Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area
Life as a Pioneer
Students examine historical documents and research why early pioneers settled on the Iowa prairie. They review maps, describe the impact of railroading, describe life in pioneer times, and identify the effects of drought, prairie fire,...
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Drought
Students gain knowledge about the impact of drought in agriculture. They investigate soil types, water flow, and various erosion conditions which occur during a drought and see how farming practices changed after the 1930's.
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Equal Rights for Men?
Study the issue of gender bias in court cases with a resource that ponders the extent of gender equality. Learners examine cultural images of men and women and examine court cases dealing issues such as women in the military.
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Harvest the Wind
Wind is a natural resource available around the world. Help your pupils appreciate the power and importance of wind by researching wind farms, making pinwheels, and designing windmills.
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Acid Stomach
Students develop an understanding of how aspirin works and how understanding it's interaction with other chemicals in the body aided doctors in medical research. They complete a lab that compares the reaction of regular aspirin and...
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Dolores Huerta
Students examine the life of Dolores Huerta and her contributions to the development of labor unions. They read the book "Cesar Chavez: Triumph of Spirit," and in groups create a quiz, complete a Venn diagram, listen to a guest...
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Do You Really Know What Wealth Is?
Students examine what it means to have wealth-a concept that turns out to be philosophical as well as economic-and examine the importance of music. They examine the concepts of wealth in Mali and in the United States and consider the...
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Using Effective, Evocative Writing as a Model
Students analyze the author's style to learn techniques for strengthening their own writing. They re-read "Music in the Fields" and highlight images that create vivid pictures in their minds-places where Young "shows, not tells" and...
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American Inventors
In this nineteenth-century American inventors online interactive worksheet, students read paragraphs about Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Graham Bell and their inventions and answer comprehensive questions. Students...
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Urban Growth in America
Students examine urban growth in America. For this urbanization lesson, students watch segments of the Discovery video "Urban Growth in America." Students conduct further research pertaining to the industrial revolution, New York City's...
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The Three Branches of Government
Sixth graders discover details about the 3 branches of government. In this primary source analysis lesson, 6th graders examine documents and images from the Library of Congress to investigate the structure of the U.S. government.
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Pioneer America: Journey West
Fourth graders experience pioneer life on the Oregon trail. In this pioneer instructional activity, 4th graders research the reasons for moving west and what life was like on the trail. They create a map, complete an oral presentation,...
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Writing the Wind
Students make a windmill. For this wind lesson, students learn background information about the windmill, complete an activity where they create a windmill, discuss using wind as a natural resource and brainstorm other inventions...
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The Universe Has Room for Change
In this universe and change worksheet, students read about the demotion of Pluto as one of the 9 planets as well as other changes in science. Students summarize their reading and identify unfamiliar words in the article....
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Cartoons for the Classroom: Xenophobia
In this historical events worksheet, learners analyze an anti-immigration political cartoon and respond to 3 talking point questions.
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Getting Here from There
Young scholars role-play early 20th century immigrants on their way to Indiana. They consider the methods of travel available to them and write a letter to a friend outlining their travel plans and adventures during the trip.
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Organizers for Students
Learners . In this organization lesson, students have a general discussion about sports cards and make a chart to answer the questions. Learners read the baseball card story from USA Today. Students watch a web video about sports in New...
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The Frontier
Learners, given certain background information, list hardships that Laura Ingalls Wilder and other people that lived during the same time period went through. They interview someone who grew up in a different era than them.
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Spanish-American War
Pupils view a video called Battling Beyond the Borders about the Spanish-American War. They discuss the role of newspapers in the war and then analyze political cartoons of the time, writing explanatory sentences about them.
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Immigration in the United States
Pupils examine the reasons why people leave their country to live in another. In groups, they use print and electronic resources to answer questions about where immigrants came from during different time periods and advice given to...
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Extraordinary Women in the Great Plains
Eighth graders write what they predict were the roles women played in the Great Plains. Using the internet, they research and identify the roles they did play and use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast their predictions to the...
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Heritage: Going Into Business
Learners plan a transport business to run between Independence, Missouri and Salt Lake City, Utah between 1850-1860. They make and display a poster advertising their freight line. They show a picture of the vehicle, give the name of the...
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Who is Fit to Enter? The Immigrant Experience at Ellis Island
Students examine the purpose of Ellis Island. In this immigration lesson, students explore the operation of Ellis Island as they participate in a simulation that requires them to organize and handle immigrants coming into the United...
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Manifest Destiny Questions
In this Westward Expansion instructional activity, students respond to 7 short answer questions about America's vision of Manifest Destiny and its effects.