Five governmental regulatory agencies are tasked to respond to market failure. Groups investigate the roles of each of these agencies as well as the social, economic, and political impact of their actions.

Gong He Xin Xi! Happy New Year! Planning a Lunar New Year/Spring Festival Celebration? Check out the activities and resources in a packet that encourages pupils to research the cultural values and traditional practices associated with...

Can your class help the people of Nepal? Scholars take an in-depth look into the social injustices and struggling economy of a country in turmoil during a multi-day role-playing exercise. After reviewing information on the problems...

Redesign your holiday celebrations with the aid of a lesson plan booklet packed with facts, images, maps, activities, and readings about the three-day feast that marked the English settlers' first successful harvest.

A class discussion begins a two-part lesson about gratitude and the environment. In part one, learners watch a video then share their feelings about its most memorable moment. Delving deep into the meaning of gratitude, scholars create...

History detectives select a famous person to research, fill a bag with items associated with their subject, then ask class members to guess the historical figure represented by the artifacts.

As part of a study of the American Presidency, groups investigate five topics: Campaigns and Elections, Role and Responsibilities, Life in the White House, Assassination and Mourning, and Communicating the Presidency.

As part of a study of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, class members examine four Supreme Court decisions—Gitlow v. New York, Mapp v. Ohio, Gideon v. Wainwright, and Griswold v. Connecticut—that incorporated the due...

To conclude a study of A Raisin in the Sun and to prepare for a visit to the Lewis Museum, class members analyze Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem." Learners then draw connections to characters in the play and to their own experiences...

Set the stage for a study of The Diary of a Young Girl with a resource that includes background information about Anne Frank's early years, the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, her Secret Annex hiding place, and her capture and...

Images of the Atapuerca Caves, the cave paintings at Altamira, and a Neanderthal skull found at Forbes' Quarry on Gibraltar serve to introduce kids to prehistoric sites in Spain. Designed to support a study of prehistoric Spain, the...

Why do people leave their home countries and come to the United States? How has nationalism affected European nations politically and socially? The answers are complicated. Pupils explore the intricate dynamics using structured questions...

What does it mean to be Latino? With an eye-opening lesson plan, pupils discover what it means to be Latino in the United States. They participate in classroom discussions, use graphic organizers, and watch a short video to help...

Caring, trustworthiness, and responsibility—these are only a few character traits in focus of a lesson based on stories from the Civil War era. Class members explore several influential lives while reading biographies that highlight...

The role of women in the early film industry, both on screen and behind the scenes, is the focus of a resource that asks class members to analyze movie posters and DVD covers from the 1910s and 1920s. Using examples drawn from the...

Introduce class members to Presidential Medal of Freedom winner, activist, writer, and lecturer Gloria Steinem with a PBS resource that not only investigates Steinem's ancestry but also encourages learners to trace their own.

How have values changed? How does our society influence our choices? Two great questions lead this discussion about food production, history, and cause-and-effect relationships. Pupils analyze a limestone relief from Assyria, research...

High school social studies teachers addressing the crisis in Darfur could use elements of this plan to increase social studies vocabulary and research skills. It includes a page of lecture/discussion notes, instructions for creating...

Twelfth graders collect, organize, evaluate and synthesize information from multiple sources in order to draw logical conclusions. They communicate this information using appropriate social studies terminology in oral, written or...

Students brainstorm a list of the different types of maps they have seen or used. Using the activity sheet, they look through a social studies book to find all the maps and to determine what they are used for. Using a poster, they review...

Students consider the role of editorial cartoons on American politics. In this editorial cartoons lesson, students discover the history of the cartoons in America, analyze some cartoons, and then draw their own cartoons that make social...

Students complete maps of Ancient Greece identifying key sites of the ancient Olympic games. After watching a video, they complete worksheets about the games and the athletes. Students discuss how the spirit of Ekecheiria, the "Sacred...

Students examine the Social Security Act of 1935. For this U.S. history lesson, students research primary sources in order to prepare for a mock debate of the act prior to it becoming legislation.

Students discover how to deal with grief by accepting their feelings. During a musical/meditative session they recall a time when they lost someone or something they loved and progress to a feeling of happiness for having had known...