Grab your feathers and your hat! And perhaps some macaroni! It's time to investigate the evolution of "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Groups do a close reading of sheet music covers, lyrics, and even YouTube videos to see how this political song...

Keep track of a state's population. After a brief discussion on how population data is used for funding, individuals look at population changes over time. Pupils find the population of two states using three different censuses. They then...

Close the unit on Esperanza Rising with an in-class analytic essay on how Esperanza changes over the course of the novel. Writers can use any of their notes and work from the unit as well as their drafts of the first two paragraphs of...

Planes, trains, and automobiles. How many ways to travel are there? Scholars learn about modes of transportation in the past and how they have changed over time. Budding historians view a timeline, participate in group discussion, and...

What better way to make predictions about future weather and climate patterns than with actual climate data from the past? Young climatologists analyze data from 400,000 to 10,000 years ago to determine if climate has changed over...

In order to understand how the land changes over time because of the people who live there, learners interview an elderly person about the past. Children ask an older family member to describe what the local area was like when they were...

Chicago, a city that is ever changing. A thought-provoking lesson, geared toward third-grade social studies, explains how the city of Chicago has changed over time. It discusses important leaders to the founding of the city, like Daniel...

Investigate the growth and development of New York City with the final instructional activity in this four-part series on skyscrapers. Learners first explore the concept of urban growth by looking closely at a series of three paintings...

America has always been seen as a melting pot to the world. Scholars research the concept of blending cultures in the United States and how it is changing over time. The final lesson of a four-part series analyzes the changing...

Math and medicine go hand-in-hand. After viewing several infographics on historical adult obesity rates, pupils consider how they have changed over time. They then use percentages to create a new graph and write a list of questions the...

Fifth graders work in small groups to compile job changes. They use data from the list of changes that the group generated together. Students analyze the data to determine: categories of changes, patterns or trends of changes, and future...

Hedgerows prevent soil erosion, capture pollutants running off fields, store carbon to help combat climate change, and provide homes for predators of many pest species. The biodiversity lesson begins with an activity that...

Engage further in Esperanza Rising with a focus on close reading and metaphor. Class members zero in on the tenth chapter, examining characters and big ideas. Pupils discuss the text in small groups and as a whole class, and...

Climate change. Assault weapons ban. Death penalty. And the list goes on. So many issues are part of a US presidential election that it can be hard to determine a candidate's position on a particular topic and whether their position has...

America: a nation that continues to change. Budding historians analyze primary sources to understand the key ideas of the American Revolution and how the country has changed over time. Scholars read text from the Declaration of...

The struggle for women's rights is not unique to this generation, or even to the 20th century. Class members explore the conflicting opinions of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, Mabel Hubbard Bell, regarding women's pursuits of higher...

Learners explore how the human brain changes over time, comparing an interactive web page about brain development to a text-only version. Additionally, pupils continue reading an article about teen decision making, analyzing the main...

Look at climate change around the world using graphical representations and a hands-on learning simulation specified to particular cities around the world. Using an interactive website, young scientists follow the provided...

How has Earth changed over time? Pupils explore the topic in a differentiated instruction unit on the geological time scale. After a pre-assessment to gauge knowledge, class members divide into groups based on their ability levels and...

Resource links to a video, satellite images, data, and photographs of glaciers provide emerging earth scientists the opportunity to examine how the ice has been retreating over the years. A data table is included for pupils to record...

Get your class outside to observe their surroundings with a instructional activity highlighting weather patterns and seasonal changes. First, learners take a weather walk to survey how the weather affects animals, people, plants, and...

Today, many young people find it hard to understand why it took over 150 years for women in the United  States to get the right to vote—why there was even a need for the suffrage movement. As they read a series of primary source...

Is it really that big of a deal if the global climate undergoes a little change? Young environmentalists consider this very question as they discuss in small groups the impact of different climate change scenarios on their lives,...

The courage of Las Mariposas, the Mirabal sisters, is the focus of a series of activities designed to accompany a reading of In the Time of the Butterflies that ask readers to consider what it means to be courageous. Beautifully crafted...