Curated OER
European Expansion in America
Students explore human settlement in America - from the 1500s to about the turn of the 20th Century. They follow the relationships and changes beginning in the east, then head west to witness the final battles of this era.
Curated OER
Salmon Scavenger Hunt
Students go on a salmon scavenger hunt to find out about threats to salmon populations. They gather information about some of the reasons wild salmon have gone from such incredible abundance to relative scarcity, and about some of the...
Curated OER
Animals in Sports and Entertainment
Students explore how people's views on animal treatments differ. In this animal treatment and attitudes lesson, students review cases on animal treatment and evaluate whether or not the case was animal cruelty. Students understand...
Curated OER
The Ethics of the Bomb: What Would You Do?
Learners research the use of the atomic bomb in WWII, analyze the human costs of dropping the bomb and identify the pros and cons. They develop a PowerPoint presentation on the effects of an atomic bomb dropped on their hometown.
Curated OER
The Ultimate Punishment
High schoolers discover information about the death penalty debate. They explore the history of the death penalty and how it has changed over time. They examine supporting and opposing viewpoints of the issue.
Curated OER
Chimpanzees: We're Not Entertained
Young scholars explore multiple perspectives to create a talk show that examines the issues facing chimpanzees. They analyze the gray areas of controversial issues to realize that there can be a wide range of possible positions on a...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Hot or Not
Students examine how the human immune system responds to germs and explain what a fever is. They design a thermometer in order to further explore temperature before completing a temperature conversion worksheet. They detail the work of...
Curated OER
Sense of Place
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...
Curated OER
Going...going...gone? Tropical Rainforests-How They Work, What They Do for Us, What's Being Done to Them...
Sixth graders explore the Tropical Rainforest and come to understand what it is and how it affects the ecosystem. In this rainforests lesson, 6th graders write about the Tropical Rainforest, imagine they are in the Tropical Rainforest,...
Curated OER
What Was South Carolina's Role in the Spanish American War?
Seventh graders investigate the role of South Carolina in the Spanish American War. In this imperialism lesson, 7th graders analyze primary documents and photographs, in collaborative groups, to determine how the state was involved in...
Curated OER
Aztec Myths 1
Students write a diary entry or a letter from the viewpoint of a character in a myth. For this Aztec myths lesson, students define myths and read "The Heart of Copil" and "The Eagle of Tenochtitlan" and find the land of the...
Curated OER
What is the Evidence for Evolution?
Students identify one object that would tell the story of their lives. In groups, they determine what can and cannot be told from objects left behind. After watching a video, they compare and contrast chicken bones to human bones. To...
Curated OER
Biotechnology, GMOs and Food
Twelfth graders explore controversy around genetically modified foods, identify source of controversy, and role play town hall meeting on genetically modified foods, to examine viewpoints and arguments for and against genetic modification.
Curated OER
America's Civil Rights Movement, Activity Two
Students investigate the human stories or the American Civil Rights Movement.
American Psychological Association
Developing Adolescents
Why to young people act the way they do? Scholars investigate the stages of adolescent development incorporating high school psychology techniques. Using research from the American Psychological Association, they uncover the five areas...
Curated OER
Minority Graduation Rates: A 50-50 Chance
Learners read the Civil Rights Project report. Students collect data from graduation rates in their school/district or city. Learners compare state and local data. Students discuss and analyze minority graduation rates. Learners compare...
Sociology Central
Society Is Like...
To introduce the idea of different theoretical views about the nature of society, class members engage in a sociology activity that asks them to create an analogy between society and another concept, and then to explain the parallels.
Teaching Tolerance
Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System
Explore the impact of the war on drugs in a thought-provoking lesson for high school academics. Young historians delve into the world of the criminal justice system and the racial disparity that occurs in the US. The resource provides...
Teaching Tolerance
Understanding the Prison Label
Break the chain. An engaging lesson examines why it is so hard to break free of the prison system in the US. Academics participate in a reader's theater, read primary sources, and discuss their thoughts. The lesson explains the hardships...
NASA
Packing for a L-o-o-o-ng Trip to Mars
Pack just enough to fit. Crews determine what personal items to take with them on a trip to Mars. Each team must decide what to take with them on a two-and-a-half year trip to Mars and whether their items will fit within the allotted...
NASA
Keeping Nine Eyes on the Weather
Take a look at climate change from another angle. Readers learn about the MISR instrument on the Terra satellite and how it studies Earth. Pupils experience how the multiple cameras give scientists multiple views so they can better study...
University of California
Energy and Biomass Pyramids
Young scientists play tag as they act out the food pyramid in the ocean ecosystem. Energy circles pass from the smaller prey to the predators and at the end of the activity, a data chart and analysis questions allow pupils to apply their...
Advocates for Human Rights
The Rights of Migrants in the United States Lesson Plan: Fleeing for Your Life
A role-playing scenario has middle-schoolers imagining that they are refugees forced to flee their community and integrate into a new one. Then, some play the roles of members of the new community and the class brainstorms ideas about...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy
"I have here in my hand . . ." The war against Communism and Joseph McCarthy’s place in it are the focus of a series of lessons examining postwar America from 1945-1954. Joseph McCarthy takes center stage in this, the final lesson...