Students explore Carnival. In this Puerto Rico Carnival lesson, students discover the history of the cultural celebration as well as the significance of the elaborate masks worn for the festivities. Students create their own Carnival masks.

Students read articles about various agricultural products and create a map using the statistics in the article.  In this agricultural statistics instructional activity, students look at the geography of the country and which...

Students examine the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. They discover the role of religion and cultural identity in the war in Afghanistan. They explore the arguments for and and against...

Students discover pictures are worth a thousand smiles. In this early childhood language arts instructional activity, students use their growing powers of observation and language skills to get to know their classmates.

Students discover how a zip code is used. In this zip code lesson, students use the parts of a zip code to find where a letter is going, then find the first number of zip codes based on geographic regions.

Fifth graders discover the history of their hometown Des Moines River.  In this U.S. Geography lesson students speak with Iowans that tell stories of the settlers and early villages near the Des Moines River.  Students document...

Fifth graders research physical and cultural features of a place. They practice skills in gathering information from various sources, using tools such as graphic organizers, word processing, multimedia, and use of the Internet.

Students discover ways to conserve energy in their homes.  In this energy efficiency instructional activity students analyze a set of data and design a solution that results in higher energy efficiency.

Eighth graders research Puerto Rico's culture, religion, language, government, etc. and identify differences and similarities with the United States. They participate in a debate about whether or not Puerto Rico should become a state.

Students investigate the public school system in Gary, Indiana in 1913. They determine how the school system changes according to individual and group needs.

Preteens review the five themes of geography. In groups, they examine the United States and Turkey to discover how geography can impact the way people live. They create a foldable for each country, listing information for each of the...

Seventh graders examine the characteristics of philanthropists.  In this cross- curricular lesson, 7th graders evaluate the character traits of people from a film. Students write a metaphor about responsibility to community.

Students study and explore the Homestead strike and locate where the events took place.  In this investigative lesson students use several perspectives to write an objective newspaper article on the event. 

Fifth graders discover where and why groups of people colonized and settled in the United States by building their own colonies. Using Kidpix, have students make a poster persuading all the other students to come live in their colony.

First graders discuss the history of rice. In this rice history activity, 1st graders discover who first planted rice and its role in the health of several countries today. They draw a ship loaded with rice. 

Students discover that they are part of bigger and bigger groups. They begin with families and work up to belonging to North America as they initiate a study of the whole country.

Pupils examine why people move from one country or area to another. Using photographs, they analyze the culture and lifestyles of people pictured in the image. They research and explain the daily experiences of the settlers to discover...

Young scholars create a KWHL chart as a pre-reading strategy. In this graphic organizer lesson, students communicate their background knowledge before reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Young scholars continue to construct their KWHL...

Learners discover how floods occur by visiting the Weather Channel's website. They examine the areas of the United States which are more vulnerable for flooding. They research the history of previous floods and how to protect themselves.

Students discover where the food they eat comes from. Using maps, they identify the agricultural areas of the United States and the products that are grown in each area. Using the internet, they research how food gets to America from...

Students identify artifacts discovered from the exploration of the Jamestown fort in order to help them create a short fictional account about the lives of Jamestown's first inhabitants. In this history lesson, students research the...

What a skillful way to incorporate Shel Silverstein, a wonderful author, into the classroom. Composed of three tasks, children are led through a series of text-dependent questions that force them to unveil the meaning of Silverstein's...

Young scholars develop a graphic way of visualizing the concept of a million by utilizing what had happened to the Nashua River due to the dumping of raw sewage in 1962.

Students research how water is used to generate electricity. They investigate water's potential-to-kinetic energy transfer in hands-on activities about falling water and waterwheels. They take measurements, calculate averages and graph...