Illinois State University
Tragedy, Triumph, or Trespass?
Did westward expansion really live up to the dream of adventurers for a new life and opportunities for land and resources? While designed for a flipped classroom, try using this resource to evaluate primary sources alongside your class!...
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A Good Boat is Hard To Find
Eighth graders design and construct a safe and efficient human powered watercraft that can be used on a trip on the Great Lakes. Students utilize math and measurement skills to design and cut the pieces for their boat. Working in...
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Relative Dating-Telling Time Using Fossils
Students explore how to read fossil range charts. They develop an knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the fossil record. Students become familiar with the concepts index fossil and fossil range. Students use bar graphs to...
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Postcards From Mars
Fifth graders research and explore what life would be like for human colonists on Mars. They explore various websites, read and discuss newspaper articles, develop a chart of the hardships and conditions that would be faced by colonists...
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Engineering: Simple Machines
Fourth graders participate in activities to examine how simple machines help build things. They identify the six types of simple machines. They discover how simple machines where use historically to build pyramids and how they are still...
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Ad Nauseam
Students explore the role of special-interest groups in American campaigns. They create their own political advertisements.
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Ocean Habitats:
Students investigate the creatures of intertidal zones. They explore the adaptations species make to survive .
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The Formation and Value of Temperate Grasslands
Students study the Temperate Grasslands biome of North America. They explain that it is an endangered ecosystem because the rich soils have been converted to farming in most areas. They view videos imbedded in this plan, then complete...
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A Day in the Life of a World War II Soldier Webquest
Students complete a web-quest into a day in the life of a World War II soldier. In this webquest lesson, students investigate what life was like for soldiers on the front lines during the second World War. They use note taking skills...
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WWII Website
Tenth graders research a topic related to World War II. They explore the causes and legacy of WWII, the European Theater of Operations, the Pacific Theater of Operations, Diversity in WWII, Women in WWII, and the Homefront. Students...
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A Full Military Experience
Eighth graders watch electronic field trip entitled Call to Arms, and simulate daily life of eighteenth-century soldier, including marching, camp building, cannon firing, and sharing common meal. Student groups form regiments by signing...
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Northwest Ordinance
Young scholars examine the area where the Northwest Territory was located. They discover the steps territories need to follow to become states. They create a map of the Northwest Territory and label the states that came out of that region.
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Executive Departments PowerPoint Presentations
Ninth graders research the fifteen Executive Departments. They explore and explain the structure of the federal bureaucracy. Students organize their information about the Executive Departments in a PowerPoint presentation.
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Babushka Baba Yaga
Students read books by the author Patricia Polacco and complete different activities for the 4 books. For this language arts lesson plan, students read the books Babushka Baba Yaga, Boat Ride With Lillian Two Blossom, Pink and Say, and...
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Axis and Allies World War II Simulation
Young scholars investigate World War II through the computer game Axis and Allies. They discuss the basics of World War II before playing the game, spend eight weeks playing the game that is a simulation of World War II, and write a...
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Progressive Newspapers
Students create a newspaper on local, state and national issues in the muckracking style of progessive era journalism. They research the style by reading articles from the time period on women's sufrage, child labor laws and political...
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Textural Animal Sculptures - Model Magic
Students create textural animal sculptures. They explore how to accent their pices to make it look metallic.
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Immigrant Role-Playing
Students role-play as immigrants coming to America during the early 1900's. They conduct Internet research printing out pictures and reading biographies. Students use the information gathered to create scrapbooks in which the write...
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Threatened Species and Public Policy
Students discuss the Endangered Species Act and its impact on people and the environment. They read the act and watch video footage. They examine why sea turtles are endangered and efforts to protect them. They analyze numerical results...
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Introduction to Musical Theater
Students made oral presentations of a famous muscial theater performance. They research the musical, view selections, and listen to music.
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Eastern Europe: Passport to Understanding
Seventh graders explore Eastern Europe. They analyze data on select countries. Students prepare a short oral presentation on the country they researched. They locate their country using an interactive map.
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Testing the Caverns
Middle schoolers build model caverns using paper mache or clay and bury them in a tray of sand. They test the models by dropping balls onto them to simulate an asteroid hitting the earth. They evaluate the effectiveness of a structure...
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The Great Depression WebQuest
Tenth graders explore the events of the Great Depression. They analyze the events and select those most important to contemporary people and the future of the nation. Students create a PowerPoint presentation over the Great Depression.
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Age Structure Studies
Students collect data from Internet sources to compare age distributions in their city, county or state with that of other places in the US or other countries. They construct and interpret age-structure population pyramids and research...