Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rising Temperatures Threaten Penguins

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students examine the continent of Antarctica, then read a news article about the decline in the Antarctic penguin population. In this current events instructional activity, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

International Festival: Venezuela

For Teachers K
Students become familiar with the Venezuelan culture and geography.  For this Venezuelan Festival lesson, students compare and contrast themselves to the people of Venezuela.  Students participate in activities to understand...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sense of Place

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students identify the major folk regions of Louisiana and the relationship between folklife, geography, and ecology. They give deeper thought to what makes their own community unique, what their sense of place actually is. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Louisiana Regional Foodways

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students strengthen their research techniques in locating, selecting, and synthesizing information from a variety of texts, media, references and internet resources to study regional food way traditions in Louisiana. They assess the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lake Tahoe Then and Now

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students investigate the differences in Lake Tahoe from the past to the present. In this geography lesson, students read the book Washoe Seasons of Life and identify the descriptions of the land and lake. Students create a Venn diagram...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bushy Run: A Decisive Battle of Pontiac's Rebellion

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students study the battle at Bushy Run. In this Pontiac's Rebellion lesson, students examine an 1765 map of the Bushy Run battle as well as letters and a modern topographic map of the area in order to simulate the event and research how...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Dip Felt Around the World

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students share their opinions about a story about a sudden decline in China's stock markets. After reading an article, they identify the global impact of China's falling stock markets. They create a cause and effect map about the fall...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Dawn of Humanity

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students investigate recent archaeological challenges to theories of human origins. They research the history and geography of various African regions to create proposals for future excavations.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water: The Flow of Women's Work

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students view photographs, read, and reflect on their own environments to gather information about gender roles in Lesotho and the United States. Students role-play gender role related scenarios and write about their reflections on the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Strawberry Girl: Lesson 3 - Trains, Sails, and Trails

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Learners read two chapters of Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski and complete activities about Florida's transportation history. In this literacy and economics lesson, students read two chapters of the book, talk about their journal entries,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Clever Monkey Rides Again

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students explore a West African folktale. For this folktale lesson, students read the book The Clever Monkey Rides Again and discuss the trickster characters from the tale. Students participate in a discussion about the folktale and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dante's Inferno

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine Dante's trip through Hell. In this literature lesson, students read The Inferno and then collaborate to discuss moral redemption and create their own maps of Hell based on the poem. Written descriptions are required to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reporter's Notebook

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students research the geography and history of a major city in Iraq. They write a journal from the perspective of a war correspondent stationed in that city.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

LAND USE ISSUES

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Students relate math with real life situations. They identify and plot points on a grid map. They identify and locate the Drop Box Sites.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Book: First Encounters Between Spain and the Americas: Two Worlds Meet

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Young scholars, after reading Chapter 1 in the book, "First Encounters Between Spain and the Americas: Two Worlds Meet," design and create a map of the Aztec Empire at the time of the first contract with the Spanish. They create the map...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

You're Invited to a Ceili: Exploring Irish Dance

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students recognize a Ceili as an Irish dance of celebration and investigate Ireland while studying the dance.  In this Irish dance instructional activity, students search the geography of Ireland, read poetry, identify costumes,...
Lesson Plan
Learning to Give

Africa - The Great Southland

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Applying the five themes of geography, preteen explorers develop a visual aid for younger learners in celebration African American History Month. They investigate the political, geographic, economic, and social aspects of the continent...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Countries of Africa

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate the different countries of Africa. In this African geography lesson, students choose an African country to investigate and construct the country's flag. Students use a map of Africa to color in their country.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Why Koala Has A Stumpy Tail

For Teachers K
Students examine Australian folktales. In this folktales lesson, students read the Australian folktale, Why Koala Has a Stumpy Tale. Students list characteristics of the characters from the book. Students act out these characteristics...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Twain: Steamboat's a-Comin'

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students discover how rivers inspire creative expression.  In this Mark Twain lesson, students list songs about rivers and discuss common characteristics. They locate the Mississippi River on a map and write a script in which a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life During the Civil War for Women and Civilians

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students follow an overview of the American Civil War from a film, the text and/or teacher direct instruction. They create a timeline with a large map of the U.S. in the 1860's available for student reference as they do the spider activity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

New Food Saves Lives, Could End Hunger

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students locate the country of Niger, then read a news article about a new type of food that is being used to fight childhood hunger in Africa. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with map and vocabulary...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jackie Steals Home

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers read articles relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial barrier in professional baseball. This leads to a deeper exploration of racism in the United States. They use a variety of worksheets imbedded in this plan...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

In Search of Truce

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the relationship between a country's political and social history and its position today. They study 8 African countries immersed in the present conflict in Congo. They present their findings.