Students examine how Earth's rotation causes daily cycles in solar energy using a microset of satellite data to investigate the Earth's daily radiation budget and locating map locations using latitude and longitude coordinates.

With a wonderful bibliography to support this lesson on Illinois, President Lincoln, and rural vs. urban settings, this activity is a motivating experience. The lesson begins with pupils exploring books, such as The Little House by...

What can a quarter possibly teach young learners about desert ecosystems? More than you might think. After displaying and discussing the included picture of the Arizona state quarter, the class participates in a series of...

Students demonstrate knowledge of geography and early inhabitants of Virginia by locating and identifying water features important to early history. They also locate three American Indian language groups. Both of these activities require...

Students are introduced to the various types of maps of Fairfax County, Virginia. Using the maps, they explain the relative and absolute locations of the county and discuss the importance of both. They also discover how the county is...

Students read and interpret primary source documents regarding historic Jamestown. In small groups, they read the primary documents, answer questions, and view online maps of Jamestown Island and Virginia.

Students examine the role of Virginia during the Revolutionary War. Using an inflatable ball, they toss the ball around the room and answer questions related to sayings on the ball. In groups, they play a game to reinforce topics...

Students examine the images on the West Virginia quarter reverse. Using the quarter design as a model, the discover the meaning of directional terms. They play a game where they have to listen to and follow directions and complete a...

Students examine the African American experience after they received their freedom after the Civil War. They complete a Mind Map, read and analyze a poem, and write a paragraph using key vocabulary words. They analyze the impact of the...

Students study the Temperate Grasslands biome of North America. They explain that it is an endangered ecosystem because the rich soils have been converted to farming in most areas. They view videos imbedded in this plan, then complete...

Students identify and interpret the different North American Indian groups, by region, and the type and impact of their interaction with Europeans. Then they complete an overview of one main Native American group during the age of...

In this George Washington activity activity, students read a one page information sheet about George Washington. Students put 10 events from his life in correct order. Then students answer 4 critical thinking questions.

Students examine the causes of dissatisfaction that led to the American Revolution. Then they make a Flap Vocabulary Book and glue on a map of the thirteen colonies and make a title page called "Road to War in it." Students also...

Tenth graders investigate the carbon monoxide level at a fixed latitude to determine if there is a relationship to population density. They download data sets and generate a graph, and find locations using the Earth's coordinate system....

Students use the internet to follow the Alaskan Iditarod race as well as perform research. This project-based activity will result in students creating many desktop publishing documents.

Fourth graders examine the experiences of four immigrant groups. Class members brainstorm a list of misconceptions of those groups and discuss if these perceptions are still present today. Using maps, groups locate the countries of...

Introduce junior oceanographers to ice conditions in The Great Lakes. The ice map links are no longer available, so you will not be able to have your class perform the mentioned data activity. You can, however, access the Canadian Ice...

Students are introduced to the concept of communities. Using a map, they locate and describe different communities of all sizes. They watch a video and answer questions on a worksheet to complete the lesson.

Students role-play as soldiers rescuing lost mountain climbers. Working in teams, they interpret maps to locate the climbers and use flashlights to send and receive coded messages about the rescue. Their goal is to complete the task in...

How do changes in DNA affect an organism? Scholars explore chromosomes, genes, DNA, and mutations by modeling the DNA of a strawberry. They build a DNA model, then manipulate it to show how changing the genes transforms the strawberry...

How did the struggle for Civil Rights during the 1950s transform American society and politics? Why are American schools integrated today? Class members explore these essential questions by examining a series of primary and secondary...

It's all about money. Here's a resource that introduces kids to the Federal Reserve System, different coins produced by the mints, and fun facts about state coins.

Young scholars explore the history of Civil Rights and how the struggle for Civil Rights and the Second Reconstruction, transformed society and politics in the United States in the 1950s. Then they identify why American Schools are...

Learners explore American frontier life. In this history instructional activity, students participate in a series of activities that challenge them to discover what pioneer life was really like.