This lesson is meant to look at Mass Culture and Consumerism in the 20th Century specifically the 1920s, 1950s, and 1980s.  To better understand the importance of this in American life, it also involves a concept of comparing and contrasting these to today’s culture.Teachers have the ability to adjust this unit to deal with each Era/Decade separately 1920s=Unit 4; 1950s=Unit 6) or to look at the issue of Mass Culture/Consumerism as a whole in Unit 8, going back over the earlier periods. 

In this activity, students examine primary source documents in order to compare and contrast the ways industrialization affected the lives of workers and farmers from 1870 to 1920.

With this digital collection, students will review documents depicting Chicago's second world's fair, A Century of Progress International Exposition. Essential Questions 1. What was unique about the 1933-34 Chicago World’s Fair? 2. How did the creators of the Century of Progress illustrate and enact the fair’s theme of progress

This series of lessons can be used when teaching about the Progressive era. In the first lesson, students will be able to define Progressivism and link it to past and present social issues. In the second lesson, students will learn about the formation of labor unions in the United States and how businesses responded. The third lesson provides background information about stikes in the United States during the progressive era, including the Homestead and the Pullman strikes. Lessons 4-7 focus on the coal mining industry and the lifestyles of those who worked in the mines. In the eighth lesson, students will examine problems between management and labor, and what happens when compromises cannot be achieved. In Lessons 9, 10, and 11, students learn about the Ludlow Massacre and examine the link between history and current events. Lesson 12 examines the long-term effects of the Progressive Era and labor strikes in the United States. In the final lesson, students analyze oral histories to better understand the Progressive Era.

In this lesson, students explore the historical examples of trustbusting, enforcement of antitrust laws, and regulation of monopolies. A set of discussion questions is provided. In an associated activity, students will review a modern antitrust case (involving Microsoft) and participate in a debate.

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun provides a compelling and honest look into one family's aspirations to move to another Chicago neighborhood and the thunderous crash of a reality that raises questions about for whom the "American Dream" is accessible.

In this activity, students are guided through a close reading of The Journal of Sean Sullivan: A Transcontinental Railroad Worker, a fictional book for young readers based on historical sources. Students will read a short excerpt from the beginning of the book and determine the meaning of key words. Working in groups, students will then read excerpts related to one of the following themes: working conditions of railroad builders; tension between immigrant groups; corruption of the railroad companies; conflict with Great Plains Indian tribes; and boomtowns. They will also complete an individual writing task on their theme. Finally, students will consider the positive and negative effects of the railroad on the country as a whole, as well as on specific groups of Americans.

In this lesson, students examine Rockefeller's oil monopoly and the response from the United States government to that and other monopolies. A set of discussion questions is provided. In an associated activity, students will research other highly successful American business people and report back to the class on how they made their fortune, what they did with it, and why.

In this lesson, students will be able to discuss how the space race impacted American culture using evidence from the primary sources and a video.

In this lesson, students will analyze the Four Big Questions in President Barack Obama's 2016 State of the Union Address and reflect on what they say about the present when compared to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Four Freedoms State of the Union Address.

Explore the growth of steel in the United States, using Pittsburgh as a case study.

GeoInquiries are designed to be fast and easy-to-use instructional resources that incorporate advanced web mapping technology. Each 15-minute activity in a collection is intended to be presented by the instructor from a single computer/projector classroom arrangement. No installation, fees, or logins are necessary to use these materials and software.

In this activity, students will look at images of various types of technology (eg. TV, video games, subway) and determine which ones are “technological turning points.” To help evaluate whether or not something is a “technological turning point,” students will complete a worksheet that identifies each technology's economic, social, environmental, and political effects. Students will also think about the positive and negative impact of technological change, including who benefits and does not benefit.

This lesson plan introduces students to Thomas Edison's life and inventions. It asks students to compare and contrast life around 1900 with their own lives and helps students understand the connections between the technological advancements of the early twentieth century and contemporary society and culture.

This lesson is designed to introduce students to the social life of the Roaring Twenties thru slang terms.