University of Chicago
Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity
Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...
University of Chicago
What IS the Difference Between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims?
The distinction between Shiite and Sunni Muslims is an often misunderstood concept, yet very important for its implications in global affairs and for a more comprehensive understanding of the religion of Islam.
New Jersey Historical Commission and New Jersey Council for the Humanities
Thomas Edison: The Wizard of Menlo Park
What would change in your daily life due to a power outage? Here, learners explore the inventions brought to us by the one and only, Thomas Edison, and imagine a day without them. Scholars take part in a grand conversation and write a...
Curated OER
Small Group Acting: Enlivening Canadian History
Tenth graders research the elements of Canadian identity and history. They analyze and organize the information. They investigate the concept of Small Group Acting, storyboarding, and writing a good script.
Curated OER
Die Lorelei
Students use a traditional German Folksong to increase vocabulary. They use a traditional German folksong to identify a historical time period and explain the meaning of Die Lorelei.
Curated OER
The Arrests Begin
In this social studies worksheet, learners read about the arrests of the Jews in Denmark and relate the events to the historical time period.
University of Chicago
Women and Family in the Islamic World
How does the Qur'an detail the role of women? What modern social issues are linked to Islamic law? Address these questions with your young historians through close analysis of primary and secondary source documents.
University of Chicago
Ancient Egyptians and Death
What archaeological evidence remains of ancient Egyptian burial and mortuary practices, and what can this information tell us about ancient Egyptian society?
Curated OER
What Is War?
What kinds of human activity do we define as "warlike"? Middle and high schoolers examine various definitions of war and types of warfare, especially as these descriptions relate to the kinds of war we are witnessing at the beginning of...
Curated OER
Australian Aboriginal Art And Storytelling
Students explore Aboriginal storytelling traditions through the spoken word and through visual culture. They listen to stories of the Dreamtime told by the Aboriginal people and investigate Aboriginal storytelling in contemporary dot...
Curated OER
Teaching the Holocaust Through Poetry
W.H. Auden’s poem “Refugee Blues” launches a study of the problems of refugees. Background information about the poem and general information about Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria are provided, as are discussion questions and...
Ocean Explorer
Looking for Clues
Upper graders become "shipwreck detectives" by studying the debris field from a shipwreck in the Aegean Sea which took place in the 700s. A website is accessed that gives specific information about the debris field, and pairs of...
Curated OER
Book: Germany
Students, after reading Chapter One in the book, "Germany," analyze and recreate the political boundaries as well as the physical features of the nation of Germany with the assistance of play-doh or salt dough. In groups, they create...
Curated OER
Book: Estonia
Students, after reading Chapter One in the book, "Estonia," design and create a nature journal for an imaginary trip around Estonia. They include animals and plants that in their minds live in Estonia. In addition, they illustrate the...
Curated OER
What Was Columbus Thinking?
Why is Christopher Columbus one of the most studied figures in history? Upper graders will investigate why Christopher Columbus traveled to the New World and what happened to the native people he encountered. They read and discuss...
Curated OER
I Hear the Locomotives: The Impact of the Transcontinental Railroad
Students examine the effects the Transcontinental Railroad had on the regions through which it passed. They analyze and discuss maps, view and describe online images, and use photos and documents to develop a cause-and-effect ladder.
Curated OER
The Aztecs - Mighty Warriors of Mexico
Upper elementary learners identify the Aztecs as the builders of a great city and rich civilization in what is now Mexico. They locate the Aztec Empire and its capital on a map and place the Aztecs in the chronology of American history....
Curated OER
Art Critic for a Day!
Middle schoolers practice evaluating art by creating a research project and presentation. They use the Internet and library to discover a piece of art or artist whom they feel has an impact on the world of art. Next, they create a...
Curated OER
Book: Cyprus
Students, after reading Chapter 1 in the book, "Cyprus," design and create a nature journal for an imaginary trip around Cyprus. They identify animals and plants that in their minds live in Cyprus as well as describe the landscape all...
Curated OER
"Spelldown" by Becky Mushko
Learners read Spelldown, by Becky Mushko and consider how it portrays the Appalachian community. They define and discuss vocabulary presented in the story and write a comparison/contrast paper analyzing two of the story's characters. The...
Curated OER
Colonial Trades and Apprenticeships
Students examine and analyze culturally significant objects from colonial Boston. They construct a story around the life and work of Nathaniel Hurd from a list of keywords excerpted from a passage about Nathaniel Hurd. In addition, they...
American Chemical Society
Isolation of Phytochrome
Why do soybean plants that are planted weeks apart in the spring mature simultaneously in the fall? Four independent activities cover the history of phytochrome research, scientist collaboration, the electromagnetic spectrum, and...
NASA
The Evidence is “Clear”!
Do you think you know better? Become a scientist and prove it. Scholars review the evidence for two different theories of the origins of the universe. They notice the empirical observations as well as the inferences to determine which is...
Curated OER
Coal Camps and Mining Towns
Young scholars should gain a better understanding of the processes involved in extracting coal from the Earth as a result of this lesson. They reearch the history of coal mining, look into coal mining towns, and create a short story...