American Institute of Physics
Women and the Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a massive undertaking involving multiple sites and thousands of scientists and technicians. To gain an understanding of the women who participated in the project, groups select an oral history of a woman...
Curated OER
Chicago Tribune vs. US (1942): When Does Freedom of the Press Go Too Far?
Students define freedom of the press in peace and war time. As a class, they identify the need for the public to be informed, but discuss where the line should be drawn to protect national security. They develop their arguments and...
Curated OER
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Students work in groups to imagine, research and simulate a dinner party involving an author, a fictional character, and a significant historical figure as dinner guests. The activity uses Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and the time...
Curated OER
Conflict Resolution in Congo: Is There an Answer?
Students research and participate in a simulation of a meeting of African nations. They investigate and attempt to resolve the conflict in Congo and the neighboring nations.
The New York Times
Decision Point: Understanding the U.S.’s Dilemma Over North Korea
Simulate the Situation Room and analyze the US's relationship with North Korea. The plan starts off with a quick review and an examination of a online timeline that updates as the situation continues. Next, the class reads an article and...
Scholastic
Dear Miss Breed
This compelling plan based on the letters in the book Dear Miss Breed engages readers in learning what it was like for Japanese Americans following the attacks at Pearl Harbor. After reading the letters, young scholars will...
Curated OER
Feudal M&M's
Young scholars simulate the social rank of feudal Europe. In this medieval world history instructional activity, students use M&M's to represent the social ranking and power in feudal Europe. Included in this instructional activity...
Curated OER
Simulation: Norse Scratchings
Learners discover the meaning of a Norse runic message as they study a Vikings unit. In this Norse alphabet lesson plan, students decode a runic message as a part of a study about Vikings. Learners earn the letters to decode the message...
Curated OER
World Issues The Millennium Development Goals and Quality of Life
Ninth graders explore quality of life issues in the developing world through the lens of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. In this World History lesson, 9th graders study the factors necessary to and affecting...
Curated OER
D-Day: A Call to Courage
Students examine the events surrounding the D-Day invasion. They watch and discuss a documentary, answer discussion questions, conduct Internet research, simulate war correspondents going ashore, and create a multimedia presentation.
Curated OER
Number The Stars
Learners read a book about prejudices that occur in our daily lives. They describe characters in the book. Students discuss real life events of World War II and the Holocaust. Learners simulate hiding Jews from the German soldiers. ...
Curated OER
Women Monarchs And Heads Of State
Students explore the rule of women throughout history. In this world history lesson, students participate in a panel discussion which requires them to share the strengths and weaknesses of selected women rulers.
Curated OER
Wickets & Woozles Exile Simulation
Students divide into two groups and become Wickets and Woozles. They are separated in the classroom and then participate in a simulation activity in which one group is in "exile." They follow the activity with a class discussion and...
Curated OER
Keep Your Eye On the Prize
High schoolers learn about citizens who were actively involved in the civil rights movement, and the strategies they used to overcome the Jim Crow laws that were so prevalent in the 1960s. They investigate the voting amendments of the US...
Curated OER
Ancient Mediterranean Trade Fair
Sixth graders begin the lesson by discussing how artifacts are located. In groups, they define the terms supply, demand, resources and trade and discuss how the United States is affected by International trade. They use this...
Curated OER
Icon Adoration: The Byzantine Empire
Students study idol worship in the Byzantine Empire and the separation it cause between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. In this Byzantine Empire lesson, students study pictograph transparencies and take a pop quiz over them....
Curated OER
Alliance Game, International Alliances
Ninth graders play the Alliance simulation game, which allows them to explain how alliances made before WWI influenced the makeup of the war and its outcome.
Curated OER
Protecting the Past: Give a Hoot, Don't Loot!
Students, in small groups, simulate an ancient civilization and the art they created, another group represents vandals, and the final group represents archaeologists who try to figure out what life was like for the "ancient peoples". ...
Journey Through the Universe
Impact Craters: A Look at the Past
The Galle crater on Mars is also known as the Happy Face crater because of its appearance. First, scholars use pebbles and flour to simulate craters and study their properties. They then apply this knowledge to help decipher the history...
Montana State University
Sea Floor to Summit
Who knew that mountain formation could be so entertaining? Leanr how mountains form with a resource on Mount Everest. Activities to guide learning include a simulation, project, videos, coloring activities, and worksheets.
Curated OER
Settlement Exploration: Then and Now
NASA has crafted an imaginative and memorable series of lessons, "NASA and Jamestown Education Module." This lesson is one of the five components. In it, middle schoolers connect history and science by comparing the settlement of...
Curated OER
"Children of Loneliness": Understanding the Immigrant Experience
Students research and enhance the Jewish immigrant experience to that of contemporary immigrants to sustain a connection to their personal family stories. A story is shared with the class and then a discussion follows on the possible...
Curated OER
Act-It-Out Columbus Boat
Students investigate the trip Christopher Columbus took to the new world. In this U.S. History lesson, students create a fictional ship from cardboard and construction paper simulating the ship Columbus used to get to the New...
Curated OER
Under the Blood-Red Sun
Fifth graders explore U.S. history by reading an award winning book about World War II. In this Japanese internment camp lesson, 5th graders read the book Under the Blood-Red Sun and discuss the entrapment of Japanese-Americans on our...