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Raw Materials
Students participate in a nature hike and record the natural resources observed. They compare traditional and modern versions of everyday use items, and create graphic organizers that demonstrate the interconnectedness of resources.
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Jobs in 1860 and Today
Students compare occupations during the 19th century with the 21st century using information from 19th century census information.
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The Great Exchange
Sixth graders examine the connection that the present has to the past and how different cultures impact each other with lasting results. They discuss European exploration in North America and West Africa by describing cultural...
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Population Changes in U.S. Cities
Students investigate the changes in the population of major U.S. cities from 1920 to 2003. They write down as many U.S. cities as they can in one minute. Students discuss the top five cities on their lists and they disucss why there are...
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Lesson Plan on World War II: Illinois Role-The 33rd Infantry Division
Students complete several creative writing assignments regarding the 33rd Infantry Division of Illinois, which was active during World War II. They discuss how this war brought about changes in the state of Illinois and specifically,...
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Career Portfolio
Eighth graders set realistic career goals. and become familiar with career opportunities and skills necessary to be successful. Students create a career portfolio containing three career opportunities.
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Lewis and Clark: The Language of Discovery
Young scholars replicate some of the trailblazing methods of Lewis and Clark on a fifteen-minute "writing journey" through the school or neighborhood.
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Animal Encounters
Students use their visualizing and interpreting skills to produce original writings and artwork.
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How Things Fly
Students observe photographs of selected twentieth-century aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum and note differences in the design of aircraft wings, fuselages, and engines.
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Can You Give Me Directions To the Game?
Students become familiar with the use and capabilities of GIS and use it for research and mapping purposes. They heighten their ability to estimate travel times by incorporating distance, mode of travel and urban congestion into the...
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Surprise Box Descriptions
Students give oral definitions and descriptions. Each student takes a turn describing the contents of a plastic egg with a category plus attribute format. Other members have an opportunity to guess contents of the egg after listening to...
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How Did That Get There?
Students evaluate the role of government in addressing land use and other environmental issues. They analyze the powers, responsibilities, and limitations of elected and appointed officials in the national legislative, executive, and...
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What Is Smart Growth?
Students practice planning for the development of an area using the goals of Smart Growth as a guide. They analyze how regions can affect government policies. They role-play citizens who recommend how an area should be developed.
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How Things Fly
Students, by drawing on their own experiences, discuss and examine the basic physics of flight. They participate in a variety of activities regarding flight.
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Stories of the Wrights' Flight
Students examine and compare primary and secondary source accounts of the Wright brothers' first flights on December 17, 1903.
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Physical Habitat of a Stream
Young scholars measure in metric units and use a stopwatch, calculator. They collect data with minimal instructions after the initial pre-activity briefing, then record data in the data sheets provided.
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The Effect of Moisture on Soil Temperature
Students analyze the relationship between soil moisture and its effect on soil temperature.
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Money Talks
Students move from fact finding to interpretation as they examine paper money from the time of the American Revolution. In the final exercise, they use the issue dates of the bills to construct a chronology of political changes during...
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Pictures Telling Stories
Students see the importance of primary sources in the study of history, but also the limitations of relying only on primary sources of taking the money, as it were, at face value.
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America's First Pictures
Fifth graders visit the Smithsonian website to search online for early photo archives about life in the mid-nineteenth century.
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The Rocky Shore
Students compare a realistic landscape painting with a photograph of the same place.
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Salmon Run
Students examine the life cycle of the Pacific salmon and the impact of humans on salmon migration. They watch a Powerpoint presentation, trace migration routes on satellite imagery, and complete mock calculations of salmon energy...
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Two Ways About It
Students take an imaginary hike in two opposite directions along a lake. They view and interpret satellite images and discuss the pros and cons of hydroelectric dams.