College Board
AP® Psychology Cognition and Language
I can remember what happened five years ago, but I can't recall what I did last week! High school psychology students analyze how memory, cognition, and language impact one another. Hands-on activities, memory exercises, and research...
American Psychological Association
A Career in Psychology
Could you have a future therapist in your high school Psychology classroom? Find out by assigning the class to complete an activity where they discover more information about what a career in psychology looks like. Resources they view...
American Psychological Association
Top 20 Principles from Psychology for PreK–12 Creative, Talented, and Gifted Students’ Teaching and Learning
Who knew getting a better grasp on learning and psychology requires understanding only 20 principles? The resource, especially ideal for high school Psychology, discusses 20 important principles that debunk common myths and provide...
American Psychological Association
How Psychology Benefits Society
How do people form their opinions about certain social issues? Scholars research current global issues to find out how psychology plays a role in swaying thoughts. Using blogs, writings, and presentations, they uncover why people think...
College Board
AP® Psychology: Teaching Statistics and Research Methodology
Psychologists use statistics? Scholars investigate the research behind the methodology of statistical analysis. Using hands-on practice, case-studies, and scatterplots, they complete various tasks to understand the very roots of high...
Curated OER
The Psychology Teacher's Resource Guide
The activities in a comprehensive teacher's resource guide provides budding psychologists with opportunities to design experiments to study behavior, apply their knowledge of research variables, critique online behavior surveys, and much...
American Psychological Association
Childhood Obesity
The United States leads the world in the percentage of obese adults and children. Why? What can be done about the problem? High school psychology classes adopt a problem-focused approach to investigating childhood obesity and then...
American Psychological Association
Developing Adolescents
Why to young people act the way they do? Scholars investigate the stages of adolescent development incorporating high school psychology techniques. Using research from the American Psychological Association, they uncover the five areas...
American Psychological Association
Using Psychological Perspectives to Answer Questions on Behavior
Perspective is everything when it comes to assessing human behavior. Class members examine a series of statements and identify the perspective represented by each to demonstrate their understanding of different psychological perspectives.
American Psychological Association
Statistical Significance
Our survey says ...! High school psychology scholars analyze how people create surveys. Three different scenarios help them discover the meaning behind statistical significance. Armed with new knowledge, novice psychologists uncover what...
College Board
2010 AP® Psychology Free-Response Questions
A pep rally may seem like a simple ritual for a high school, but there are a number of psychological factors operating behind the scenes. Learners flesh out these features using a case study from College Board. A second prompt offers...
American Psychological Association
Activities from the Society for the History of Psychology Website
The Society for the History of Psychology provides a list of teaching activities designed to acquaint learners with the various fields of psychology and introduce them to prominent psychologists. Details for several of the activities are...
American Psychological Association
Facebook Activity
Imagine if Sigmund Freud or Charles Darwin had a Facebook page. As part of a study of major historical figures in the field of psychology, class members are assigned a psychologist and design a mock Facebook page that includes such items...
American Psychological Association
Psychology Goes to Madison Avenue
As part of a study of well-known psychologists, class members create a name, a business logo, an advertisement for TV, online, radio, or print, and a pamphlet for the business run by one of the psychologists on a provided list. An...
College Board
AP® Psychology: Special Focus - The Brain, the Nervous System, and Behavior
How does the brain send signals to the rest of the body? Scholars research and analyze the functions of the brain and the central nervous system in the human body. Using hands-on activities, reflections, and research, they begin to...
Curated OER
School Climate
Students examine school climate in relation to the physical structure of the school building. A Luann cartoon can be used to stimulate thinking and promote discussion which focuses on feelings of alienation that can occur in large high...
Curated OER
Keep Your Eye On the Prize
High schoolers learn about citizens who were actively involved in the civil rights movement, and the strategies they used to overcome the Jim Crow laws that were so prevalent in the 1960s. They investigate the voting amendments of the US...
Curated OER
Class Reunion
Students explore the process of decision making regarding their own goals and objectives. They consider their future and preparation for life beyond high school by completing a Class Reunion sheet.
American Psychological Association
Sampling or Assignment?
Each discipline has its own vocabulary, terms it uses to identify key concepts and processes. Sample, to psychologists, refers to those people (participants) a researcher is studying, while assignment refers to the treatment conditions...
American Psychological Association
Counting Fidgets: Teaching the Complexity of Naturalistic Observation
Why do psychologists conduct experiments in controlled laboratory settings? High schoolers gain an understanding of the importance of controls with an activity that involves naturalistic observations with no imposed controls.
Curated OER
Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?
Interesting! Have your high schoolers watch this 13-minute clip from the documentay, "Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?" It examines the fear we have as a culture about death and whether or not the media increases those fears. The focus...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
The Mind of a Terrorist: A Psychosocial Perspective
What a great way to make a psychology lesson plan on personality development socio-politically relevant! Class members investigate causes of radicalism--specifically, becoming a terrorist. This resource includes background information,...
American Psychological Association
Research Ethics
Psychologists designing experiments to research human behavior must consider weighty ethical concerns. Class members act as members of an institutional review board and examine proposals to determine whether included provisions...
Steered Straight
Marijuana Awareness
February is Marijuana Awareness Month, and a set of interdisciplinary activities can make your class aware of the social, medical, legal, and psychological effects of marijuana. With writing prompts, research opportunities, and...