Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Language Arts: Women in History

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students read excerpts from Amelia Earhart's autobiography, "The Fun if It," and identify her character traits. To aid visualization of her transatlantic flight, they search books and the Internet for photos related to Earhart's flights....
Lesson Plan
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Heroes and Heroines: King David, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and Napoleon

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students identify and examine four heroes from history and imaginative literature. They discuss the characteristics of a hero and share perceptions of what makes a hero. By comparing and analyzing a few historical and literary figures,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Is London Bridge Really Going to Fall Down?

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students discover what forces work together to hold up a suspension bridge. They see various bridges around the world, and learn the basic principles that enable each bridge to support itself. Groups design their own bridge, testing how...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossils Footprints Across Time

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students examine fossils to understand how they are formed and how they give information about geological history. For this fossil lesson, students research and write about fossils and make models of different fossil types.The PDF...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Baga Drum

For Teachers K - 6th
Students examine a Baga Drum in order to explore the history of the Baga people of West Africa. In this art history lesson, students recognize figures used in Baga Drum design that represent aspects of Baga culture. They also design and...
Lesson Plan
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Gee's Bend Quilts One

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders identify analogous and contemporary colors on the color wheel and identify the five facts about the quilts, women, and community of Gees Bend. Finally, 3rd graders pinned their fabric pieces to the copy paper in the exact...
Lesson Plan
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Zimbabwe

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the hardships being faced by the people in Zimbabwe.  For this World History lesson, students research the challenges of Zimbabwe, such as hunger, poverty, low life expectancy and political controversy.  Upon...
Lesson Plan
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Business Lessons from the Basket Weaver

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the basket weaving business and entrepreneurship in action. They discuss the basket weaving business and identify business concepts that apply to the creation and sell of baskets. Students identify factors that regulate...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Learning from Letters and Other Mail

For Teachers Pre-K - 3rd
Pupils explore the history of our mail system. In this postal lesson plan, students evaluate mail as a means of communication, create a mail system in their classroom where they can send and receive mail. Once the pupils receive their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dinosaurs Were Real!

For Teachers Pre-K - 3rd
Young scholars investigate the history of dinosaurs, as real animals. In this dinosaur lesson plan, students examine basic concepts that help them understand the history of all life. Included in this article is information on the world...
Lesson Plan
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Letters from the Japanese American Internment

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.
Lesson Plan
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Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Natural Dyes

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders explore the work of Americans when it came to coloring materials. In this interdisciplinary lesson, 2nd graders follow the provided steps to make natural goldenrod dye from scratch.
Lesson Plan
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What Did It Cost 100 Years Ago?

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students compare prices of good across the century in order to introduce the topic of inflation. They undertand the concepts of inflation and Consumer Price Index (CPI), use online calculators to figure the approximate cost of goods...
Lesson Plan
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The People of Kansas: Where did they come from and why did they come?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students review census data to correlate to emigration in Kansas. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students analyze a painting and create definitions for emigration and discuss why people emigrate. Students read and analyze 1855 census...
Lesson Plan
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Burial Ground

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students visit the burial ground at Huguenot Street and work in groups to calculate the average lifespan for a resident in the 1700's and one in the 1800's. They analyze the grave markers for further information.
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Striking Look

For Teachers 7th - 11th
Young scholars examine teacher union issues. In this current events lesson, students browse selected websites to explore the work and history of labor unions in Great Britain in order to better understand the teacher strikes of 2008.
Lesson Plan
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Patchwork Quilts

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders examine about traditional quilting patterns, the symmetry in such patterns, and practice creating patterns of their own. They design a quilting pattern, and groups make colorful "patches," of a pattern. They assemble the...
Lesson Plan
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Clues From the Past: Daily Life

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discover the ways different cultures gathered and made food. In groups, they read excerpts from primary sources about the food people in Mesopotamia liked to eat. They work together to make a batch of goat stew and a loaf of bread.
Lesson Plan
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Jefferson on a Nickel

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students study our third president, Thomas Jefferson through stories and poems. They investigate the attributes of a nickel.
Lesson Plan
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A Penny for Abe

For Teachers K
Students explore Abraham Lincoln through stories and poems. They also explore him being on the penny.
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Catch a Dream

For Teachers 7th - 11th
Learners apply the concepts of air pressure, the Bernoulli Effect, and angle of attack to build their own model planes out of paper, plastic, wooden rods, and drinking straws.
Lesson Plan
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Pictures Telling Stories

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students see the importance of primary sources in the study of history, but also the limitations of relying only on primary sources of taking the money, as it were, at face value.
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Groups Coming to America

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders use text or other references to locate different types of information about the Mayflower and pilgrims. They create a presentation for lower elementary classes about the Pilgrims.
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Watching Crystals Grow

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Amazing science can sometimes happen right before your eyes! The class gets cozy as they watch crystals grow. They use Epsom salts, rocks, and food coloring to create crystals. They'll observe the entire process, documenting every step...