Curated OER
All Aboard the Freedom Train!
Young historians identify Harriet Tubman, her character traits, and role as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. They create an escape map using map legends and the Cardinal directions. This plan utilizes one of my favorite video...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Coordinate Geometry
Where do the coordinates lead? As children brainstorm ways to find the location of different buildings, they learn about coordinate points and how to use them to locate areas on a grid or map. They practice using ordered pairs by playing...
Curated OER
Ancient Greece Map Worksheet
Since the beginning of time, geography has shaped the development of human civilization, and ancient Greece is no exception. This worksheet supports young historians with exploring this relationship as they first identify key land...
Polar Trec
Playground Profiling—Topographic Profile Mapping
The Kuril islands stretch from Japan to Russia, and the ongoing dispute about their jurisdiction prevents many scientific research studies. Scholars learn to create a topographic profile of a specific area around their schools. Then they...
NPR
Same-Sex Marriage
The battle over same-sex marriage is a prevalent issue in the United States, and a valuable topic to be discussed in your social studies classroom. Here is a basic outline of introductory questions, focus questions, vocabulary, and media...
Environmental Education in Wisconsin
Biome Travel Guide
In a perfect marriage of social studies and science, groups work together to research and create a travel guide presentation to share with the class. Not only do kids learn about the climate and geography of a biome, but also the...
Curated OER
Mesopotamia
Here is resource that offers a great, organized approach to your unit on Mesopotamia and early civilizations! As learners study the topics in the unit, such as the Fertile Crescent, ancient Sumeria, the Assyrian and Persian Empires, and...
Curated OER
Trey and Dave go to Africa: Music
Trey from Phish and Dave from the Dave Mathews Band took a trip to Africa to explore music, culture, and history. Your class watches this episode from VH1's Music Studio to understand how African culture and music have influenced modern...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record interesting...
Curated OER
Using Different Kinds of Maps
Third graders explore the landforms and population diversity. They read maps and examine geographic terms. Students create their own map of the United States and answer questions about the location of people. After exploring the map, 3rd...
Curated OER
Way to Go! Create a Road Map Game
Young scholars create a travel game of one of the United States. They research a state of their choice and create a travel game using a common road map. They interpret map symbols as they calculate map mileage for their games. They...
NET Foundation for Television
1850-1874 Homestead Act Signed: The Challenges of The Plains
Start a whole new life in a land known as the Wild Wild West! Learners analyze maps, personal accounts, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, songs, and video clips to uncover life under the Homestead Act. Using their new skills, class members role...
Museum of Tolerance
Where Do Our Families Come From?
After a grand conversation about immigration to the United States, scholars interview a family member to learn about their journey to America. They then take their new-found knowledge and apply their findings to tracking their family...
Owl Teacher
Introduction to World Geography
Give your learners a thorough overview of what they will learn when studying geography, from the five themes of geography (location, place, environment, movement, and regions) to the tools of a geographer and parts of a map.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Fly Your Kite
Encourage scholars to become a productive community member with a kite-themed instructional activity. Following a review and discussion, learners complete a Venn diagram that displays the connection between character traits needed to...
Curated OER
Survivor Stories
Trace a survivor's story using a timeline, map skills, poetry and/or prose and photography, and make a visual representation of a survivor's journey through his or her life as a culminating activity for the class and the survivor. This...
Curated OER
Those Who Have Come Before Me
Class members are transformed into explorers as they work in groups to locate hidden items and map their journey along the way. They then leave clues for other groups of students to follow, and ultimately discover how past explorations...
Curated OER
What Do Maps Show?: Lesson 4 How to Read a Topographic Map
Students examine the use of topographic maps as two dimensional representations that show elevations and slopes with contour lines. They read maps of the Salt Lake City, Utah area and complete the associated worksheets that show map...
Curated OER
Do the Tallywalker
Students study the basics of mapmaking, then make a tally walker, (geographic location device used in secret).
Curated OER
Journey to Gettysburg
Students use latitude and longitude to map the path of the Battle of Gettysburg.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lesson 3: On the Road with Marco Polo: From Hormuz to Kashgar
Young explorers examine the route that Marco Polo and his father traveled to reach China. They examine online maps of the Silk Road and harsh terrain of Afghanistan to determine challenges that may have been encountered during travel.
Curated OER
Geography Terms
Introduce the terms and concepts related to basic map and geography skills. Terms include full definitions and cover latitude, longitude, the Equator, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Prime Meridian, and the International Date Line.
Curated OER
Life in Old Babylonia: The Importance of Trade
Students read maps and artifacts for information indicating the existence of a trade network in Old Babylonia and beyond. They list goods imported to and exported from Babylonia. They indicate trading centers on a map of ancient...
C-SPAN
The Electoral College and the Constitution
What is the purpose of the Electoral College? Is it antiquated, or does it have a place in today's political climate? High schoolers view a series of video clips as they analyze the parts of the United States Constitution that address...