Students use the internet to research the beginnings of the United States government. In groups, they examine the presidency of George Washington while they are guided along a museum tour. They end the lesson plan by discussing the...

Why did the United States choose to invade Cuba in 1898? As part of a 3-day lesson, your young historians will first develop working hypotheses to answer this question, then work with a variety of historical primary source documents that...

Welcome to America, the land of liberty and freedom. Examine the ways in which the terms liberty and freedom have been used in the United States. After researching and analyzing quotations from the past and present, students create an...

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...

Discuss race in the United States. Start by having each learner read a copy of Martin Luther King Jr's famous speech, "I Have a Dream." Then, have them read the article "Shared Prayers, Mixed Blessings" about a church in Atlanta,...

Twelfth graders examine the impact of African American culture on the United States by inspecting Faith Ringgold's story quilts. Working in groups, they create a collective story quilt about current cultural issues. They research their...

Students analyze a graphic from an article and predict what the article might be about. After reading an article, they discover a journalist's experience of traveling across the United States to compare fast food restaurants. They...

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...

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...

Young scholars discuss resource maps and examine examples from library resources. Working in groups, they create edible resource maps by drawing examples, such as popcorn on the border of Iowa and Nebraska. Then they use cookies in the...

Students examine the sequence of events that led up to the annexation of Texas to the United States. They create a timeline of significant events, analyze primary source letters from this time period, and write a letter from the point of...

Young historians climb through the three branches of the US government in the third lesson of this five-part series. While reading the first three Articles of the Constitution in small groups, children write facts on paper leaves...

Students examine a variety of symbols important in American culture. They investigate the history of the Great Seal of the United States and the painting "The Spirit of 1776". They create an original seal and identify important monuments.

Students investigate the concept of agriculture and how it is part of the ecology and economy of the United States. They participate in a number of different classroom activities intended to raise agricultural awareness. The activities...

POW camps in the United states? In Alabama? The German POW camp in Aliceville, Alabama is used as the focus of a study of the more than 700 camps built in the US during World War II.

America has always been seen as a melting pot to the world. Scholars research the concept of blending cultures in the United States and how it is changing over time. The final lesson of a four-part series analyzes the changing...

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...

Tenth graders, after reading two excerpts about contemporary child labor situations, discuss two broad questions in detail along with the industrial boom following the Civil War conditions in the United States. They investigate how the...

The United States leads the world in the percentage of obese adults and children. Why? What can be done about the problem? High school psychology classes adopt a problem-focused approach to investigating childhood obesity and then...

During the 1800s the United States was expanding westward; land was there for the taking.  Kids explore how some early photographers used their photography to influenced the US Congress to save areas like Mirror Lake. They...

Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...

Considering the expressed and implied powers of Congress, was it constitutional for the United States to establish the Second National Bank in the early nineteenth century? What is the constitutionality of the Federal Reserve...

Should the United States provide relief for those who are unemployed? Trace this question back to the Great Depression with your young historians, who will engage in careful reading of historical documents and classroom discussion...

While the French were once the allies of Americans, the Napoleonic Wars saw the United States almost drawn into a war with its one-time friend. Wars in Europe threatened to draw in the early republic. A primary source-based activity...