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Lesson Plan

George Pullman: His Impact on the Railroad Industry, Labor, and American Life in the Nineteenth Century

Economics, Government and Civics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

9, 10, 11, 12

Background George Mortimer Pullman was an influential industrialist of the nineteenth century and the founder of the Pullman Palace Car Company. His innovations brought comfort and luxury to railroad travel in the 1800s with the...

Lesson Plan

Nineteenth-Century Technology in Twenty-First-Century America

Economics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction The nineteenth century was marked by a period of innovation, invention, and a huge spurt of growth known as the industrial revolution. Many inventions from the nineteenth century never caught on or have become obsolete,...

Lesson Plan

Dashes and Dots: A Product of the Nineteenth Century

Economics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Overview Students will examine primary sources including letters, a patent, photos, and diagrams to identify and describe the technological invention and development of the telegraph that evolved during the nineteenth century....

Lesson Plan

Symbols of the 1920s: New York City Skyscrapers in Photographs and Paintings

Art

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview The roaring 1920s was an era of dramatic change. Among the most enduring manifestations of this change was the rise of the big city. The centrality of urban growth to the social, political, and economic changes of the 1920s...

Lesson Plan

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871: A Story of Human Tragedy and Triumph

4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Background Ask anyone what the greatest disaster in Chicago was and probably no one will say, "The Great Iroquois Theatre Fire of December 30, 1903." Six hundred three souls perished in that fire. They probably won’t say, "The sinking...

Lesson Plan

Philadelphia and the Constitutional Convention "Heat Up"

Government and Civics

K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Background Little did William Penn know that his plans for a "Great Towne," set up in rectangular form between the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers, would become the site of some of the most important meetings in our nation’s founding,...

Lesson Plan

Alamo Simulation

Geography

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview Through a simulation, in which Canadians try to seize the state of Maine, students will gain an understanding of the circumstances surrounding the Battle of the Alamo, February 23–March 6, 1836, between approximately 200...

Lesson Plan

Democracy in Early America: Servitude and the Treatment of Native Americans and Africans prior to 1740

World History

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Essential Questions How did European explorers and colonists who came to the New World for "Gold, Glory and/or God" justify their treatment of Native Americans, enslaved Africans, and indentured servants? To what extent were there...

Lesson Plan

Conflict and Captivity in the Colonies

Literature

6, 7, 8

Background The early seventeenth century was punctuated by a series of small wars between Native Americans and colonists. Many colonists were captured and taken prisoner, but two women, whose ordeals were published as books, stand out...

Lesson Plan

Differing Views of Pilgrims and American Indians in Seventeenth-Century New England

Economics, Government and Civics

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Background Wampanoags Much of what is known about early Wampanoag history comes from archaeological evidence, the Wampanoag oral tradition (much of which has been lost), and documents created by seventeenth-century English colonists....

Lesson Plan

The Supreme Court and the Fourteenth Amendment

Government and Civics, Religion and Philosophy

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview: The Founding Fathers created the Supreme Court in Article III of the Constitution of the United States. The most influential role of the Court, however, was defined later through the appeal process, in cases involving the...

Lesson Plan

Ratification Debates: A New York Case Study

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Historical Background The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 was full of conflict and compromise. Yet as the convention drew to a close, some of the biggest debates were just beginning. According to the...

Lesson Plan

An "Unconstitutional" Act? The Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Background At the beginning of the Civil War, as the number of dead increased daily, a force of opposition to the war efforts began to intensify in the Congress and in the voices of the American people. Abraham Lincoln, in an effort...

Lesson Plan

"Father" of Our Country v. "Father" of the Bill of Rights

Government and Civics

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Essential Questions To what extent does the Bill of Rights provide a "blanket of protection" for American citizens? Why do many Americans believe that the Bill of Rights is especially relevant today? Objectives Students will be able...

Lesson Plan

Beyond Rosie the Riveter: Women's Contributions During World War II

Art, Economics, Government and Civics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview Although often understated, the social, economic, and political contributions of American women have all had profound effects on the course of this nation. For evidence of this, one needs to look no further than the many...

Lesson Plan

Jackie Robinson, WWII, and the Integration of Baseball

9, 10, 11, 12

Background In the 1940s America was in the throes of a crippling depression and a world war. While all Americans coped with the overwhelming challenges that the economy and war presented, some Americans faced an additional hardship,...

Lesson Plan

Japanese Internment Camps of WWII

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview Since Japanese people began migrating to America in the mid-nineteenth century, there has been resentment and tension between Americans and Asian immigrants. In California at the turn of the century laws were passed making it...

Lesson Plan

Children on the Home Front

World History

2, 3, 4, 5

Overview While American soldiers were fighting abroad, those left at home, including children, contributed to the war effort in many ways. Background Although World War II wasn’t fought on US soil, its effects were deeply felt by all...

Lesson Plan

The Supreme Court, Title IX and Gender Equity

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Background The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the federal judicial system and has both original and appellate jurisdiction. Historically, the Supreme Court’s most influential role has been through the...

Lesson Plan

Traitors and Spies in the Time of War: How the Supreme Court Determined Who Would Live and Who Would Die

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview In April 1865 over 600,000 Americans lay dead from battle wounds and other causes directly related to their service in the armies of the Confederacy and Union during the four-year Civil War. If we adjusted the number of dead...

Lesson Plan

Travels Through Time: The Impact of Supreme Court Decisions on the Struggle for African American Equality

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview After the Civil War, African Americans were under attack as they struggled for equal rights in America. Laws were put in place during Reconstruction to assure Freedmen basic civil rights. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and...

Lesson Plan

Montgomery to the Supreme Court

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview Students will examine primary source documents and photographs to explain how local events lead to cases being presented before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upholds laws that protect the rights of all people and...

Lesson Plan

The Jungle

Literature

8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Overview The United States was transformed in the last decades of the nineteenth century by the industrial revolution. The rapid growth of cities, increase in immigration, expansion of a struggling working class, and concentration of...

Lesson Plan

Farewell to Manzanar: Japanese Internment Camps During World War II

Government and Civics, Literature, World History

6, 7, 8

Background In 1886, after the arrival of Commodore Perry, the Japanese government lifted its ban on emigration and allowed its citizens to move to other countries. In the years after that, however, the United States made it more...

Lesson Plan

Going to School, Then and Now: Education in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird

Literature

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Overview The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are both written in the voices of children. While each book gives and unabashed commentary of the social mores of the time and place...

Lesson Plan

Theodore Roosevelt: A Bully Reformer

Economics

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction Theodore Roosevelt was the twenty-sixth president of the United States. His presidency would become the symbol of strong leadership, reform, and a square deal for Americans in the new century. When Roosevelt was...

Lesson Plan

Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview In the early twentieth century, President Theodore Roosevelt was a dynamic force in a relatively new movement known as conservationism. During his presidency, Roosevelt made conservation a major part of his administration. As...

Lesson Plan

Origins of the Teddy Bear

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Overview The term "teddy bear," used to describe a stuffed toy bear, originated in 1902 during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency. By examining the political cartoons of Clifford K. Berryman, students will learn that the teddy bear is a...

Lesson Plan

Lincoln and Presidential Power

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction When Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860, his experience in politics and government included serving in the Illinois legislature and the US House of Representatives. He had also studied law...

Lesson Plan

Lincoln and Civil Liberties

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview The tension between individual rights and a government’s need to preserve and protect national security during times of war has represented a constant theme throughout American history. During the John Adams administration, a...

Lesson Plan

Abraham Lincoln: A Man for All Seasons

8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Overview At one time in our country’s history we stood divided as a nation over the issue of slavery. It was Abraham Lincoln’s ideology and sense of purpose that helped to unite our country and set us on a path toward realizing the...

Lesson Plan

Women in the Great Depression: Investigating Assumptions

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction The greatest economic calamity in the history of the United States occurred in the third decade of the twentieth century. When the stock market crashed in 1929 and the economy plummeted over the next few years, the nation...

Lesson Plan

Of Mice and Men and Migrant Farm Workers of the Great Depression

Literature

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview John Steinbeck’s famous hobos, George and Lennie, bring the migrant farm experience of the Great Depression to life in the celebrated classic of American literature, Of Mice and Men . Part of the huge grain growing industry...

Lesson Plan

Dust Bowl Stories

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Overview Utilizing video and photos, elementary school students will synthesize some Dust Bowl experiences by creating a children's book in this multi-day activity. Background Beginning in the 1930s, drought wracked Oklahoma, Arkansas...

Lesson Plan

The 1919 Black Sox Scandal

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction Baseball became an increasingly integral part of the American landscape in the second half of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century. Growth of the sport occurred in conjunction with the...

Lesson Plan

The Scottsboro Trial

Government and Civics

5, 6, 7, 8

Background In 1932, times were hard for many as jobs were not easy to find and people had difficulty putting food on the table. In March of that year, nine black boys ventured out looking for work only to find themselves caught in a...

Lesson Plan

Revolutionary Propaganda: Persuasion and Colonial Support

Government and Civics, Literature

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Background Many students misconstrue the American Revolution as a period of unanimous support for independence from Great Britain. However, colonists generally considered themselves loyal British citizens, asserting rightful...

Lesson Plan

Colonists Divided: A Revolution and a Civil War

Government and Civics

6, 7, 8

Background The Stamp Act, the Quartering Act, the Declaratory Act, the Sugar Act, and the Tea Act were just a few of the many policies Great Britain enacted in the British North American colonies in the eighteenth century. To many...

Lesson Plan

The Boston Massacre

Art

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction In this lesson, students will be asked to learn the disputed and agreed-upon facts of the Boston Massacre in small groups and then discuss them and propose a website definition of the Massacre as a class. This lesson...

Lesson Plan

Andrew Jackson and the Bank War

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction When Alexander Hamilton called for a Bank of the United States in his Report on a National Bank , he envisioned a central bank that would sustain a developing national economy. The bank would, through the creation of bank...

Lesson Plan

Common Man and Contradictions: A Mock Trial of Andrew Jackson

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview The election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 marked a change in American politics. For the first time a presidential candidate had been elected from west of the Appalachian Mountains, marking an end to the streak held by wealthy...

Lesson Plan

The Nullification Crisis

Government and Civics

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Background The relationship between the North and the South was tenuous when Andrew Jackson came to office in 1828. Ever since the Constitutional Convention of 1787, northerners and southerners had fought over slavery and tariffs....

Lesson Plan

Perspectives on the Trail of Tears

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12

Introduction In this lesson, student groups will design and create a poster containing facts about the Trail of Tears as well as a collage and concluding statement expressing the group’s feelings about the event. Background The Trail...

Lesson Plan

TITLE IX: Striving for Gender Equity in Athletics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Objectives Students will examine primary documents and secondary sources to analyze gender equity during the last quarter of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century. Students will be able to identify the...

Lesson Plan

Baseball and Race in the United States

9, 10, 11, 12

Background On April 15, 1947, 27,000 fans packed Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York, to watch the Dodgers' new first baseman take to the field. They came to watch a baseball game, and they came to see a talented 28-year-old rookie,...

Lesson Plan

Bruised Egos, Battles, and Boycott: The 1980 Moscow Olympics

World History

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Background Politics and sports have intermingled since the inception of the Olympic Games in Greece, but not until the 1980 Olympics did people fear that politics might destroy the Olympic movement and spirit. The Union of Soviet...

Lesson Plan

Sports and Politics: Making Statements

World History

3, 4, 5

Introduction In this lesson, elementary school students will debate whether or not prominent athletes should promote political and social issues. The debate will be informed by the activism of Muhammad Ali, who resisted the drafted...

Lesson Plan

The Erie Canal and the Rise of the Market Economy

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

9, 10, 11, 12

Objectives Students will examine primary documents and secondary sources to analyze effects of technology on economic growth in the first half of the nineteenth century. Students will be able to identify the major economic trends of...

Lesson Plan

The Battle over the Bank: Hamilton v. Jefferson

Government and Civics

6, 7, 8

Background After months of battling and compromises, the US Constitution was finally sent to Congress by the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787. Through the ratification process and the first decade under the new...

Lesson Plan

Banking Basics

Economics

1, 2, 3, 4

Introduction Many elementary school students are unaware of how banks make money and what causes them to fail. This lesson will provide students with a basic understanding of those two issues, linking them to the Great Depression and...

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