Why is it important for judges to operate independently of politics or other branches of government? Scholars ponder the question as they examine video clips, case studies, excerpts of the US Constitution, and an interactive computer...

After brainstorming the various aspects of cultural identity, class members interview each other, examine video clips, and read stories to discover how these aspects reveal one's cultural identity. Individuals then craft a quilt square...

Without the benefit of history, Western Europe in the 1940's had no idea what was about to befall them. Class members use primary sources, including political cartoons, videos, and internal documents, to analyze how much of a threat...

Pivotal moments happened in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Some of these turning points were the result of quick decision making, while others were the result of long-term strategies. Scholars evaluate the decisions using...

Was Joseph Stalin desperate or exaggerating the USSR's need for assistance on the Eastern Front in 1942? History students examine two differing opinions on Stalin's position and the reality of the Eastern Front just three years before...

Here's a lesson that's not for the faint of heart! The seventh activity in a larger series introduces learners to the circulatory system with a study of the heart anatomy. Using a pig heart, individuals identify the different components...

What is the difference between a right and a responsibility? Scholars consider the question while sorting characteristics of citizenship into buckets using a video game. After playing, class members see how effectively they sorted the...

Join the fight to reduce plastic waste. A hands-on STEM activity first teaches scholars about the scourge of plastic waste. They then measure the dimensions of water bottles to calculate surface areas and volumes before using the surface...

Watch your tone! Scholars analyze how diction in George Orwell's Shooting an Elephant contributes to the tone of the text. Readers watch a video, participate in a word splash, and work through a PowerPoint lesson plan to help them...

The famous words of Martin Luther King still resonate with scholars today. An enlightening lesson helps pupils examine the "I Have a Dream" speech in more depth and learn what impact it had on the civil rights movement. Young historians...

Was that supposed to be funny? Scholars analyze The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County to determine if Mark Twain's story is indeed based on humor. Learners work through short response questions, vocabulary, and active reading to make a...

Learners become butterflies to complete an activity that has them collect tokens that represent food, water, and shelter. They must collect their necessities while in competition with other butterflies in the same area. Once the...

Individuals play a computer game to terraform planets. Learners add plants, animals, fungi, and minerals to the planet surface by creating numerical expressions that represent the objects. After playing the game for a while, the class...

Go study the universe. Pupils learn seven aspects about astronomy and astronomers. They begin to learn about constellations; distance and motion between objects; gravity; the electromagnetic spectrum; dark matter and energy; and teams of...

What are we really celebrating on Columbus Day? The resource explores the narrative behind Columbus Day and ways for people to change the perception. Scholars also review vocabulary terms associated with the topic and how attitudes have...

The perception of fairness in elections becomes more important with each passing election. Using data from a C-SPAN poll, budding historians consider the differences between how people perceive elections. The resource includes videos of...

Keep the tension up in the classroom. The class first observes as the teacher creates a dome of water above a glass by adding paperclips into an already full glass. Classmates then work in pairs to see how many drops of water can fit...

While women's suffrage is often believed to be the result of a single constitutional amendment, the effort of women to secure the vote spanned decades and continents. Using primary sources in online archives, class members explore the...

It doesn't take rocket science to launch a rocket. A fun activity has pupils build a rocket that launches when they stomp on a plastic bottle. They learn how the escaping compressed gas from the bottle causes the rocket to fly.

It's the encore to a wave unit. Individuals build either a slap tube, flute, or xylophone as a culminating activity for a physics unit on waves. Scholars calculate the lengths of pipes needed to produce the specific notes for their...

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s marched to its own beat—literally. Using songs from the era, as well as other primary sources such as King's "I Have a Dream" speech, class members analyze lyrics to discover how music and protest...

Determine the power hog in the house. Pupils learn the difference between power and energy before participating in a hands-on activity. Using a power meter, pairs measure the actual power used for several household devices, estimate the...

Decide whether to learn about weather. An illuminating lesson has scholars first watch video clips and discuss the difference between weather and climate. Using their newfound knowledge, they create analogies to illustrate this...

And now moving on to the next story. The last of five lessons in Unit 1: The Big Climate Change Experiment requires groups to create a script for a news segment on climate change. They either make a video of their story or conduct a live...