Here's a very powerful video that deserves a place in a Veterans Day lesson. Four young girls talk about what it's like to have a parent deployed and how they support one another during the deployment.

Your class members will take on the roles of jury members in this exciting simulation. After reading a detailed script and reviewing pieces of evidence, they will determine whether Honda violated copyright and copied James Bond.

Does a public school have the right to restrict what t-shirts students wear? Discover what happened when this question was brought to the Supreme Court, and review other major cases in United States history involving judicial review....

Here is an excellent resource in which class members host a mock election for a candidate and policy that will be implemented into your very own classroom. Progressing from primaries, through the campaign trail, and finally to the mock...

This is an exceptional series that you can use in an environmental or engineering unit. There are four lessons: "Sustainable Transportation," "Designing for Safety," "Changing the Landscape," and "Engaging in Policy." Each lesson plan...

For a comprehensive overview of debate styles and formats, look at this resource. It details the Lincoln-Douglas debate format (one-to-one debate with specific, timed rounds of points, cross-examination, and rebuttals). You can also find...

Is interacting with people from different backgrounds part of a well-rounded education? A big question awaits young readers as they explore two New York Times articles that discuss modern-day segregation, population statistics, and...

Study word choice and connotation in advertising. Readers examine campaign ads, both negative and positive, from the 2006 mid-term election before discussing an article and analyze a campaign of any candidate they choose. Finally,...

Students cite connections among Franklin's Albany Plan of 1754, his Plan of Confederation of 1775 and the U.S. Constitution and/or the Declaration of Independence. In an essay, they give examples of the philosophical and political...

Should public humiliation be an acceptable consequence for a crime? Have your middle schoolers engage in a round table discussion about the recent resurgence of the use of public humiliation as a punishment for crimes in the United...

Students investigate healthy eating habits by researching livestock. In this food sustainability lesson, students research the negative impact factory farming has on our environment due to pollution. Students define agricultural...

Students examine human health by identifying dangerous pesticides. For this agriculture lesson, students research the food production system in the United States and discuss dangers such as pesticides, chemicals and insecticides which...

Investigate ethical issues surrounding the Decode project in Iceland. Middle and high schoolers take the positions of the Icelandic government, scientific researchers, and citizens and defend or refute the Decode project in a Reykjavik...

Explore the backgrounds, qualifications, and platforms of the presidential candidates for the 2000 election. Though the instructional activity is outdated, the activities within the informational text could be good practice for your...

Difficult redistricting concepts are covered in a context that will make it understandable to your government scholars. They begin with a KWL on the term redistricting and then watch a video to answer some questions. They...

Create a blog spot for your classroom and promote online discussions. There are several blogging websites listed here, and you can create one specific to each class or one collective site. Teach your learners how to post on the blog, and...

Lead your class in a discussion about how they believe money influences politics. After reading "Go Ahead, Try to Stop K Street" from the New York Times, they evaluate the claims in the article about the current lobbyist scandal in...

Have your middle and high schoolers analyze instances of celebrities using racial slurs or making prejudiced comments in public. After reading an article, they consider the roots and effects of prejudice and bias. As a class, they...

Suggested topics for a role play debate include school uniforms and culpability for drunk driving, but any issue of interest to your class will work. What are the hot issues in your community or on the news right now? Class members...

Students explore the mathematics behind opinion polls, as well as provides a framework for interpreting trends in opinion poll graphics.

Investigate "respect" with your class. They will participate in a think/share activity in which they complete sentence starters about their personal experience with "respect." Then they view a video clip in which Holocaust survivors...

Beginning with an exercise of favoritism to engage learners, progressing through image and primary source analysis of the Nineteenth Amendment and the Seneca Falls Declaration, and culminating in a look at a political cartoon called...

Why did African American voters switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic party during the Depression Era? That is the question young historians attempt to answer as they study primary source documents from the period. The focus...

Just what is the census for? Using data and census questions, class members explore how officials gather information. Then, they consider how the government uses the answers to determine how it spends its money with a collaborative...