Lesson 6: From Geography to History

Could a president just ignore election results? For this analysis handout, scholars consider this question as they read background information on the 2008 elections in Zimbabwe. Two political cartoons poke fun at President Robert Mugabe,...

Are there differences in the brains of liberals and conservatives? That is the question young political scientists are challenged to answer. Class members examine studies, consider how the results are presented, and how the studies were...

Every political theory needs a devil's advocate. Discussing Karl Marx with your classroom creates a healthy debate about the pros and cons of the capitalistic system and government. Last in a series of 13, the video includes primary...

Who were Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton? High schoolers examine the character traits of these historical figures and watch the video, The Duel. Hamilton vs. Burr: An Event that Changed History (available from PBS), to gain an...

Compare and contrast a major news story from various newspapers. How does the perspective change? Are certain things included in some of the stories and left out of others? Have pupils complete a graphic organizer to compare how...

A Venn Diagram is used to compare artistic and historical representations of a single event. Young analysts view the provided images, read textbook descriptions, and discuss the validity of each representation in terms of bias and...

Long before the civil rights movement, leaders were working to secure equal rights. An informative activity explains the 1922 anti-lynching campaign with a map. Scholars analyze the map, complete a worksheet, and participate in group...

On this site you will find the political party platforms of all parties from 1840 to the current year. A great resource and an interesting way to do comparing and contrasting.

Use this 5-day lesson to clarify the platforms of the two major parties, comparing and contrasting against high schoolers' beliefs. Begin by looking at unlabeled summaries of both party platforms, having learners identify most with one....

Students examine a variety of historical cartoons. They recognize a political cartoon and identify the main idea, symbolism, exaggeration and caricature in political cartoons. Students analyze a political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin.