Polar Trec
What Can We Learn from Sediments?
Varve: a deposit of cyclical sediments that help scientists determine historical climates. Individuals analyze the topography of a region and then study varve datasets from the same area. Using this information, they determine the...
University of Colorado
Strange New Planet
The first remote sensors were people in hot air balloons taking photographs of Earth to make maps. Expose middle school learners to space exploration with the use of remote sensing. Groups explore and make observations of a new...
American Battlefield Trust
Experiencing the Battle of Franklin
Scholars watch videos, study an animated map, and read a firsthand written account to explore the impact of the Battle of Franklin during the Civil War. Academics analyze images, complete worksheets, and create journal entries to...
Nemours KidsHealth
Breakfast
How can breakfast help you to avoid feeling sluggish and distracted throughout the day? After reading informational articles, learners will discuss how to overcome obstacles to eating breakfast, brainstorm ideas for quick breakfasts, and...
Forest Foundation
Forest Watersheds
Where does the water we use come from? To understand the concept of a watershed, class members study the water cycle and then engage in an activity that simulates a watershed.
Global Oneness Project
Highways and Change
What is the cost of change? Roberto Guerra's photo essay "La Carretera: Life and Change Along Peru's Interoceanic Highway" asks viewers to consider the impacts of the 1,600 mile-long highway through Peru and Brazil that connects Pacific...
Pace University
Urban Communities
Urban communities are the focus of a series of lessons created to meet specific needs using differentiated instruction. A pre-assessment designates scholars into three groups based on their ability level. Small groups take part in...
American Battlefield Trust
United States Colored Troops
The debate over slavery contributed to the Civil War, but it didn't stop African Americans from joining the military. Academics complete a series of worksheets, read original letters, and analyze a photo of an African American soldier to...
Teaching Tolerance
Fairness Fair
How can we create a more fair world? Chances are, class members have some ideas! After reading a text about fairness, individuals create skits around the ideas of fairness. Extend the learning and make their presentations a...
ReadWriteThink
A High-Interest Novel Helps Struggling Readers Confront Bullying in Schools
Paul Langan's novel The Bully is the core text in a six-session unit plan that engages high schoolers in an in-depth examination of bullying and its effects on bullies, victims, and bystanders. The richly textured and carefully...
Federal Reserve Bank
Messy Bessey's Holidays
Teach your class some fairly complex terms—factors of production, human resources, capital resources, natural resources, and intermediate goods—with a storybook (Messy Bessey's Holidays), plenty of visuals and handouts, and related...
Curated OER
Capitals, Oceans, And Border States
Young scholars investigate geography by completing games with classmates. In this United States of America lesson, students examine a map of North America and identify the borders of Mexico and Canada as well as the Pacific and Atlantic....
Teach With Movies
The Great Gatsby
Are you thinking about incorporating a film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel in a study of The Great Gatsby? Check out a guide loaded with suggestions for how to supplement a reading of the novel with scenes from three film...
Curated OER
Map It Out
Explore how illustrations add to a story. Young learners will look at picture books to see how the pictures tell the story. They create illustrations to go with a chosen story, and then flip the activity so they have to write a story to...
CC Homestead
Summarize
Designed for third graders but appropriate for older learners as well, this packet of materials underscores the necessity of teaching kids how to summarize, how to identify main ideas and supporting details, and how to ask questions...
Curated OER
Greeks Around the World: A Case Study on Greek Diaspora
Middle schoolers gain an understanding of the concept of Diaspora relating to Greeks. They use guided discovery to apply the geographic inquiry model to an examination of the reasons for Greek Diaspora.
C-SPAN
Electoral College Pros/Cons and Alternatives
If every vote counts, why do we need the electoral college? Middle and high schoolers study the Constitutional precedent of the electoral college, as well as its place in historical and modern elections, with an engaging social studies...
New York State Education Department
Global History and Geography Examination: August 2015
Need a comprehensive test about global history and geography? Look no further! Test young historians' understanding of how to use primary sources to formulate answers with an assessment that uses multiple-choice questions that...
Curated OER
Food Traditions: Making Cherokee Bean Bread
Imagine being forced out of your home and walking over 1,000 miles with only the things you could carry. How would you survive? What would you eat? After reading about the Trail of Tears and Cherokee resilience, middle schoolers are...
Curated OER
Plan a Trip
Students plan for a trip. They use map quest and / or road maps to decide on an address for their trip. They determine the mileage, lodging, gasoline to be used, shortest distance and fastest distance.
Curated OER
Making Sense Of A Round World On A Flat Surface
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the development of geography skills. They take part in a number of activities that center around finding and traveling to different locations. The lesson has resource links that can be...
Curated OER
Freedmen's Bureau
Students examine the African American experience after they received their freedom after the Civil War. They complete a Mind Map, read and analyze a poem, and write a paragraph using key vocabulary words. They analyze the impact of the...
Curated OER
Yo-ho, Yo-ho a Viking's Life for Me
Students complete a unit of lessons on the Vikings. They analyze maps, read and discuss myths, summarize the main ideas from resource materials, watch videos, sing a song, draw a picture to illustrate Norse mythology, and define key...
National Wildlife Federation
Quantifying Land Changes Over Time Using Landsat
"Humans have become a geologic agent comparable to erosion and [volcanic] eruptions ..." Paul J. Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist. Using Landsat imagery, scholars create a grid showing land use type, such as urban,...