Curated OER
Say Cheese
Students examine the differences in the working and eating conditions between the late 1800s and today. They engage in an Internet Quest for information on cheese which culminate in a hands-on cheese-making experience and tasting activity.
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A Changing Society: Industrialization and Urbanization
Students participate in activities that teach them about the Gilded Age of industrialization and urbanization. In this social changing lesson plan, students answer questions, watch videos, have discussions, read texts, and more to teach...
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United States Pride
Third graders learn the responsibility of citizenship and learn facts about a state they choose to research.
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Sixteenth Street: Civil Rights at the Crossroads
Young scholars study the Civil Rights movement constructing definitions of discrimination, prejudice and racism. They use varied media to study the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, write a newspaper and complete a mock trial.
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"We, the People": New Voices in the Constitutional Debates
Students study the goals set out for the Constitution. They examine the resolutions arrived at to resolve three major conflicts which arose during the writing of the Constitution. They discuss or write down a one-sentence summary of...
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Burial "Rights"
Students, after viewing several segments of the video, "Stories Under the Stones," discuss the pros/cons of separate burial areas for different groups of people. They analyze a series of documents regarding the burial policy of one...
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What Caused the Great Depression?
Analyze the many causes of major political, economic, and social developments during the 1920s and 1930s, with emphasis on the Great Depression. Read photographs from the 1920's and the 1930's, then write a brief explanation of what you...
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Woman Suffrage
Students are provided access to primary sources for a discussion of woman suffrage. They are introduced to the motivations, ideology, and organizations involved in woman suffrage. Students analyze primary documents including cartoons,...
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Who is George Washington Carver, Anyway?
Students read about George Washington Carver, then work in small groups to design, write and illustrate a booklet about his accomplishments.
Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area
Life as a Pioneer
Students examine historical documents and research why early pioneers settled on the Iowa prairie. They review maps, describe the impact of railroading, describe life in pioneer times, and identify the effects of drought, prairie fire,...
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Law School vs. School Laws
Students discuss the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding sexual orientation and restage the debate leading up to the recent decision in Rumsfeld v. FAIR. They write essays evaluating the merits of the decision.
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Urban Growth in America
Students examine urban growth in America. For this urbanization lesson, students watch segments of the Discovery video "Urban Growth in America." Students conduct further research pertaining to the industrial revolution, New York City's...
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Feature Column: Virtual Field Trips
Students discover ways to stay healthy by utilizing Internet education software. In this computer technology lesson, students investigate Internet programs that simulate a field trip by showing images and video. Students...
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Lewis and Clark: The Language of Discovery
Students replicate some of the trailblazing methods of Lewis and Clark on a fifteen-minute "writing journey" through the school or neighborhood.
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Animal Encounters
Students use their visualizing and interpreting skills to produce original writings and artwork.
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How Things Fly
Students observe photographs of selected twentieth-century aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum and note differences in the design of aircraft wings, fuselages, and engines.
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How Things Fly
Students, by drawing on their own experiences, discuss and examine the basic physics of flight. They participate in a variety of activities regarding flight.
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Stories of the Wrights' Flight
Students examine and compare primary and secondary source accounts of the Wright brothers' first flights on December 17, 1903.
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The Rocky Shore
Students compare a realistic landscape painting with a photograph of the same place.
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Spy on a Spider
Learners view slides or live specimens to name and describe the distinguishing features of groups of arthropods, especially spiders and insects. They complete worksheets, observe webs and then search for and record where spiders can be...
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Creatures from Planet X: Spiders
Students are given a description of some fascinating animals from "Planet X". They follow the descriptions given to illustrate one of these animals paying careful attention to introduced vocabulary such as 'appendages', 'receptors', and...
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Facts, Feats and Folklore: Spiders
Students review and discuss a variety of sayings, folklore and superstitions about spiders. They discuss this information and choose either an interesting fact or appealing foklore tradition to illustrate.
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The Million Man March
Students investigate the founding and applications of having The Million Man March while writing about the founder Louis Farrakhan. They communicate the intentions of the march that included the responsibility men are to take for the...
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The Myth of Voluntary Internment
Students review the Alien Enemies Act and Executive Order 9095. They explore both the financial and emotional ramifications of having a parent arrested or interned. They research what daily life was like in U.S. Internment camps during...