Students compare the social and cultural characteristics of the North, the South, and the West during the antebellum period, including the lives of African Americans and social reform movements such as abolition and women’s rights.

Students express the meaning of the Star-Spangled Banner. In this American history instructional activity, students read through the national anthem and complete an activities from a list of choices. Some choices include: writing the...

Students analyze the judiciary system.  In this government lesson, students participate in a class discussion on methods to prevent unfairness in the Judicial courts.

Young scholars explore the lifestyles of the Aztecs. In this ancient culture lesson, students jigsaw into groups that divide up various aspects of Aztec culture. Young scholars reform as a class in order to discuss and share their findings.

Eighth graders explore what life was like for Fort Wayne's "industrial girls." In this industrialization lesson, 8th graders discuss the conditions that the Indiana factory girls worked in as well as their backgrounds. Students also...

Middle schoolers survey the loss of forests around the world. In this environmental lesson plan, students read an article that outlines how forests are being lost and government interaction which encourages forests to be rebuilt. ...

Students participate in an environmental clean-up activity. For this environmental lesson, students travel to a local beach. Working in small teams, students collect trash from the local beach. Returning to school, students sort the...

Seventh graders identify the three types of rocks. In this earth science lesson, 7th graders model the rock cycle using crayon shaving. They explain how rocks change as they go through the cycle.

Students compare a controversial issue or policy in need of reform in their classroom to the suffrage movement of the 1800's. They research important figures in the suffrage movement, produce written pieces and complete worksheets.

Students discover how research and questioning are things that must be done in order to form a valid opinion.  For this critical thinking lesson students answer questions and provide evidence to support their argument. 

Sketch graphs with the Graph Sketcher. Scholars graph functions on a coordinate plane. An interactive makes it as easy as inputting the function and clicking a button.

Ninth graders explore selected Internet sites to discover details about the life of John Calvin. For this Reformation lesson, 9th graders follow the steps in the provided Web Quest to locate and record information about Calvin as well as...

In this French history study guide worksheet, students read a brief overview pertaining to the history of France from the Reformation to the present and fill in the blanks with the appropriate words. Students also respond to 25 short...

Seventh graders read the novel, Lyddie, while studying the reform movement. They complete assignments for each chapter and write essays about Lyddie's development through the novel.

Eighth graders study the Protestant Reformation. Using a Venn Diagram, they compare and contrast the Protestants to Catholicism. Students read selected pages from their text, write notes, and discuss the information. As a class, they...

Upper graders consider contemporary Chinese economics, political viewpoints, and government. This unit covers a span of several class periods or six days, and engages learners in a variety of skills based activities. They conduct...

Tenth graders, after reading two excerpts about contemporary child labor situations, discuss two broad questions in detail along with the industrial boom following the Civil War conditions in the United States. They investigate how the...

Government classes benefit from examining how a bill passes through Congress, while they focus on the compromises made by Obama's administration regarding health care reform. This includes an online video and a couple of handouts. The...

Options for public and privately funded health care is a valuable debate for students to follow and learn from. They can use their research to take part in a Town Hall Meeting using facts and style. They will contact the representatives...

Fourth graders observe and identify the effects of weathering and geological activities. They take part in an excellent hands-on group activity called "Erosion Race," in which each group tries to simulate erosion of soil in the quickest...

Young scholars read about voting rights and compulsory voting in democracies. For this voting rights lesson plan, young scholars analyze the reasons for supporting and opposing compulsory voting and discuss whether compulsory voting is...

After investigating different policies within the school district, young reformers select a policy they would like to change. They then investigate the policy, and craft a letter in which they advocate a change to the policy. For guided...

Almost 600,000 Americans are arrested each year for marijuana possession. Pupils decide if marijuana should be legalized for recreational use after reading state-by-state laws and the top pro and con arguments. The resource also includes...