National Gallery of Canada
Build a City of the Future!
Tap into your pupils' imagination by asking them to design futuristic, ideal cities. They must discuss and take scale and size into account, looking at some model pieces of art for inspiration and analysis. The final product for each...
Skyscraper Museum
Changes in a City Over Time
Investigate the growth and development of New York City with the final lesson in this four-part series on skyscrapers. Learners first explore the concept of urban growth by looking closely at a series of three paintings made of Wall...
Curated OER
Create the Ideal City
Students examine the significance of city planning. They analyze maps, develop a crossword puzzle using vocabulary terms, and create a diagram of an ideal city and describe the features that make it healthy for the economy, the...
Smithsonian Institution
A Ticket to Philly—In 1769: Thinking about Cities, Then and Now
While cities had only a small fraction of the population in colonial America, they played a significant role in pre-revolutionary years, and this was certainly true for the largest city in the North American colonies: Philadelphia. Your...
Curated OER
Sim's Cities
Students investigate city management and government by creating a fictional city in groups. In this civics activity, students create rules and a mascot for their fictitious city which they create from poster board cubes. Students...
Curated OER
Valentine City
Students construct a small city on a table in the classroom. Each student is given a lot to develop. They give directions from one location to another, and write letters with correct addresses to their classmates.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Planning and Money Management: Financial Plan
More planning goes into a budget than a high schooler thinks. Here, they learn about the expected expenses and incomes, along with outside factors such as natural disasters. Learners prepare their own budget and adjust it based on the...
Curated OER
Kid City, USA
What a model community would look like? Get your kids talking with an activity that allows them to create their own town. After printing out a "fold out village," groups of young scholars use a variety of resources to help them build an...
Nature Works Everywhere
Sustainable Cities
Investigate aspects of sustainable cities and relate them to where you live! A detailed lesson plan first investigates the definition of sustainability. Learners then explore human impact on the environment and social justice. Their...
Curriculum Development Institute
Life in the Greek City-States: Athens and Sparta
Developing lessons that address the diversity found in the 21st-century classroom can be a challenge. A plan about life in the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta provides a model for how instruction can be differentiated to address...
Curated OER
Farms And Cities
Students differentiate the differences of living on a farm or in a city. They do this with the use of coloring pictures and have group discussion about each picture to identify characteristics and identify where the picture is from. The...
Curated OER
Effects of Urban Growth
Learners explore population growth in the United States and the impact it has had on society. First, they brainstorm the reasons for population growth and the results of these increases. Then, they design surveys, record results, and...
Curated OER
Air Pollution in Mexico City
A fantastic lesson on urban air pollution problems throughout the world is here for you. Learners understand that there are many factors involved in creating pollution, that there are many health effects brought on by air pollution, and...
Curated OER
Safe In the City
Students read a news article about the most dangerous cities in the United States. In groups, they develop a plan to present to the city council to improve the situation in their own community. They examine how the media presents the...
Curated OER
Safe In the City
Students read a report about the most dangerous cities in America. Using the internet, they research their own community in regards to how safe it is. They interview local law enforcement and determine the degree of local danger. They...
Curated OER
A City Council Meeting
Here is an interesting plan for introducing your pupils to the workings of the local city council. The teacher must go videotape a city council meeting in it's entirety. Learners watch the tape, and discuss what they observed from the...
Curated OER
What is Public Use?
Explore the Fifth Amendment by examining the meaning of "public use" as learners read a scenario and role play their assigned parts to determine "public use." They also read Supreme Court Cases regarding the amendment and present their...
Curated OER
Fun Field Trip Funding Ideas
Whether it's a lack of funds or lack of time, check out these great ideas for getting creative with field trips.
Curated OER
New York City Delights: The Taxi Cab
You set the rate! Step into the shoes of a taxi driver in New York City, and also pretend to be a person who uses taxis to get around town. The class will conduct collaborative research to learn about the history of taxis. Then, they...
American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—Fifth Grade
Young citizens construct an understanding of urban planning in this cross-curricular unit. Covering every aspect of city development from the political, economic, and social influences to sustainable building practices, this 10-lesson...
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Elements of Music—How do Composers Plan?
The introduction to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and the finale of his Symphony No. 4 provide young musicians with an opportunity to investigate the music elements composers employ to develop the themes they want to create. They compare the...
Bonneville
A Plan for Renewable Energy Goals
The best laid plans can lead to meeting renewable energy goals. A culminating project for the unit has pupils research the amount of solar and wind energy at their locations. They set renewable energy goals and use the information they...
Curated OER
Adapting the Game Concentration
I love classroom games, and this plan deftly describes how you can use the game Concentration across the curriculum to reinforce skills. I wish I would have thought of this when I was teaching this age level. These kinds of games are...
Curated OER
City People, City Stories
Students create fictional inhabitants to scale for a place called 'Box City'. They develop stories and personalities to go with the created people, share the stories with the class and write a newspaper for their city.