Curated OER
Atmospheric Pressures
Students research past, present and proposed climate change policies. They develop timelines based on different predictions of climate change effects and assess the likelihood of each timeline playing out in reality.
Curated OER
True Admissions
Learners examine affirmative action and study the diversity of their own classrooms and communities, then of a particular college or university. They write essays examining how colleges should increase the diversity of their student bodies.
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A Penny for Your Thoughtfulness
Students reflect on the value of a penny. They examine how working families endure economic hardships with the help of charities. They create their own philanthropic event to raise money for a charity.
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Pressing Cases
Students investigate famous criminal cases in which the media has played a significant role and reflect on how the news helps to shape attitudes and behaviors in their own lives.
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Balance of (Nuclear) Power
Students research the 11 nations that are either known or suspected to have nuclear weapons. They draft treaties to effect nuclear non-proliferation or disarmament among these 11 countries.
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Nine Lives, One Habitat
Students explore reintroduction of endangered species into new habitats. They research and promote possible sites for reintroducing populations of Florida panthers outside of their current habitat in the Big Cypress Swamp region of...
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Frighteningly Fabulous Festivals
Students explore the significance of holiday foods, first by researching Halloween-type festivals from around the world, and then by reporting on foods related to different holidays celebrated in their homes.
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Sweet on Faith
Students create informative pages for a fictitious desserts cookbook that examine the religious significance and symbolism of holiday sweets from cultures around the world.
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Angling for a Story
Students explore different news angles relating to a local sporting event, then create a detailed treatment of the story prior to reporting it.
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In a Class of Their Own
Students explore taxonomy and how birds are classified in this scientific system. They use this knowledge to create entries for a field guide to birds that can be used to identify different species.
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Cooking Up an Explanation
Students pose scientific questions about food items and research their explanations. They then create recipe cards with the answers and present their findings in a cooking show format.
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Industrial Light and Magic
Learners investigate early mass production in various industries, and then create presentation posters outlining how a typical 19th-century factory, mill or refinery worked.
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All Fired Up
Students brainstorm images and themes associated with the American Fourth of July holiday. They create illustrated posters to explain the processes or history behind these themes.
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Nature's Superheroes
Students compare their prior knowledge about the relationship between sunlight and cancer with new findings. They research how different vitamins and minerals affect the human body.
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Unraveling the Web
Students consider how a message might be traced along a complex network, then explore backbone maps as a basis for understanding the purpose and structure of the Internet.
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Pitcher Perfect
Students consider how advertising messages are constructed and relayed. They invent fast-food businesses and create presentation posters outlining the first commercials to promote their new brands.
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Forever in Our Memories
Students consider reactions to various plans for building on the grounds of the World Trade Center. They explore ideas and opinions that went into creating other memorials of events in American history and propose ideas for improving...
Curated OER
Can I Get A Witness?
Young scholars consider difficulties involved in students testifying in criminal trials. Through first-hand experience in the position of either a witness to a crime or an investigator, young scholars explain how various factors shape a...
Curated OER
Mission Possible
Students create blueprints for imaginary inventions based on real-world technological principles. They write explanations of how their inventions work in the form of movie dialogues.
Curated OER
Bringing Facts Into Science Fiction
Students develop a setting, plot and characters for a science fiction story based on current news themes, and then individually write drafts of the story.
Curated OER
Love, American Style
Students examine the cultural diffusion of American popular culture around the world and create collages of visual representations of this phenomenon. Causes and effects of the cultural diffusion of American popular culture around the...
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A Ray of Hope?
Students examine the roles of different leaders in the Middle East, the United Nations Security Proposal 242 and recognition of Israel by its Arab neighbors, and then debate the current Saudi proposal for peace in the Middle East.
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Follow the Marx
Students explore communism from historical and theoretical perspectives to present to fellow classmates at a teach-in. Each team of students be responsible for researching and presenting on one of the suggested topics in the lesson.
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Muppets as Mediators
Students explore current social issues in the Middle East to create their own student television programs for Palestinian and Israeli Students.