Turn your students into flocks of migratory birds for this fun lesson on animal migration. Prior to the activity, the teacher creates four different migration routes in the classroom or any available open space, labeling nesting...

Here is a unique resource to use with middle and high schoolers that deals with animal migration. Viewers discover the reasons for, types of, and animals that practice this behavioral adaptation. Specific animals that are introduced...

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...

Minnie Bruce Pratt's poem, "The Great Migration," offers young scholars an opportunity to reflect on how where we come from influences who we are. Groups conduct a close reading of the poem, recording observations about the poem's...

Panel 58 from Jacob Lawrence's "Migration Series" of paintings provides middle schoolers with an opportunity to sharpen their observation and analytical skills. After engaging in a warm-up activity that introduces the concepts of...

While humans have always been on the move, the period between 1400 and 1800 saw vast migrations of people between the East and the West. These migrations—whether through slavery or a desire to colonize new lands—shaped the modern world....

What causes people to move from one place, one city, or one country to another? Using the provided migration questionnaire, learners interview family members about the factors that cause them to be pushed from an area or pulled to...

Pastoralists and agrarians, livestock raisers and farmers. Using the conflict in Darfur as a lens, class members investigate the conflicts that arise when these groups are forced to migrate from one area to another.

It is easy for humans to adapt to changing environments, but how do animals and plants do it? Classes discuss how plants and animals deal with environmental changes in the second of seven lessons. Through questions and discussions,...

Bird migration is a fascinating behavior. Budding scientists experience their own migrations using the school grounds for their flight patterns. They follow a map that leads them through a migration pattern that includes stops for...

Humans have been on the move for millennia. Using an article from The Smithsonian, pupils chart human movement before written history on a world map. In addition, they examine the modes of transportation used by different waves of human...

What would make someone leave home and travel thousands of miles to find another one? Young historians look at letters, demographic data, and artwork to answer the question for the Great Migration, or the movement of thousands of African...

Raptor flight patterns align with seasonal changes in net primary productivity. Here is a thought-provoking lesson that uses empirical data from a video to help scholars understand raptor migrations, producers/consumers, and ecosystems....

Get the story straight. Scholars gather information about the Great Migration as they listen to a reading from Promises to Keep. They then examine the text to find evidence to support the feeling of resentment. Learners take part in...

Why would someone want to leave home? The age-old question is at the center of a thought-provoking activity. Scholars consider why humans move around the world both during pre-historical times and today using a PowerPoint, reading on...

While much of prehistory is cloaked in mystery, ancient ancestors left evidence in DNA, languages, and materials from their time. Using photographs of items such as cave paintings and ancient tools, as well as maps of linguistic patterns...

What do Jerry Yang, Patrick Ewing, John Muir, Charlize Theron, Peter Jennings, and Saint Frances X Cabrini all have in common? They are all immigrants to the United States. Famous and not-so-famous immigrants are the focus of a resource...

To gain a global perspective on immigration, groups investigate and create a map of the migration patterns in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Class members then examine the background, immigration history, and...

Some living things go to extreme measures to avoid the cold. A three-part activity guides learners through the migration of the monarch butterfly. After studying the life cycle of the monarch butterfly, pupils learn the process of...

Re-enact the flight of the pollinator. Pupils learn about the roles of butterflies, bats, and other pollinators in plant reproduction. The class acts out the migratory flight of Monarch butterflies and bats from the Sonoran Desert to...

Gain a deeper understanding of migratory pollinators. After studying about pollinators and their effects on flowering plants, learners hear a story about the migration of Monarch butterflies and bats in the Sonoma Desert. Small groups...

From days of 24 hour sunlight, to endless nights that last for days, the Arctic is a very unique place to live. Examine the seasonal changes that occur in the northern-most reaches of the globe and the impact they have on the plants and...

Class members continue their investigation of the factors that influence migration with a activity on human rights. As they examine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and selected US Constitutional Amendments, learners compare the...

A reading of Walter Dean Myers' "Harlem" sets the stage for studying the literature, art, and music of the Harlem Renaissance. The lesson begins with a review of the social, political, and economic conditions of the 1920s and 1930s that...