With the stroke of a pen, Thomas Jefferson roughly doubled the size of the United States. The Louisiana Purchase not only grew the new country, but also it gave rise to the legends surrounding westward expansion and accelerated the...

Fifth graders investigate the routes taken by the early explorers. In this explorers lesson, 5th graders use interactive notebooks, discussion and maps to discover the routes taken. Students get into pairs and label maps, and create...

Students investigate several maps detailing Sir Francis Drake's voyages.  In this geography lesson, students practice reading maps and locating the precise locations of where Sir Francis Drake visited.  Students create an...

Chicago is one city, four neighborhoods, and countless nationalities. The lesson explores the ethnic division of Chicago in the early twentieth century. Academics read primary sources, analyze maps, and tour an online exhibit to...

Colonization, cartography, and circumnavigation. After reading a short article about early explorations, kids use the information provided to answer a series of comprehension questions.

Class members are transformed into explorers as they work in groups to locate hidden items and map their journey along the way. They then leave clues for other groups of students to follow, and ultimately discover how past explorations...

Students embark on a journey through colonial times.  In this early settlement lesson, students come to understand what life was like for the settlers in the early colonies. Students research and create projects illustrating their...

Youngsters gain ample reading comprehension practice while studying the history of Christopher Columbus with this great workbook! It includes word puzzles and comprehension checks of multiple assessment styles, including multiple choice,...

Ninth graders explore the historical perspective of nature and the environment.  In this American History lesson, 9th graders examine materials in a variety of formats to understand the contexts of America's concern for the...

Young scholars explore cardinal directions. In this social studies lesson, students create maps of home and school using the cardinal directions.

Students create a study guide on colonization of North America. In this American Colonization lesson, students complete a chart of explorers and their conquests. Students complete a crossword puzzle using explorer facts. Students read...

The class is engaged through a discussion of mapping. They determine what they believe makes a good map and what the essential elements of a map are. Students work independently to complete a worksheet on mapping. They follow clear...

Sail with Christopher Columbus on a biographical reading adventure. Young explorers learn about the life of Sir Columbus as they hone their comprehension skills through guiding questions, shared reading, and fluency practice. Included in...

Seventh graders explore the origins of baseball.  In this Geography lesson, 7th graders compare Korean baseball teams with other countries.  Students create a map of all the baseball teams around the world.

Sixth graders examine Ancient Greece and its development of democracy. In this Greek History activity, 6th graders explore the rise of city-states in Greece and its overall effect on the development of democracy. The class continues with...

Students explore U.S. history by researching a historic map. In this westward expansion lesson, students discuss the mystery of the western U.S. in the early 1800's and the impact expansion had on Native Americans and agriculture....

Third graders explore the importance of rice in our world. In this rice farming lesson, 3rd graders discover how much rice we use on a daily basis. Students also discover myths from other cultures about rice. Students color code a map of...

Tenth graders explore slavery in the U.S. by researching the web. In this U.S. history lesson, 10th graders identify the geography of Connecticut and the overall involvement the state had in the slavery process. Students view data of the...

Middle schoolers practice basic Internet navigation skills, find and summarize information on a Web site, and explore tenement life in the 19th and early 20th Century.

Students explore nature by researching the state of Florida. In this animal identification lesson, students read a children' story and research the Internet to discover the difference in animal life between the early 1900's and present...

Fifth graders explore the origins of slavery.  In this US History lesson plan, 5th graders create a map of the United States that shows where slavery existed.  Students examine the life of a Northern slave through the use of a...

Eleventh graders explore the Merchants of death thesis.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders explain the Neutrality Laws.  Students assess the overall effectiveness of US neutrality policy. 

Readers are introduced to some of the conflicts that arose over land and resources in the Americas in a two-part cross-curricular comprehension worksheet that asks kids to study the article and then to use information provided to...

Math scholars study conics and how they are used today. In this mathematical lesson plan, pupils construct and slice cones after viewing a demonstration.