Curated OER
Cyberspace Safari
Middle schoolers go on an information gathering hunt on the Internet to study West African empires. They work in teams; meteorologists, bankers, writers, and archaeologists. They collect data on all sorts of topics related to West...
Fremont Unified School District
4th Grade California Relief Map Project
Bring life to your next California geography lesson with this great project! Learners design a three-dimensional wall relief map of California, painting and decorating regions using a variety of materials and labeling major geographical...
Curated OER
Africa Test Study Guide
In this Africa study guide worksheet, students respond to 27 short answer questions about the geography and history of the continent.
Curated OER
Studying the States!!!
Students explore the fifty states of America. They also learn the capitals and locations of the states. They also study the population, mottos, flags, and interesting historical facts about each state.
Annenberg Foundation
Teaching Geography: Workshop 4—North Africa/Southwest Asia
Can Jerusalem be equitably organized? Can Israel and Palestine be successfully partitioned? Part one of a two-part workshop looks at the geo-political history of Jerusalem while Part two investigates Egypt's dependence of the Nile River...
K12 Reader
Eratosthenes: Geographer and Mathematician
Mathematicians can be famous, too! Introduce your class to Eratosthenes with a reading passage. After they complete the passage, learners respond to five questions, some of which require opinions and others reading comprehension skills.
Cheetah Outreach
Introduction to Cheetah
Transform your classroom into the African savannah, a mountain range, the forest, and an urban environment! Young scientists embark on an imaginary field study observing various cat species in native habitats and recording in field guides.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Zebrafish and Skin Color
You may not know if that zebrafish in your fish tank is a model citizen—but it is definitely a model organism! What can we learn about ourselves from a tiny zebrafish? Discover more about the polygenic trait of skin color through a...
Curated OER
Geography Awareness Week: Practice Mapping Skills
You won't get lost, after learning map skills during Geography Awareness Week.
Curated OER
Using Maps to Make Public Health Descisions Case Study: Harmful Algal Blooms in the Gulf of Mexico
Students are introduced to GIS and its uses. Students participate as public health scientists to deliberate a course of action to explore possible research questions. Pupils interpret spatial data, and make predictions based on GIS data,...
Curated OER
Some Things You Need to Know to Read a Map
Learners study things the you need to know to read a map and explain location.
Curated OER
Exploring the Hudson in 1609
While this lesson focuses on a study of the Hudson River, it could be used as a template for a discussion of map skills, converting measurements, and plotting a route. The lesson includes vocabulary and other resources to make it a...
Curated OER
Social Studies: Where I Come From
Young scholars research the countries of their origins and examine life there today. They write family travel logs by interviewing family members about their heritages, and they visit the Xpeditions Website for online resources about...
Curated OER
Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Landscape Long Ago and Today
Combine a fantastic review of primary source analysis with a study of Captain John Smith's influence on the Chesapeake Bay region in the seventeenth century. Your young historians will use images, a primary source excerpt, and maps...
Curated OER
What Can a Map Tell You?
Students investigate how maps can provide useful information about health issues. They study a map to draw conclusions about cholera death in London.
Curated OER
US City Quality of Life Analysis and Comparison
Students analyze US census data and criteria to compare and measure the quality of life in the country's fifty largest cities. After accessing the 2005 quality of life world report online, students conduct their study to compare three...
Scholastic
Perfect Postcards: California
It's time to hear about some adventures in travel! The Transcontinental Railroad changed life and travel in the United States during the 1800s. Practicing online research skills, pupils discover the features they would like to visit on...
Curated OER
Comparing Kwakiutl, Cheyenne and Navajo tribes
Third graders study the difference between the Kwakiutl, Cheyenne and Navajo tribes. They identify the people, resources, lifestyle and beliefs of the Kwakiutl, Cheyenne, and Navajo Indians. Afterward, they present their projects on each...
Channel Islands Film
Dark Water: Lesson Plan 2 - Grade 3
A discussion of bioluminescence launches an investigation of animal adaptations. After re-watching the opening minutes of Dark Water, class members listen to a reading of What Do You Do with a Tail Like This, and then create a new animal...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Debate Against Slavery
Slavery is a serious topic that can be challenging for middle schoolers to study. Young scholars can see firsthand through primary sources what occurred during that time period in the United States. The third of five lessons provides...
Library of Virginia
Life as an Enslaved People
As part of a study of slavery in the United States, class members analyze documents related to the sale of slaves. They consider not only the text of the bills of sale but also what the appearance of the broadsides suggest.
Dade Schools
Ancient Greece
What role does geography play in the development of a culture? How does ancient Greek culture still influence civilization today? These and other questions are explored in a unit study of Ancient Greece. The overview of the unit provided...
Pulitzer Center
The Crisis in the Ivory Coast
Through reading a variety of news articles and other informational texts, learners discover the political turmoil and intense ethnic and religious tensions that envelop the Ivory Coast today. Class members research the historical...
Owl Teacher
Five Themes of Geography Research Activity
Here is an activity worksheet that will prompt your young geographers to choose a country anywhere in the world to research and study, and to then apply it to the five themes of geography.