Throughout history, the growth of big cities has resulted in the destruction of ecosystems. In the case of Chicago, IL, a grassland that was once home to bison, deer, wolves, and foxes quickly became a booming city of over three million...

Who says scientists are boring geeks? Certainly not the narrator of a short video who dishes up the scandals associated with Tycho Brahe, a Danish scientist and alchemist (now that's two labels you don't often see together) who used...

America's status as a world power came relatively quickly after the American Revolution - as did the expansion of its borders. The slides in this brief presentation detail the period from 1890 to 1899, in which a series of maps detail...

Take a trip to the turn of the twentieth century with a resource about industrialism in America. With primary source documents and focus questions, learners think about the ways that government groups and organizations paved the way...

Students are introduced to the ideas of the American Dream at the turn of the century. They present their ideas on the American Dream at the turn of the century through a person characterized in Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology.

Upper graders explore musical film and the Bohemian lifestyle common in Europe during the turn of the century through the musical Moulin Rouge. After listening to (or viewing) songs from the movie, they discuss the Bohemian era and how...

To gain an understanding of the significance of Galileo Galilei's revolutionary ideas, class members watch the short video "Stargazing Before Galileo," and conduct a close reading of Galileo's Sidereal Messsenger. They then...

Statistical data can show shifts in human populations without bias or a prescribed historical point of view. View bar graphs and charts that describe new influxes in urbanization, immigration, and suffrage by state during the turn of the...

Though Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle shocked the American public into a thorough examination of the meat-packing industry, the author was disappointed that his book's main argument—the exploitation of American immigrants—was not...

What is more important: building a new school or preserving a nature reserve? Keeping a natural area clean or providing clean drinking water to a city of millions? Young scholars weigh these questions—almost literally—using an...

Explore how the Civil War impacted the Civil Rights Movement. Class members complete a series of projects for a unit that uses a layered curriculum approach to learning. 

Connect Mendelian genetics with Darwinian theories. An interactive lesson lets pupils explore how George Shull used research from other scientists to explore genetic variation. The resource outlines the statistical analysis of genetic...

Vive la résistance! Provide young historians with a list of important people and events during the French Revolution and Napoleonic periods.

Students investigate transportation at the turn of the 20th Century. They create a model of a horse drawn wagon and discuss its use.

Middle schoolers research songs and events from the time period 1900 to 1920. They work in groups to create visual displays of the songs and historical references. At the conclusion of the unit, a concert will be held to perform the...

The presidential election of 1912 was a turning point in American politics. Whoever won would reshape the political spectrum. Learn about the key issues, each party's politics, and the four men who wanted to become president: William...

Imagine children working long hours in factories, coal mines, and in the fields. Class members examine a series of pictures and read about early attempts to regulate child labor and current child labor laws.

Women gained the right to vote in the twentieth century, but the fight for equality dates back centuries. Using an invitation to an 1874 suffrage convention, eager historians consider the motivations behind supporters of the suffrage...

America sure did have a few growing pains during the Industrial Revolution. Share the problems, causes, effects, and reformation that marked the turn of the century and shift in policy during US industrialization. This slide show...

To gain an understanding of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, class members investigate the Jim Crow Laws, the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments of the US Constitution, and the 1898 Supreme Court case,...

Take writing prompts to another level in this activity, which allows pupils to create scenes of dialogue based on the 1903 silent film, The Great Train Robbery. Useful for a language arts/history cross-curricular activity, the lesson...

Who should be able to vote? As part of a study of the 1901 Alabama Constitution, class members examine primary source document that reveal the reasons the authors gave to support their positions on this question and their assumptions in...

Young scholars examine how the image of the cowboy changed at the turn of the century. They read about cowboys' shifting reputation at the turn of the century and connect popular perceptions of the cowboy to a trend in popular culture...

Students explore the transformation of America's economy in response to the Industrial Revolution in terms of patterns of agricultural and industrial development relating to climate, natural resource use, markets and trade.