Curated OER
Community
Second graders draw a picture. In this communities lesson, 2nd graders read the book Communities, and review as they read. Students use construction paper to create a picture of their houses in three different communities including...
Curated OER
Create the Ideal City
Learners examine the significance of city planning. They analyze maps, develop a crossword puzzle using vocabulary terms, and create a diagram of an ideal city and describe the features that make it healthy for the economy, the...
Curated OER
Community Building
Students explore the issues of urban and suburban sprawl. They work in small groups to create their own planned communities.
Curated OER
Reaching for the Sky
Students consider features of skyscraper using descriptive words, reflect on notion of skyscraper as orientation point in a city, and explore New York Times Building in Manhattan by reading and discussing article, "Pride and Nostalgia...
Annenberg Foundation
Social Realism
Many American writers in the late nineteenth century wanted their writing to reflect real life. Individuals watch and discuss a video, read and explore author biographies, write a journal entry and a poem, and complete a multimedia...
Curated OER
Urbanization and Native Hawaiian Plants
Fourth graders research plants native to the Hawaiian Islands. Using the plants, they identify its purpose in the watershed and ways to help protect them from extinction. They survey a area of land and discover ways in which to bring...
Curated OER
Social Studies: Towne Planning in Tidewater
Students discover how European values dominated colonial life. They also examine the effects of slavery in the Americas. Students compare the planning of their home town with that of colonial Williamsburg. They locate key sites such...
Curated OER
City Lesson Plan
Students examine the patterns and processes of urbanization and describe patterns of urban land use. They choose one of five cities using riddles and research why this city is desirable. The groups make quizzes for each other on the city...
Curated OER
Tribal Termination & Urbanization
Students are introduced to new vocabulary words associated with tribes and relocation. As a class, they listen to their teacher read an excerpt on tribal termination and urbanization. To end the lesson, they identify how this act...
Curated OER
Social Studies: Exploring Boston's Big Dig
Students, in a high school class for autistic children, take a virtual tour of Boston's "Big Dig" and the artifacts discovered there. During weekly lab sessions, they discover the processes involved in artifact preservation. Using...
Global Oneness Project
Relocating Residents: The Impact of Housing on Community
Sama Maydani and Sarah Kuck's film, Even the Walls, that explores the benefits and drawbacks of gentrification in downtown Seattle, asks viewers to consider how houses, apartment buildings, and outdoor spaces can be designed to build a...
Curated OER
The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee
Learners are introduced to the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), one of the "big 5" civil rights organizations (the other four were: the Urban League, NAACP, SCLC, and CORE). The SNCC is credited with having led the...
Curated OER
The Modernization of Seoul
High schoolers explore the history of Seoul, South Korea. In this Seoul lesson plan, students read and analyze handouts regarding the political and social history of the city of Seoul. High schoolers collaborate in small groups and...
Curated OER
You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Until It’s Gone: The Changing American Landscape
High schoolers examine the changing American landscape. For this cause and effect lesson, students listen to rock music that exemplifies urban growth in America and the interconnectedness of America today. High schoolers write cause and...
Curated OER
Cities
Students examine U.S. Census figures. In this urban centers lesson, students compare city populations across the span of 50 years. Students create line graphs based on the data.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Voting Rights for Alabama Women
What were the arguments put forth by those who opposed the 19th Amendment? For those in favor? Class members examine primary source materials that illustrate the intense debate in Alabama about women's suffrage.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama's 1901 Constitution
"We, the People of the State of Alabama. . ." Did you know that the Alabama State Constitution has 357,157 words while the US Constitution has only 4,400? And that it has 798 amendments while the US Constitution has 27? Class groups...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Nellie Bly to Dr. Peter Bryce: 19th Century Asylum Reform
What kind of treatment could a patient expect in an asylum during the 1800's? The abusive and neglectful conditions in 19th century asylums are the focus of a lesson that examines the work of reformers Nellie Bly, Dorothea Dix, and Dr....
University of Wisconsin
Why Did the Triangle Fire Occur?
An investigation of the 1911 New York City Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire leads class members to examine primary and secondary source materials related to the event and apply what they learn about the working conditions at the time to...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
The Homestead Act
To understand how the Homestead Act of 1862 changed the US and the lives of the people during that time, class members examine primary source materials including letters, broadsides, and images. They then assume the voice of a...
Curated OER
Calgary Response to Growth
Learners read about some of the ways that the city of Calgary has responded to urban growth. They determine that seemingly simple decisions about how to curtail growth are, in fact, quite challenging. They critique and propose some...
Curated OER
The Industrial Revolustion
Middle schoolers create artistic posters to show the differences between key vocabulary words. They show the differences between a rural, agrarian, urban, and industrial lifestyles. They evaluate the benefits and problems, the human...
Curated OER
Progressive City Planners
Students plan cities. In this environmental racism instructional activity, students design imaginary cities taking into consideration the amenities and environmental hazards that exist. Students discuss city planning challenges.
Curated OER
Coming to America: U.S. Immigration
Analyze primary source documents relating the conditions under with prompted American immigration. Learners will analyze information in order to create a six-panel pamphlet. Much of the lesson is not available but the key objectives are....