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Maple Syrup Production
Students examine the steps of maple sugar production and the labor and effort involved from the tree to the final product. They participate in a taste test game, and if they have access to maple trees, make their own syrup and sugar.
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Economic Use of Public Natural Areas
Young scholars examine the public controversy between the use of public natural areas for economic activities by viewing video clips, researching on the Internet, and calculating sustainable land.
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Floods: Rising Waters and You
Students examine the relationship between human-made structures, flood waters and the increasing population through video clips, websites and a lab experiment.
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Co-evolution of Plants and Pollinators
Pupils, while studying the rolls of pollinators and plants, explore co-evolution of mutualistic relationships.
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Non Native Species: English Ivy-Landscape Plant or Deadly Killer?
Learners examine an area overrun by English Ivy. They explore how invasive species affect an ecosystem. They also study about the lack of biodiversity and how to measure it out in the field.
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Volcanoes:How Safe Are They?
Young scholars explore volcanoes, locate them on maps, record general information about volcanoes, and organize information on a fact sheet.
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Celebrating Benjamin Franklin
Students explore various websites featuring the life and achievements of Benjamin Franklin. They investigate Franklin's roles in colonial society as well as pictures of his various inventions. They view excerpts of historical documents...
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Fire and Fire Suppression
Students explore forest fires and forest service's new stategies. They study a case of natural burn and the impact of lowering the intensity of a larger forest fire.
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The Former Yugoslavia
High schoolers examine the conflict between the Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo. They define ethnic cleansing, read and discuss handouts, apply the three elements of ethnic conflict to the Kosovo Crisis of 1998-99, conduct research, and...
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To Come to Illinois - Or Not?
Students analyze primary documents to determine whether the author is pro- or anti-emigration. They outline reasons for or against immigration to Illinois during the early 19th century.
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Money Talks
Students move from fact finding to interpretation as they examine paper money from the time of the American Revolution. In the final exercise, they use the issue dates of the bills to construct a chronology of political changes during...
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Native Species Restoration and its Impact on Local Populations
High schoolers watch video clips of ecosystems and answer questions relating to them.
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Possible Locations
Middle schoolers create maps with cutout pieces of paper that represent caverns. They develop a scale for their map and decide where the best location is to live. They discover the importance of map reading skills.
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Scaling the Map
Learners practice determining map distances using the map scales. They discover how much an area represents on the map in relation to the actual area. They decide on the best place to build their cavern.
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Colonial Quilt Quest
Students identify key events and people from Colonial America.
Students identify key factors of daily life in Colonial America.
Students gather and use information for research purposes.
Students create candles in groups following the...
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Volcanoes: How Safe Are They?
Young scholars explore the most dangerous volcanoes on Earth, plot their locations, and research different volcanic hazards.