Students examine interactions between Native Americans and settlers. In this Westward Expansion instructional activity, students analyze select passages from Plains Indians by Dana Newmann and The World of Native Americans by Marion...

In this westward expansion worksheet, students fill out a graphic organizer of predictions and short answers of how land was acquired in the United States. Students do this for 6 land territories.

In this Westward Expansion activity, students read assigned textbook pages which describe  Manifest Destiny and respond to 33 short answer questions.

In this Westward Expansion activity, students respond to 7 short answer questions about America's vision of Manifest Destiny and its effects.

Looking for a comprehensive resource to accompany Western Civilizations, 16th edition? This site follows the text with online response tools such as chapter quizzes, interactive maps, focus questions, and flash cards. Chapter 4 focuses...

Improve your pupils' language skills with these discussions and activities. There are four topics included here, and each is paired with discussion prompts (small group and whole class), student handouts, and teacher notes. After...

The fourth installment of the seven-lesson unit focused on African Americans elected to and serving in the US Congress looks at the period from 1971 through 2007. Class members read a contextual essay that provides background information...

From the Louisiana Purchase to the Spanish-American War, the history of the United States is intertwined with the story of Hispanic Americans. Using an article about Hispanics in Congress during the 1800s, learners research their lives...

To be Puerto Rican, in the words of one politician, is to be "foreign in a domestic sense." Young historians consider the American role in colonialism and its impacts on Hispanic Americans through the first part of the twentieth century...

In this expansions learning exercise, students use area to solve expansions of brackets problems. There are 4 of this type, each problem having less guidance than the previous. The second activity asks students to solve magic square...

Students analyze a 20th century photograph of a Los Angeles landscape and examine the population expansion of L.A. They discuss the principles of design, complete a worksheet, and write a research paper on overpopulation in Los Angeles.

Students explore U.S. territorial expansion. In this Louisiana Purchase instructional activity, students investigate how the purchase was funded and determine how diplomatic actions were part of the land transfer. Students analyze...

For this American foreign policy worksheet, students respond to 20 essay questions about expansionism in the country during the 20th century.      

The move West was greatly effected by the first transcontinental railroad. Present your class with well-organized information regarding major causes, players, and effects the railroad had on the face of an expanding America. Note: A...

Students write 1-4 sentence answers to the Time Travel worksheet (available online). They design period costumes, orally present their perspectives to the rest of the class, and explain why this war played an important role in the...

You can't truly understand the present until you understand the past. Bring a historical context to you next social studies class with an exceptional presentation on the ancient Arab and Islamic empires of Umayyad and Abbasid. Slides...

Young scholars make connections between changes in voting participation and the election of 1828, and describe regional factors evidenced by the voting results of the election of 1828.

Seventh graders examine and read an article.  For this investigative lesson students discuss questions about the article and complete an activity. 

Students analyze primary and secondary source documents to help them describe the cooperation and conflict that existed among the American Indians and new settlers. Then, students analyze the purpose, challenges, and economic incentives...

In this American foreign policy worksheet, students respond to 2 essay questions about expansionism in the country during the 20th century.    

Students discuss the importance of establishing the I & M Canal water route. They watch a video about the canal's history. They collect and write a personal migration story by interviewing a family member. They analyze trends and...

Sixth graders research the history of the transcontinental railroad. They use advertising propaganda techniques to design and create a poster encouraging people to explore the West by rail.

Students read about and discuss the reasons European countries were interested in the Ohio Valley. They complete a puzzle to review vocabulary and watch a video on the Illinois Prairie and the I & M Canal. They rewrite the historical...

Students analyze Mark Twain's "Western" voice. In this literature lesson, students read Roughing It by Twain and watch "The West." Students examine Twain's history and compare it to the history of America's developing West. Students...