In this lesson, students learn about the ways that people modify their environment, along with positive and negative consequences of those changes.
Release of the film Green Book (2018) inspired renewed interest in the experiences of African Americans when traveling in the United States during the 20th century. This inquiry-based lesson combines individual investigations with whole or small group analysis of primary sources and visual media to investigate the compelling question: How have the intersections of race and place impacted U.S. history and culture?
This article provides links to hands-on science activities that could be used in an festival or informal learning event. National standards correlations are provided.
This Blended Learning Unit is designed to intentionally integrate technology into each lesson while maintaining the integrity of a Social Studies unit created by Oakland Schools, Unit 3: How Do We Learn About Places. The 30-45 minute lessons are structured so the classroom teacher can balance whole group instruction (Face to Face) with technology (Online) to enhance or provide new learning. Academic Vocabulary is a school initiative in the district this unit was created for, so this is also integrated throughout the unit. This blended unit was designed for students to use individual iPads, but other devices could be used as well.
This resource explains hydropower and how it is used as an alternative form of energy.
Students learn what defines a place and identify what defines their town as a place. Common examples such as weather, landscape, and plant/animal life can be used to begin the discussion. Then students will work in small groups to write their own lists.
This website contains a graphic and video with simple vocabulary giving statistics based on a world population of 100 people. It supports English Language development for English language learners.
This article gives background information on the Iditarod race in Alaska and shows how the race can be used in Grades K-5 classrooms to incorporate science, geography and language arts. The author provides links to resources that involve reading expository tests and writing assignments as well as working with real-time data. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears.
This is a lesson about geologic history. Learners will work together to create models of volcanic lava flows and analyze the layers that form on a planet's surface. They will sequence lava flows produced by multiple eruptions. Students will be asked to observe where the flows travel, make a model, and interpret the stratigraphy. Students will use their volcanic layering model to demonstrate the relative dating and geologic mapping principles to later be applied to satellite imagery. The lesson models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes and vocabulary.
In this lesson, students learn basic and complex directional skills to navigate nature and the greater biosphere.
In this lesson, students differentiate between capital, human, and natural resources. Students describe the role of capital, human, and natural resources in a healthy society.
In this lesson, students define a natural resource and identify the main natural resources present in the Earth.
In this resource, students will rearrange and classify memorized words about countries and regions of the Hispanic world by playing cultural geography games. Additionally, students will understand how geography and history impact the development of the target culture and its civilization.
This resource provides provides details on the elements used to create maps.
In this lesson, students create, identify, and interpret maps of their local environments, communities, and state.
What do you think makes Michigan special? You might be thinking that Michigan is special because it is your home. Maybe it is special because the people you care about live in Michigan. These are wonderful reasons. This resource will help you learn about many other ways that Michigan is special.
Students are introduced to our planet's structure and its dynamic system of natural forces through an examination of the natural hazards of earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, tsunamis, floods and tornados, as well as avalanches, fires, hurricanes and thunderstorms. They see how these natural events become disasters when they impact people, and how engineers help to make people safe from them. Students begin by learning about the structure of the Earth; they create clay models showing the Earth's layers, see a continental drift demo, calculate drift over time, and make fault models. They learn how earthquakes happen; they investigate the integrity of structural designs using model seismographs. Using toothpicks and mini-marshmallows, they create and test structures in a simulated earthquake on a tray of Jell-O. Students learn about the causes, composition and types of volcanoes, and watch and measure a class mock eruption demo, observing the phases that change a mountain's shape. Students learn that the different types of landslides are all are the result of gravity, friction and the materials involved. Using a small-scale model of a debris chute, they explore how landslides start in response to variables in material, slope and water content. Students learn about tsunamis, discovering what causes them and makes them so dangerous. Using a table-top-sized tsunami generator, they test how model structures of different material types fare in devastating waves. Students learn about the causes of floods, their benefits and potential for disaster. Using riverbed models made of clay in baking pans, students simulate the impact of different river volumes, floodplain terrain and levee designs in experimental trials. They learn about the basic characteristics, damage and occurrence of tornadoes, examining them closely by creating water vortices in soda bottles. They complete mock engineering analyses of tornado damage, analyze and graph US tornado damage data, and draw and present structure designs intended to withstand high winds.
In this lesson, students explore the different regions of North Carolina and how the topography of the region affected economic, social, and political development by completing one of the projects options included.
In this lesson, students gain an understanding of North Carolina Native Americans, their way of life and their culture by assuming the role of an archeologist and recreating an artifact that would have been used by Native populations in the pre-colonial period.
