Students examine the time in which the Puritans lived in colonial New England. In groups, they research the Puritans view on life and death and discuss as a class. They read gravestones, diaries and other primary sources to discover...

Eugenics philosophy takes survival of the fittest to a whole new level. With a research-focused lesson, young scientists examine the history of the eugenics movement and its impact on society. Pupils engage with a video clip, primary...

Discover colonies! Young historians will listen to a primary source journal entry read aloud with a backdrop of wave sounds. They discuss the entry, add historical facts to a chart and personal insights to another. Then they listen to...

What is more important: building a new school or preserving a nature reserve? Keeping a natural area clean or providing clean drinking water to a city of millions? Young scholars weigh these questions—almost literally—using an...

Take your classes back in time. Learners read real historical texts from both Darwin and Wallace as well as an announcement of their findings. Using guiding questions, they make inferences and draw conclusions from the information in the...

Students read primary source material about the Wrights' first flight such as a journal and a telegram. For this The Wrights' Flight lesson, students select the most reliable primary source and compare the pros and cons of using primary...

Pollution has been an issue since the advent of stratified society. Learners will read this excerpt from Hugh Miller's The Old Red Sandstone (1841) then answer two document-analysis questions. 

When Captain John Smith visited the Chesapeake Bay in the summer of 1608, what types of animals and habitats did he encounter? Your young historians will analyze primary source documents to answer this question, as well as compare...

A red delicious apple tree with a simple mutation means we now benefit from the existence of golden delicious apples. Learn how simple mutations change genetic information in DNA sequences. Using biographies, videos, and animations,...

Do the ends justify the means? Getting a drug approved in the US is a long and involved process. But at some point out, it involves testing on humans. The ethics of such testing is the focus of a resource that uses Dr. Albert...

What is the difference between a form of energy and a source of energy? This first activity in a series of 19 lessons uses demonstrations and discussions to introduce energy to the class. Through using hand-generator flashlights,...

Should wilderness areas be preserved or managed? Class members examine primary source documents, including lecture notes, articles, essays and congressional records to better understand the Hetch Hetchy controversy that created a split...

Covering 23% of the continent and holding 64,900 cubic kilometers of water, the Great Artesian Basin is the primary source of water for much of inland Australia. Using detailed student worksheets, experiments, and case studies,...

Feel the pull of science! The final installment of this 18-part series is an application of everything learned in the previous high school lessons. Scholars are given a magnetic field map and must propose an arrangement of magnets that...

Very few universities still offer a master's degree in the ecology of grasses, but that was the degree that led George Wells Beadle to an interest in genetics and later a Nobel Prize. Scholars learn about the discoveries of Dr. Beadle...

Does natural light damage or repair DNA? Learn the answer discover the scientists who researched the topic with an online interactive. Scholars read through an online animation presenting the content at their own pace. Then, they read...

Why are so many inherited diseases more prevalent in populations of specified races? Scholars learn about pedigrees and genetics using a reading, an animation, primary sourced letters, a short video, a biography, a guided practice...

Students draw on their previous studies of American history and culture as they analyze primary sources from Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s - 1960s in American Memory. A close reading of two documents relating to...

Students explore the concept of global warming. In this climate change lesson, students explore the provided links to PBS NOW sources and research the greenhouse effect and the effects of global warming. Students support their...

Middle schoolers explore who has photographed war and why. They examine Mathew Brady's process for photgraphing the Civil War. Students investigate how photographic equipment has changed and improved through time. They analyze primary...

Learners investigate primary sources from Carlisle Indian School including letters and photographs.  In this investigative lesson students answer questions about their research.

A two-part lesson introduces young historians to the work of famous African American inventors. Groups first research and develop a presentation of an inventor that includes biographical information and information about one of their...

Glide into the study of flight. An engaging lesson has scholars research information on the Wright brothers. They develop props and produce a recreation of the first flight at Kitty Hawk. They then report on the event as if they were...

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