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Studying History through Journal Keeping
Students read and write journals to relate to events of the past, in this case the Oregon Trail travels. They watch a video and read journal accounts dealing with the trip to the West as they attempt to keep a journal of what the trip...
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Nevada Trilogy
Learners, after watching Gone West, discuss and make some of the decisions people faced in travelling westward.
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Jazz in America
Eleventh graders explore Jazz in America. They examine greats in Jazz, such as Duke Ellington. They are also to discuss the cultural implications of the music itself.
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Weather Enrichment
Second graders, in groups, research and record types of weather from around the world during a one-week period. They complete a chart with their observations.
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Down to the Sea in Ships...Really!
Students discuss the travel of ancient sailors and the use of ships. They complete a Venn diagram, and compare and contrasts the two points of view on ancient ship travel.
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Sunburns and Sore Muscles: Working to Save the Farm During the Great Depression
Fifth through eighth graders engage in a instructional activity in which they study working class people during the Great Depression. They work to develop an understanding of the economic developments in Arkansas during the 1930's....
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Attitudes Toward Emancipation
Students read the Emancipation Proclamation and investigate steps that led to its signing. They read and discuss period news articles from both sides of the argument and create portfolios of documentation supporting both sides.
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The Importance of Being Flexible and Open-minded as a Visitor to Another Culture: Lesson 2 For "The Train Ride Home"
Students examine the advantages of being flexible when visiting or living in a different culture. They read and discuss a first-hand account by a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan, and write a letter from the point of view of a...
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Creating an Oral History--Who Tells the Story?
Explore the difficulties in compiling an oral history with this lesson. Young researchers conduct interviews and consider how point of view changes various accounts of a single incidence, resulting in conflicting information. They view a...
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Sextant Solutions
Pupils explore ways a sextant can be a reliable tool that is still being used by today's navigators and how computers can help assure accuracy when measuring angles. This activity will show how computers can be used to understand...
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Testing the Accuracy of a Rain Gauge
Students identify and test variables that may affect the accuracy of a rain gauge. They share findings of their research with the class in a 'mini-meteorology-convention'. They design an experiment with a control setup to test their...
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Minority Graduation Rates: A 50-50 Chance
High schoolers conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate and synthesize data from a variety of sources. For this lesson the issue is minority graduation rates.
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Outsourcing City Hall
Pupils examine how some city halls around the country are using private companies to run them. After watching a video, they write a reaction paper to some part of it. They write an article for their school newspaper discussing whether...
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Loyalists and Loyalism in the American Revolution
Learners engage in activities to understand how ideologies were constructed before and during the Revolutionary War. How and why were some "reluctant revolutionaries" turned into whig patriots willing to fight against the British empire,...
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Buoyant Boats
Fourth graders explore the concept of mass and buoyancy. After building boats out of several materials, they predict whether each boat floats if certain objects are added. Students test their predictions and draw conclusions from their...
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American Indian Reservation Controversies
Learners explore the history of government relations, policies and experiences with American Indian peoples. Using the internet and other sources, pupils research reservations, past and present. Given a real word problem, learners...
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Boating Safety
Students are introduced to the safety procedures to follow while boating. After taking a quiz, they complete open-ended questions about boating accidents in Illinois. They discuss as a class how those accidents could have been prevented.
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Careers and Self-Portraits
Students explore careers they may have in their future. They create a paper collage self-portrait of themselves as adults dressed for work. They write an autobiography describing the education and training required for their chosen career.
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Are You Gellin
Learners conduct an investigation of differentiating between different types of DNA. This is done with a simulation activity of being a scientist in charge of selling different sets of DNA for research which requires different...
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Create a Math Road Trip
Students create a Road Trip. They work in small groups. Students are given a road map for each group. They plan a road trip between two cities on opposite edges of the map, estimating a reasonable distance to travel each day. Students...
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Spreadsheet formulas
Young scholars, while in the computer lab, practice using formulas, print options, functions and adjusting column widths while interacting with a spreadsheet program. They modify and use spreadsheets, after being given a scenario, to...
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A Good Foundation
Students examine how regional geology affects bridge foundations. In this physical science lesson, students explore how bridge types are constructed for different purposes.
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Puttin' It All Together
Students explain the concepts of kinetic and potential energy and how it can change forms. In this energy, motion, and frictional forces lesson students participate in a hands on activity that includes calculating energy.
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Slavery, Society, and Apartheid
Middle schoolers examine the St. John slave revolt of 1733. In this slavery and apartheid lesson plan, students view the DVD "Slavery, Society, and Apartheid." Middle schoolers respond to discussion questions regarding the content of the...