Looking at London's population from 1801–1961 in 20 year increments, high school mathematicians determine if the data can be modeled by a given logistic growth equation. They explain their thinking and determine the values of each...

Did Scopes violate the Butler Act? Why did so many Americans follow the Scopes trial? See analytical reading in action with a fantastic five-day lesson plan in which class members consider the historical context that provoked public...

What led to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and how might historians approach this question differently? This rich series of lessons includes a short introductory video clip, analysis of six primary source documents, and...

Are the Arctic ice caps really melting out of existence? Junior climatologists examine the statistics of ice decline through four math-based lessons. Each activity incorporates data, climate information, and environmental impact into an...

Explore primary and secondary sources in this historical analysis lesson. Young researchers define the terms primary source and secondary source. They read a primary source document provided by the teacher and answer questions about...

Make an estimate by getting in line. The class works with scatter plots and lines of best fit to make an estimate for given values. Pupils determine whether there is a positive or negative correlation and draw a best-fit line. Using the...

Today, many young people find it hard to understand why it took over 150 years for women in the United  States to get the right to vote—why there was even a need for the suffrage movement. As they read a series of primary source...

What a lovely way to incorporate artwork into your language arts lesson. View artwork in illustrated manuscript pages, depicting insects, animals, plants, flowers, and ornate writing in the Getty Museum. Practice using figurative...

Letters have long been prized by historians as primary sources for what they reveal not only about events but also about the emotional responses of the writers to these events. "My Dear Little Boys," a letter written by Leonard Isacks on...

After reading candidate biographies, class members select one candidate to research. They craft a report on the candidate's book, their position on issues, and the image the candidate wants to project.

Following an online activity, scholars complete a Grafitti Wall in which small groups write words and phrases on chart paper pertaining to Pilgrims, the Mayflower, and Thanksgiving. Pupils perform a close reading then answer a series of...

Poets write love letters, but how often do the objects of their love write back? Compare Christopher Marlowe's "A Passionate Shepard to His Love" to Sir Walter Raleigh's response, "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," with an engaging...

You may be able to see patterns visually, but mathematics quantifies them. Here learners find correlation in scatterplots and write equations to represent that relationship. They fit a line to the data, find two points on the line, and...

As a reading comprehension assessment, ninth graders are asked to use evidence drawn from The Glass Menagerie to support an analysis of how Tennessee Williams uses specific lines to develop Amanda's character as well as her...

A picture is worth a thousand words, but political art may be worth even more! After examining examples of political cartoons, murals, and other forms of public art, class members create their own pieces to reflect their ideals and...

The legacy of Reconstruction and the Freedman's Bureau is complicated. Using an interactive web resource, learners literally weigh the evidence using an online program in primary sources such as labor contracts and marriage records to...

Explore the history between Spain and the United States. Class members examine a copy of an original letter written in 1821 by Colonel Jose Coppinger in St. Augustine, Florida about the treaty that refers to the Florida territory that...

Planning on using primary source materials? Introduce your class members to SOAPS, a worksheet that models how to analyze and reflect on primary source materials. Readers name the document, identify the subject (S), the...

Examine stories with a moral in a character development instructional activity. The class reads a short story written by Benjamin Franklin in which he pays too much for a toy whistle. Individuals then make text-to-self connections and...

Young scholars use the GLOBE Website to locate and study environmental data. They use the GLOBE Graphing Tool to display data. Students describe the role of solar energy in the annual fluctuations of soil moisture. They describe...

Students discover the life and work of an American author, either Samuel Clemens or Louisa May Alcott. In this study of visual and written portraits lesson, students take a look at the authors through four different sources: a portrait,...

In this real-data instructional activity, students use data from the 2008 Census Bureau to answer eight questions divided into four activities.  The topics covered include: place value, rounding, estimation, fractions, and percents.

Students define terms and analyze data. In this statistics lesson, students plot their data using bar and line graphs. They analyze their data after they graph it and apply the results to the Great Depression.

Students write a poetic analysis on a poem by Carl Sandburg. They take their previous knowledge of poetic devices and apply them to a piece of writing that displays their knowledge on a specific poem. They explain what they know about a...