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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Second graders compare and contrast animate and inanimate objects. For this environmental science lesson, 2nd graders create simple food webs. They observe their environment and create a collage about it.

High school students examine their own water-based environments, within the Mystic Watershed. As the learners engage in inquiry-based, hands-on projects, critical thinking skills and problem-solving, the project will lead them to cross...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Students count the number of species they can find in a five minute block of time in both an urban lawn and natural, remnant forest area. They are introduced to the concept of low and high biodiversity areas and engage in a discussion...

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...

Elementary school physical scientists explore kinetic mechanical energy by dropping a golf ball on different surfaces. They discuss how human made materials might react to light differently from nature made materials. This lesson plan...

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...

All about Canada! Learners explore the geography and providences of Canada by watching videos, studying maps and conducting internet research. By the end of this instructional activity, your class should be able to locate major areas and...

Students practice in analyzing spatial data in maps and graphic presentations while studying the distribution of fossil fuel resources. They study, analyze, and map the distribution of fossil fuels on blank maps. Students discuss gas...

Students study the growth of the Phoenix area using geographic images, maps, tables, and graphs. They study the idea of community.