When judging diversity of an ecosystem, both species evenness and species richness must contribute. After a discussion of diversity and a guided example using the Shannon-Weaver function, scholars use the same function on two other...

Discover the connection of native peoples to their natural world, including cultural and agricultural practices, by studying the Zuni people of the American Southwest. This lesson includes examining a poster's photographs, reading...

Did the Emancipation Proclamation free all slaves during the Civil War? Why was it written, and what were its immediate and long-term effects? After reading primary source materials, constructing political maps representing information...

Here's a great resource for your curriculum library. The 240-page packet, organized into units by topics, includes sample lesson plans, links to primary and secondary source documents, worksheets, activities, and sample assessments.

Perry the dog is Sarah's best friend and her guide to the visual world. Young readers learn about guide dogs and communication with Looking Out for Sarah by Glenna Lang, through a series of discussion questions and activities.

We all know limestone weathers, but what affects the rate of weathering? Young scientists investigate the physical and chemical weathering of limestone (chalk) through experimentation. First, they conduct trials with different-size...

New roads, new businesses, new developments, new mass transit systems. All growth has both positive and negative effects on communities. Government classes investigate the principles of Maryland's 1997 Smart Growth program and...

Cartoons from the 2008 Presidential election provide the text for a activity designed to help learners understand how political cartoonists use persuasive techniques to present a point of view.

Every president of the United States must be a natural-born citizen, but the definition of natural-born is not as straightforward as it seems. Secondary scholars examine two points of view surrounding the constitutional requirement...

Introduce your class to map projections and coordinates, the basics for the work done in a GIS, with an activity that uses Google Earth to challenge learners to think about the earth's shape. 

People have been using solar energy for many generations to dry crops, heat homes, and for light. This presentation explains how now it is possible to capture the solar energy and store it for future use, details how and where...

Green roofs aren't just eco-friendly — they are literally green with trees. Groups learn about the concept of green roofs in order to be able to design one. The groups design a 5,000-square-foot green roof for a fictional apartment row...

Surf's up, big kahunas! How do surfers know when the big waves will appear? They use science! Over the course of five days, dive in to the inner workings of tidal waves and learn to predict sea levels with the moon as your guide.

The climate at the equator is hotter than the climate at the poles, but why? The lesson goes in depth, explaining how the angles of illumination relate to the heating rate at different latitudes and seasons. Scholars use a strong lamp,...

Looking for a performance assessment that asks individuals to demonstrate their competency in writing about informational text? Use Frederick Douglass' essay "On the Dred Scott Decision," and an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's 1857 speech...

Climbing Mount Everest is a dream for many mountaineers, and for a lucky few, it's a hard-fought accomplishment. Learn more about the important role Sherpas play in Mount Everest expeditions, including Sir Edmund Hillary's famous...

The beginning of the 20th century began with a shock: the assassination of President McKinley. The man who would take his place—the youngest American to ever become president—led quite a life before stepping foot in the Oval Office. An...

Theodore Roosevelt and the Marquis de Mores were both born in 1858, and both came to the Dakota territory in 1883, but they influenced the developing country of America in different ways. Elementary and middle schoolers apply written and...

Have you ever been accused of something without cause? The sixth installment of an eight-part series asks scholars to create a museum exhibit on the anti-communist activities in the United States at the start of the Cold War. To make...

Take a trip back in time to examine angular velocity. Using the revolutions per minute, learners calculate the speed of a point on a 33 record. They compare the speed of a point on the edge of the record to the speed of a point closer to...

Has the solar system always been like it is today? A lesson presentation begins with a discussion of the formation of our solar system. It continues with a compare and contrast of the inner and outer planets. 

There's nothing better than a cool breeze blowing in from the ocean. Scholars explore how water affects change in temperature using a hands-on experiment on climate. They use measurement tools to compare the continental and oceanic...

Engage in a shady activity to practice measurement techniques. Classes venture outside to collect measurements of various trees, using different strategies to measure the height, trunk circumference, width, and crown size. Then they...

Teasing, mocking, and disrespect can be the hallmarks in the life of those with disabilities. Disrupt the cycle of abuse with a toolkit designed to turn peers into advocates for all those who are bullied. Everything needed to create a...