What is progress? Who bears its cost? High schoolers consider the questions as they review data on families displaced by urban renewal projects in the 1950s and 1960s. An interactive, curated data project asks historians to consider the...

This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...

While cities had only a small fraction of the population in colonial America, they played a significant role in pre-revolutionary years, and this was certainly true for the largest city in the North American colonies: Philadelphia. Your...

The Crusades sounds like a glamorous time period in the Middle Ages full of glory—but was it? Scholars find and review the truth of the Crusades' influence on the world through the resource. The study guides, separated individually by...

To some people, protesting is as American as apple pie, but the factors that lead to protests can be as confusing to veteran activists as to today's youth. Revolution '67 explores the riots in Newark, New Jersey as a case study. ...

Human migration—often the result of push and pull factors—sometimes has dramatic outcomes for both those leaving their homelands and the host countries. Using a variety of case studies, learners consider those issues. Then, by completing...

Students examine the effects of an urban setting on the development of male adolescence. After watching a film, they identify the problems in the relationship of the characters. They discuss the impact of becoming a teenage father and...

This 3-day immigration study draws on historical trends and current events. A worksheet accompanies initial research on one group's U.S. immigration history, giving opportunity for collaborative learning through sharing findings. Groups...

Fifth graders read a story about how cities have grown since the 1920s. Using the text, they follow the story of a couple whose town changes after more and more people move to the area. They identify the causes and consequences of...

Redlining—or the practice of racial discrimination in housing loans—directly led to today's segregated living patterns in America. Using data from the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation, classmates visualize the impact of policy on...

How has your local neighborhood changed throughout recent history? Young researchers evaluate census data, images, and primary source descriptions describing the living situation in the antebellum Five Points neighborhood. They consider...

Learners are introduced to new vocabulary words associated with tribes and relocation. As a class, they listen to their teacher read an excerpt on tribal termination and urbanization. To end the lesson, they identify how this act...

High schoolers read Martin Luther King, Jr's speech that he gave in Washington. They identify the social conditions that led to the civil rights movement. They discuss the significance of the March on Washington.

Fourth graders research plants native to the Hawaiian Islands. Using the plants, they identify its purpose in the watershed and ways to help protect them from extinction. They survey a area of land and discover ways in which to bring...

Students analyze how developers plan for a shopping center. They take a field trip to a nearby shopping center. Also students participate in a shopping center scavenger hunt. Students identify factors important to the location of...

Students examine the role of fashion and adornment in society. They discover the factors that influence different types of clothing. They also discuss how clothing reveals cultural clues about a society.

Even in a world in which dozens of participants and curious onlookers record every controversial event, the basic facts of what happened are often in dispute. Revolution '67, Lesson 2 explores 1967 Newark, New Jersey using an examination...

Your high schoolers will examine the community in which they live and discuss with the class. Using the Internet, they identify the importance of African-American art and how it relates to the African-American culture. Individually, they...

Students examine why fugitive slaves migrated to cities and towns rather than rural areas. In this lesson plan, students consider the social, economic, and political benefits provided by cities and towns in comparison to rural areas.

Students interpret maps. They also create mental maps of regions in which they are studying. Students then explain the historical or cultural significance of map features orally or in written form. Students take a walking field trip...

Learners discuss the amount of diversity at their school. They examine a culture other than their own and share it with their classmates. They discuss the importance of diversity to end the instructional activity.

Students write and listen to rap songs. They discover how common themes in rap are indicative of the problems, as well as the empowerments, that can be seen in our urban cultures today. They discover how rap is actually an evolution of...

Ninth graders research early mining in California. They study the "placer method" for mining gold, which is surface mining that does not involve tunneling. They examine what it was like for the early miners to pan for gold with...

Take photos of human activities that impact air quality. Collaborative groups present one of the photographs, identifying how the activity contributes to air quality and what can be done to minimize the impact. As one in a series of...