Whose home is it anyway? Design teams plan a housing development in which they must also protect a native species. The teams consist of a project manager, civil engineer, environmental engineer, and graphic designer. Teams present their...

Learners collect information about dangerous streets and intersections in community, interview law enforcement officials and safety experts to find out what they think can be done to reduce accidents, write in-depth article using these...

As an introduction to Steiner Trees, class members are challenged to find the shortest paths to connect multiple points. The teacher introduces the problem by showing how to connect three points. Groups then go outside and construct a...

Students follow Marco Polo's route to and from China. They explore the geography, local products, culture, and fascinating sites of those regions. They record their findings.

A reading of Robert Frost’s "The Road Not Taken" launches an interdisciplinary study of the connection between the meters of a poem and a melody. After identifying the number of beats in each line of the poem, young musicians use...

Students read and examine the novel On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer. They choose to complete a variety of intriguing assignments on this novel. Critical thinking skills are intertwined throughout this instructional activity.

Eleventh graders discuss the use of nonviolence.  For this civil rights movement lesson, 11th graders write a journal entry on the differences between Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., discuss nonviolence and create a poster...

What better way to have a class learn about get out the vote campaigns than by having them create one themselves? After introducing get out the vote efforts and why they exist through videos, articles, and discussion questions, the...

Fifth graders listen to and discuss the music of the Civil War Era in order to better explain society during this time period. They identify the musical instruments and write their own word to accompany the music of one of the songs.

Students study the basics of mapmaking, then make a tally walker, (geographic location device used in secret).

High schoolers explore the geography of China. They describe the geography of the Taklimakan. Students discover the best route to travel from one end of the desert to the other. They investigate how some of the local inhabitants make...

Students explore the survey of the Louisiana Purchase by creating their own surveying and mapping techniques such as natural maps, pace maps, and orienting. Other students then try to follow the maps.

Students examine how the Inca communicated over large distances. They locate the Inca Empire on a map, define key vocabulary terms, play the game, 'telephone,' and create a quipu to show the year they were born.

Students research women who made history in development of different forms of transportation, including boats, railroads, automobiles, airplanes, and space shuttles, and create timeline/collage depicting some of their contributions.

How do engineers determine the most efficient highway designs? Introduce young scientists to the world of topology, the branch of mathematics that examines how things are connected. Teams use model highways to create the most...

How are forces and motion important to a swing set? Scholars explore the concepts of force and motion using swing sets. In preparation for their own STEM design project, individuals take surveys and data from peers, complete labs on...

Your shoes get a lot of mileage in familiar places. Represent the places you have traveled the most with an art project based on a print of Indian People Wear Shoes and Socks by Juane Quick-to-See Smith. Kids trace their shoes and...

It was the single bloodiest day in Civil War history. Now, class members have the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of soldiers who fought in the Battle of Antietam using an interactive website. Supplemental resources include...

This is an exceptional series that you can use in an environmental or engineering unit. There are four lessons: "Sustainable Transportation," "Designing for Safety," "Changing the Landscape," and "Engaging in Policy." Each lesson...

Students examine the religions that developed along the Silk Road. In this compare and contrast lesson, students visit various stations within the classroom to learn about the Silk Road and the two religions that developed. Using a...

Help overcome challenges in eating pizza. Scholars work in groups to design a device that assists a physically handicapped person eat pizza. They build a prototype of such a device to test their designs before building. To...

Students transfer what they have learned about China into an electronic project. In this collaborative project, students take what they have learned from their textbooks and synthesize the information in order to create an electronic...

Students design their own tire tread pattern that meets a certain requirement. In this technology lesson, students explore how engineers develop tire treads. They evaluate their own work and share their product with the class.

Students analyze data on elk ecology and movements across the highway. In this ecology lesson, students research ways to save them from highway collisions. They write a report and present their findings in class.