentary clips, discuss what they've seen, and answer two short essay questions. Excellent resource links and...

Why is voting so important, anyway? Learn more about the importance of exercising a right for which many men and women marched, fought, and legislated with an interactive timeline activity.

Debates around immigration in the news are not new, but they are a defining feature of the Hispanic American experience throughout the twentieth century. Looking through the lens of Hispanic Americans in Congress, class members explore...

Bilingual education, voting rights, and Congressional redistricting come up often in the news. Explore these topics from another view—the perspectives of Hispanic members of Congress. Activities include an article with comprehension and...

To be Puerto Rican, in the words of one politician, is to be "foreign in a domestic sense." Young historians consider the American role in colonialism and its impacts on Hispanic Americans through the first part of the twentieth century...

From the Louisiana Purchase to the Spanish-American War, the history of the United States is intertwined with the story of Hispanic Americans. Using an article about Hispanics in Congress during the 1800s, learners research their lives...

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but words can tell many stories. To conclude their study of the women who have served in the US Congress until 2006, groups analyze statements made by these remarkable women.

After reading the contextual essay, "Assembling, Amplifying, and Ascending: Recent Trends Among Women in Congress 1977–2006," groups select a female senator or representative and research her background and contributions.

As part of a study of the women elected to Congress from 1917 to 1934, groups research and then design a museum exhibit that describes the life and the congressional service of one of these women.

Using bunsen burners, Erlenmeyer flasks, thermometers, hollow glass tubes, stoppers, and rulers, learners experiment with and measure how water expands when heated. The activity connects the expansion of water when heated to global...

Despite some advances made during the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War, the period from 1887 through 1929, African Americans serving in Congress suffered severe setbacks due to Jim Crow Laws and voter suppression. Class members...

The reading of a contextual essay launches a study of Black Americans who served in Congress from 1870 through 1887. Young historians identify the African Americans who served during this period, investigate the ways they won national...

What better way to learn about civic responsibility's importance than to experience it? From the opportunity to volunteer in an elected official's office and participate in a political campaign to observations of school board and city...

What could be more natural than learning about learning? Scholars research the central nervous systems and the learning process through a well-designed WebQuest. They study the structure as well as discover the functions of those...

After studying statistics and reading articles about diversity in the 2018 through 2020 U.S. elections, young social scientists discuss what they believe is the impact of having more diverse elected officials. Individuals then select one...

The second instructional activity in the series asks groups to analyze an exchange of love letters between Abigail and John Adams. Scholars identify the many allusions and references in the letters and consider what they can infer about...

Remember this lady! Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, the second President of the United States, and the mother of the sixth president, John Quincy Adams, was much more than a wife and mother. This prolific letter writer is the...