Students examine the three primary colors of light and design a numerical code to represent those colors. They tell how satellites use numbers to create satellite images after completing a number of experimental activities.

Drawn by promises of fertile land, thousands of settlers poured West because of the Homestead Act of 1862. By examining images of the ads that drew them westward, learners consider the motivations for movement. They also consider how the...

Analyzing and interpreting satellite data takes knowledge and patience. Through a detailed lab investigation, young scholars learn the process of analyzing this data. They use technology to create color images and maps from real...

Artists working in different media often explore the same themes—to model how these same themes weave their way through different forms of artistic expression, scholars analyze images by Dorothea Lange, identifying key themes in her...

Travel the world with the First Lady!  Academics study images from Pat Nixon's travels as First Lady to discover her role in Richard Nixon's presidency. Historians match images to world locations, complete a worksheet, and...

The Industrial Revolution: long hours, low pay, and unsafe conditions. An eye-opening activity explores the darker side of industry and exposes the realities of child labor with photos. Scholars view four photos from the famous...

Young archeologists discover the significance of ordinary objects from the past in an interesting lesson on artifact analysis. The activity focuses on examining the image of a powder horn from the Revolutionary War to understand what it...

Uncle Sam wants you to integrate the military! The activity uses images and documents to help scholars understand the integration of African Americans into the mainstream military. Academics analyze a series of military photos and...

The legacy of President Lincoln continues to endure. Scholars view images of three statues that have been created to honor President Lincoln. Academics analyze the three images and share their findings in a group discussion format. Young...

A captivating activity uses images to help pupils understand the life of President Eisenhower. Scholars put the images in chronological order and read the captions to get a better understanding of the war hero turned president. 

Your young historians will compare and contrast the details of the American flag today with an an image of the nation's flag from the post-Civil War era, and identify the flag's importance as a national symbol through analysis...

Create a history of car sales. Pupils create a histogram/bar graph to show the number of car sales made during the week. Using the data display, learners calculate numerical summaries of the data and find the percent of cars sold during...

See how your data stacks up. Pupils stack crates of oranges in increasing order, creating a simple bar graph. Using the graph, individuals determine measures of center and describe the shape of the distribution. Scholars determine what...

Seeing is believing when it comes to climate change. An informative activity explores the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its efforts to document environmental issues with photographs. Academics match images...

An activity uses images of George Washington's statues to compare how they represent different aspects of his life. Scholars complete a worksheet based on their findings and then share as a group how they would construct a new memorial...

Uncle Sam wants you to follow the food pyramid! Scholars analyze two images of propaganda posters the government created to promote the food pyramid. Academics complete a worksheet to understand the impact of the campaign and end the...

Women rose to the challenge when the nation's war effort called them—but were sent home when the GIs came back from World War II. Young historians consider whether the United States valued women's contributions during the war using a...

How reliable is a painting of the first Thanksgiving if it was created 300 years after the fact? Learners assess the validity of a primary source image to determine what it can actually reveal about this event. 

How is sea coral like a thermometer? Part three of a six-part series from NOAA describes how oceanographers can use coral growth to estimate water temperature over time. Life science pupils manipulate data to determine the age of corals...

The school lunch program is rooted in the struggles of the Great Depression and is still assisting families today. Academics research documents and images relating to the creation of the school lunch program. Scholars use a worksheet to...

Sometimes, a picture really does say it all. The activity uses a picture of astronaut Sally Ride to help elementary academics make observations and form conclusions. Young historians study the picture, complete short written prompts, and...

Which gender spends more time playing video games? Your classes use provided data to answer this question. They first build a two-sided stem-and-leaf plot and then use the display to look for patterns. Guiding questions help them...

Explication may sound like a fancy word, but it's just a fancy way to say analysis. Using a handout on poetry explications, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, writers learn how to break down and analyze a poem. The...

Long before the civil rights movement, leaders were working to secure equal rights. An informative activity explains the 1922 anti-lynching campaign with a map. Scholars analyze the map, complete a worksheet, and participate in group...