Seventh graders study frontier forts. In this Kansas history activity, 7th graders research the history and conditions of Fort Leavenworth, Fort Scott, Fort Riley, Fort Larned, and Fort Hays. Students write letters from the...

Class members investigate The Indian Removal Act of 1830, U.S. Theft of Mexican Territory Timeline, and President Abraham Lincoln’s letter to Horace Greeley, 1862, and then conduct a mock trial of each of these documents to determine...

Young scholars discuss the different kinds of faults in the earth's crust and examine photos of the San Adreas Fault. Working in groups, they experiment with fault making by placing fabric in a pan and filling the inside with wet dirt....

Students compare and contrast African-American, Asian-American, Chicano and Native-American movements with the civil rights movement and are exposed to the sociopolitical and economic factors involved in the rise of social movements.

Fifth graders analyze a landscape depicting Yosemite during the time of the Wild West. They compare their perceptions of the West from film and television to this representation. They observe the use of scale and color to depict size and...

Students investigate the basic parts of plant and that plants are living things which require water, air, light and nutrients for survival. They do this through a series of scientific experiements and multi-curricular hands-on activities.

Students read My Name is America about the Donner Party journey and create a scrapbook of what they read. In this Donner Party lesson plan, students also map out the journal they read about.

Third graders study the history, etiquette and different flags of the U. S. At the same time they make decisions, compromises and value other persons opinion as they work in small cooperative groups.

Learners explore the differences between food webs and food chains.  In this wetland lesson students play a food web game and go on a scavenger hunt. 

Fifth graders choose a topic they are interested in related to the history of Utah. Using the internet, they research the topic making sure to cite where they gathered the information and take notes. To end the lesson plan, they write...

Students recall their knowledge of Native American people who lived in the West and reflect on how their perspectives differed from pioneers and argonauts of the 19th century.

Students learn the history of the Mormons and are able to explore items made during the Mormon era by creating their own by hand. In this Mormon Era lesson, students create covered wagons, can lanterns, candles and sourdough bread as...

Students study the gray whale migration and compare their populations to the increasing ocean temperature.  In this whale watcher lesson students draw a food chain.

Students, working in pairs, use maps to determine the most efficient routes between two cities. They research which route would have been used by early trailblazers. They present a first person account of one of the trailblazers place in...

Students practice combining sentences. In this writing instructional activity, students view essays and discuss how it can be revised, using sentence combining. Students practice this skill in their own essays.

Students contrast a weedy annual grassland of introduced species with an undisturbed, ancient plant community of native bunchgrasses and wildflowers.

Eleventh graders recognize how social reform occurred at the turn of the century. Through a debate, 11th graders determine advantages and drawbacks of traveling west using original sources and descriptions of the attitudes, beliefs, and...

Students research the Spanish explorations and North American geography. They create web pages based on their study.

Young scholars investigate the history of Kansas City and then create recipes from the area, including Kansas City Barbecue Sauce, and Kansas City Corn.

A series of lessons utilizing primary texts, including narratives, photographs, and maps, through which students explore the following question: "What motivated thousands of people to journey west during the 1800s?"

A instructional activity where learners take copies of their shoe prints, then create a story and illustrate it with pictures showing trails of footprints. Presented are samples of such trails that can be used to stimulate class...