Students analyze and read historic photographs. In this historic photographs lesson, students explore history and writing by looking at photographs. Students discuss the photographs and produce a written record of the historical photograph.

Students read writings by Ralph Waldo Emerson to analyze transcendentalism and analyze photographic essays depicting environmental issues. In this art and history instructional activity, students read excerpts of Nature by Emerson to...

Learners explore the conditions that soldiers in conflict bear. In this war lesson, students analyze a photograph of an American soldier in Afghanistan. Learners discuss the power of images as well as the effects of exhaustion.

First graders investigate change by analyzing a photograph. In this scientific observation lesson plan, 1st graders view a photograph of a baby and attempt to memorize the details. Student view the photo a few minutes later, trying to...

Learners read poetry and a biography of poet Anne Carson as part of a creative writing lesson. In this poetry analysis lesson, students read about the poet, read her poetry, and analyze a photograph to then write a poem. Learners write...

Young scholars interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. For this research skills lesson, students research the job of reporting for new agencies during the American Civil War as they complete the...

Students use photographs to analyze the culture clash of Native Americans and arriving Colonists. In this loosing culture instructional activity, students will use primary sources to examine the cause and effect of the initial...

A picture really can speak a thousand words—no matter how old! Scholars become history detectives as they learn how to analyze historical photos and evidence to uncover the past. The fun hands-on activity makes history come alive through...

Have you ever wondered what your own World Order would look like? Scholars use primary and secondary documents as well as video clips to investigate and analyze the Cold War. Using the sources, the principles and practices of nations...

Women's lifestyles before the Civil War made a huge impact as a point of causation. Give middle schoolers the opportunity to view firsthand the lives of women before the Civil War. They analyze primary source documents, view photographs,...

Malcolm X was a complicated man that few in white America understood. After sharing what they know or think they know about this civil rights leader, about nationalism and Black Nationalism, class members view a two-part documentary...

Track the transformation of Malcolm Little into Malcolm X and then into El Jajj Malik El-Shabazz with the second part of Make it Plain, a documentary on the famous civil rights activist. Viewers consider not only how events shaped and...

A picture speaks a thousand words—no matter how old. The 18th installment of a 22-part series on the making of American history has scholars research the causes of the Great Depression and the factors of the New Deal. Using photographic...

Investigate and analyze Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation using primary and secondary sources. The sixth installment of an eight-part series analyzes the meaning of Lincoln's document in relation to its impact on the Civil...

What was daily life like for those attending segregated schools in 1925? Modern learners fill out a KWHL chart as they explore historical background and primary source documents about the Laurel Grove School in Fairfax County, Virginia....

Life in the great, wide-open spaces of the West! Scholars analyze the reasons behind the vast movement to the Great Plains after the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Homestead Act. Using photographic, document, map, video, and...

How do scientists determine what questions to ask to meet their research goals? Help your class develop an inquiry mindset with a lesson based on studies in the Gorongosa National Park. Partners create their own research questions by...

Have you ever wanted to do something so perfectly you wound up not doing it well at all? Young historians use primary and secondary documents to analyze the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The issues surrounding the...

The Olympics are about more than sports—at times, the games are also a place of racism and prejudice! Pupils investigate the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. They analyze the meaning behind the materials included in the United States...

Reading snail mail is a great way to go back into history and to understand others' points of view. The resource, the second in a five-part unit, covers the Dreyfus Affair. Scholars, working in two different groups, read one letter and...

More asthma attacks happen at higher altitudes, but why? Scholars complete worksheets, learning about homeostasis and feedback related to breathing. Then, they work in small groups to experiment with breathing in limited amounts of...

A lesson plan instills the importance of locating reliable sources. Scholars are challenged to locate digital sources, analyze their reliability, search for any bias, and identify frequently found problems that make a source unusable. 

Many people think the best solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a two-state solution. After reviewing the available resources, scholars determine whether they agree with that approach. They analyze graphs and charts about...

Plankton: so much more than just a SpongeBob character. Three different activities have kids looking at both phytoplankton and zooplankton in pictures, as well as collecting their own samples (depending on your access to a saltwater...