As you explore an excerpt from Upton Sinclair's The Jungle with your class, discuss how his descriptions of the meat-packing industry caught the public's attention and helped to promote change in the Progressive Era.

Greek Revival architecture and the Civil Rights Movement? Sure! Examine how the Lyceum and Circle, two historic buildings located on the campus of the University of Mississippi, relate to integration and the 1962 riot on the university...

Students watch a slideshow about the technological advances in agriculture. After viewing, they complete an index card about one aspect of the slideshow. In groups, they create a cause and effect timeline in which they identify specific...

Learners explore how people preserved their food in the past. In food preservation lesson, students create different models that enable someone to dry out food, such as a food dehydrator. Learners also learn how to...

Students define terms "robber baron" and "captain of industry," list positive and negative actions of one or more captains of industry/robber barons, and take and support stand as to whether particular financier/industrialist is or is...

Ninth graders examine the relationship between energy and society. In groups, they define energy sources as renewable or conventional and research how each method contributes to the world's energy. They write about how the patterns of...

Students examine the early migration of Native Americans, African Americans, and the British Colonists. They conduct Internet research, complete a timeline, label maps, compare/contrast the three groups' experiences, and write an essay.

Fourth graders research three topics from the book, either Village Life, Sea Life, or San Nicholas Island. They research independently and meet in a jigsaw format to share what they learned. As group they create a poster for class...

Students focus on the geography of the countries of South America. Using a map, they identify the European countries who claimed the South American countries and research the influences they had on South America. To end the lesson,...

Learners examine the influences of the Hispanic culture in the United States. In groups, they read about the life of a slave in Cuba and identify the misconceptions are discussed. As a class, they define racism, read an essay and...

Students research the theory that everything is connected to everything else. Students explore the concept of how do we put normative values on our nonhuman environment. Students investigate an ecologist and write an informational...

High schoolers, after researching/analyzing the movement "Harlem Renaissance" and Africa as well as reading literature from that time period, create lists of the major characteristics of the movement and its important writers. They...

Eleventh graders research and examine the significant individuals of the 1920s and their impact on American society. They identify characteristics of people who make a difference, and in pairs conduct research on two people with...

Students explore space science by analyzing a speech by Carl Sagan. In this cosmos activity, students view an online video of a speck of a "pale blue dot" in the distance of space which turns out to be Earth. Students write an essay...

Students recognize modes of transportation. They research historical data from a variety of primary and secondary sources including the Harriman expedition journals, related web sites, and photographs from the expedition. Students...

Fourth graders use Internet to examine early French exploration and settlement in Texas, and write journal entries from point of view of 17th Century French settler, French or Spanish explorer, or Native American whose land was taken.

Students study the goals set out for the Constitution. They examine the resolutions arrived at to resolve three major conflicts which arose during the writing of the Constitution. They discuss or write down a one-sentence summary of...

Students read the play "The Oxcart" in its English form. After examining the author's life and works, they are given a part as one of the characters to act out the play. They dress in full costumes and acquire the correct props in...

First graders analyze the role of the Jim Crow laws on race relations. As a class, they are segregated based on the color shirt they have or some other simple criteria and wear either a square or circle sticker representing the majority...

High schoolers identify President Reagan's domestic and foreign policy, describe America's attitude toward communism, list characteristics which endeared Reagan to the American people, and explain why some Americans spoke out against...

Students examine historical fiction as historical sources. In this historical fiction lesson, students analyze excerpts from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as well as Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the...

Students examine perspectives for and against the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, develop a position on the embargo and articulate viewpoints in a public forum.

Students examine their assumptions about forest fires. They explore the conflicts involved with the forest service's new strategy. in addition, they will study one case where a prescribed natural burn had a significant impact on a later,...

Learners develop a plan for ecotourism after researching a nearby national park or wild area.