Capitalism, socialism, communism ... these may seem like a whole bunch of isms to your scholars. High schoolers won't  confuse them after completing an informative resource. Your class masters how to use primary sources to...

Walk in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark as they discover the wonders, beauty, and dangers of the American frontier. After gaining background knowledge about Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, young explorers use primary...

Students create a PowerPoint presentation and oral report on the history and future of flight. In this flight instructional activity, students work in small groups to research the history and future of flight. Students then write a...

This six-week unit encompasses all subjects with a focus study on world history and the development of ancient civilizations. As gifted and talented students dive into the interesting yet challenging topic of Egypt, they...

Class members investigate The Indian Removal Act of 1830, U.S. Theft of Mexican Territory Timeline, and President Abraham Lincoln’s letter to Horace Greeley, 1862, and then conduct a mock trial of each of these documents to determine...

Imagine having to give up cell phones, computers, and TV? What would be lost? What gained? An examination of the Drokpa, a nomadic people who live in the grasslands of Tibet, provides class members an opportunity to consider how access...

Oral history has brought a multitude of lessons, stories, and factoids to our current knowledge of the past. Let us continue to use oral history traditions through a lesson that encourages pupils to discover and appreciate...

Class members investigate the Jim Crow Laws, Executive Order 9066, the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the Indian Removal Act to gather information about not only the challenges encountered by diverse groups of Americans, but their...

Scholars research and present on the historical happenings of 1919. After sharing their findings, pupils debate about how Congress dealt with the moral issues of the time. The evaluation asks learners to write a persuasive...

Upper elementary and middle schoolers examine the role of Chinese immigrants in America. They investigate literature, history and cultures of Chinese-Americans. This ambitious plan takes two weeks to complete, and it brings in elements...

Using a variety of online resources, learners study life and society in California during the gold rush. They use a map to identify area where gold was located, explore pre-selected websites, describe mining practices, and create an...

Almost every ancient culture observed the stars and saw pictures in the patterns. Studying stars allowed them to guide travelers, determine when to plant crops, when to harvest food, and the stories surrounding the images include some of...

The lesson guides young academics through the steps in producing a 10-page research paper on any topic in American history. Historians begin by formulating a thesis and gathering resources, then move on to creating an outline, and end...

Class members research citizenship in Ancient Rome and in the United States and use the provided graphic organizers to compare the rights and responsibilities of citizens in these two democracies.

As part of a study of immigration law, class members read a summary of the Supreme Court case, Arizona v. United States. They then examine a series of examples and acting as federal court judges, must determine if the scenarios...

Students examine a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries, to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the...

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take your class on an underwater adventure. The final installment in a seven-part series involving salt and freshwater bodies takes junior oceanographers below the surface in...

Third graders study the difference between the Kwakiutl, Cheyenne and Navajo tribes. They identify the people, resources, lifestyle and beliefs of the Kwakiutl, Cheyenne, and Navajo Indians. Afterward, they present their projects on each...

As an assessment of their skill in crafting a compare and contrast essay, class members read and compare the portrayals of nature in excerpts from naturalist John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierra and from poet Emily Dickinson's...

Scholars read excerpts from the story, Heidi, in a three-part assessment that focuses on comparing and contrasting characters. Each part contains three tasks that challenge learners to discuss, answer comprehension...

The Olympic Games are indeed a significant and far-reaching cultural component in our international community today, but from where do they originate? Where do our traditions stem from, and how do we choose the sports that constitute...

After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, watching the movie Life is Beautiful, and researching World War II, class members write a comparison essay on the book and film. This includes a prior knowledge activity, discussion in whole and small...

What if you had no choice but to leave everything behind and seek asylum elsewhere? Do countries have an obligation to accept refugees? To gain an understanding of the complexity of the issues of refugee rights, class members first...

Class members explore cultural diversity through a variety of texts that showcase the importance of traditions. Then, they interview their family members to research their own cultural background and write their findings on quilt...