Students study the story of gold and silver mining in the San Juan region. Through the use of interactive video and the Internet, they will examine the various events occurring at this time. They create a timeline highlighting the major...

Ninth graders research early mining in California. They study the "placer method" for mining gold, which is surface mining that does not involve tunneling. They examine what it was like for the early miners to pan for gold with...

Students determine how Spanish-speaking blacks and English speaking blacks were treated differently. In this emancipation lesson, students compare the Mexican and American rules regarding slavery.     

Tenth graders analyze a biographical piece of art by Raymond Saunders. They identify shapes, symbols, and lines that are used, and how the piece relates to the artist's life and modern society. They design and create an original piece of...

Young chemists create gold nanoparticles as they learn to measure accurately with the metric system. They create an advertisement for the application of nanotechnology to complete the first lesson in a series of six.

Learners use the internet to research the history, culture and political issues in South Africa. Using writing activities, they discover more characteristics of the country. They write how the natural resources found in the area affect...

High schoolers prepare for the reading of iam Golding's novel, The Lord of the Flies, by exploring the theme through a discussion and sentence starter activity.

For this money math worksheet, 2nd graders solve each addition problem and write the sum on the pot of gold pictured for each. They add money together to get their total amount for each problem.

Young scholars interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Chinese immigration instructional activity, students research the Chinese immigration between 1850 and 1882.

Students compare life masks and photos of Abraham Lincoln that were made before and at the end of the Civil War. In this "Faces of War" instructional activity, students analyze images of Lincoln in a historical context and create a...

Middle schoolers, through the use of examining video clips and Websites, become familiar with the reasons that the settlers wanted the land, broke treaties, and initiated the Indian Removal Act leading to the Trail of Tears.

Fourth graders list the four W's of the Pony Express. They also write an article about Buffalo Bill Cody and discuss the important facts about the Pony Express.

Students describe cause/effect relationship of a European country's need for resources, exploration, colonization, and settlement of different regions of the world beginning in the 14th Century, and role play representatives of assigned...

High school economists learn about the stock market in a project where they "buy" and track stocks. The author of this resource reports it is the high point of her 12th grade economics course, but no resources are attached. After viewing...

Some nouns need more than one adjective to adequately describe them. Using a reference poster that puts twelve categories of adjectives in order, class members fill in the blanks to complete eight sentences.

Introduce your class to nanotechnology applications with three demonstrations that showcase scientific principles related to ferrofluids, quantum dots, and gold nanoparticles. Groups will work more closely with these applications in the...

Present the class with a question on whether the water level of a pond will rise they take a large rock out of a boat and drop it into the pond. Groups come down on all sides of the question and try to justify their answers. The activity...

How can you see a number in nature? Here, learners discover both Fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio by exploring a number of different resources.  Note: Some of the resources are older and may be missing some of the links, but...

Have your class look for a pot of gold. Learners create a St. Patrick's Day mini-book. They use the worksheet pages included to cut out and color St. Patrick's Day symbols. They staple the pages together to create a booklet.

Students examine the importance of salt for trade routes and the economy of a community.

Fifth graders carefully analyze the artwork, Les Emigrants, and explore the reasons that people emigrated to the United States, and what life was like for new arrivals. They discuss what things immigrants were able to bring with them and...

Students discuss the Atlantic slave trade and the facts about the St. John revolt.  In this investigative lesson students write a personal account of a person involved in the revolt. 

While incomplete, this lesson could provide ideas for a lesson on the California gold rush. Learners look at a chart to analyze population growth in San Francisco after the discovery of gold, analyze political changes that occurred, and...