An activity focused on tolerance encourages class members to consider how they might respond when they or someone else is the target of oppression and discrimination. After researching how some key figures responded to the...

Why are some immigrant groups in the United States embraced while others become disenfranchised? To answer this question, teams investigate why groups emigrated to the US, why some of these these peoples were...

Get to the know the common house mouse and the Norway rat with an activity that reinforces reading comprehension skills. Scholars read a three-page document detailing key information about mammals, specifically rodents, and use their...

Speaking of the Internet. The culminating lesson for the unit on the Internet challenges pupils to prepare short, two-minute speeches on an issue facing society. The pupils chose from three topics that connect the Internet and...

I'm compressed. Groups do a rapid research of different file types to determine what kind of compression the formats use and how it works. They share their information with the rest of the class until everyone has all the information for...

A bite of bits. The first instructional activity in a unit of 15 introduces the class to the byte. Pupils learn about other standard units for measuring file sizes, develop an understanding of relative sizes and the kind of units...

Imagine computer science all summed up in one book. This resource provides 16 chapters that cover many aspects of computer science, ranging from algorithms to software engineering. The e-book contains links to applets to help explain...

Biodiversity is essential for every habitat, but many species are at risk due to pollution and other factors. Explore several different species native to Illinois in a gallery walk with posters that learners have created after research...

Ready to cell-ebrate all things cells? Bring a lesson that covers prokaryotic, eukaryotic, plant, and animal cells to your biology class. Pupils pair up and research organelles, use computers to create tables and presentations, and...

Do research projects at your school look like a class of eighth graders staring at a blank screen? Use the Big 6 research method to guide middle schoolers through the process of finding a topic, searching for and evaluating sources,...

Need an extra challenge for your best readers? Check out a unit that uses Hannah Webster Foster’s epistolary novel, The Coquette, published in 1797, as the anchor text. The resource is packed with project ideas; each with its...

The Grapes of Wrath. The Jungle. Native Son. The Things They Carried. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. To address a current social, political, economic, or environmental issue, class groups pair the reading of a...

Encourage your young citizens to make a difference. Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America as a starting point, class members watch documentaries, investigate issues, and then write letters to...

Does the lens of history portray George Washington as a good leader? A three-lesson unit looks at Washington's early military career as the commander of the Virginia Regiment, his role in the fight for independence...

Seward's Folly or brilliant strategic move? Class members investigate primary source documents from each country to determine the rationales behind the sale and purchase of Alaska, and then stage a debate.

Lynchings, race riots, and Jim Crow laws were just a few examples of antagonism that African Americans faced after Emancipation. Class groups investigate these and other events, and prepare a presentation to inform the class about...

Is electricity created in the outlet? Using posters of several energy systems, collaborative groups identify and describe the parts of their systems. The groups also look at the environmental impacts of the systems and present...

Agriculture, deforestation, and urbanization. How have human's changed the planet and how might we mitigate the effects of human activity on the planet? To answer these questions class members research the changes in human land use from...

How did the struggle for Civil Rights during the 1950s transform American society and politics? Why are American schools integrated today? Class members explore these essential questions by examining a series of primary and secondary...

The post-Civil War convict leasing program, rarely covered in textbooks, is the focus of a lesson that asks class members to use information drawn from primary source documents to assess the program. While the focus is on Alabama's...

To better understand the Indian Removal Act of 1830, class members examine primary source documents including letters written by Alabama governors and the Cherokee chiefs. The lesson is part of a unit on the expansion of the United...

Project Paperclip, the Redstone Arsenal, and the Huntsville Space Center are all featured in a resource that investigates the contributions of Dr. Werner von Brawn and other German scientists to the US space program....

What important facts about Dr. Seuss influenced the Read Across America movement...? This is the driving question of a research project that requires scholars to find information about Dr. Seuss' life and work. Class...

Did you know that prior to the American Revolution, Alabama was a part of the British empire and called New West Florida? Class members research the economic, political, and social realities of this territory and compare...