You Decide: Should U. S. airport security use profiles that include ethnic profiling characteristics
This educational guide focuses on ethnic profiling and related issues. Students are invited to examine the arguments on both sides of the debate, developing critical thinking skills as they work through the activities. Students will learn how to support their arguments with evidence and reason. It is expected that at the end of this guide students will determine where they stand on this controversial issue.
You Decide: Should we all be vegetarians?
This educational guide focuses on both sides of the vegetarianism debate. Students are invited to examine the nutritional, environmental, health and lifestyle issues, developing critical thinking skills as they work through the activities. Students will learn how to support their arguments with evidence and reason. It is expected that at the end of this guide students will determine where they stand on this controversial issue.
The News About the News
This lesson will invite students to explore how news shows are constructed and to assess the way a newscast prioritizes different categories of news.
Representing History: Cambodia - Through the Shadows
This unit introduces students to the modern history of Cambodia in the context of the Cold War. It examines the relationship between Cambodia and Vietnam and the way both countries became drawn into the power struggle between the US and Western capitalism and the Sino Soviet communist axis in the east. Through viewing and discussion of the video and investigating the web resources, students can begin to understand the conventions of documentary in offering access to a version of the truth.
Art Meets Nature: Natalie Jeremijenko
SPARK follows conceptual artist/engineer Natalie Jeremjienko as she works on her One Tree(s) project, planting 100 pairs of cloned trees throughout the Bay Area. This Educator Guide explores conceptual art as well as the investigative and ethical issues of life science and cloning.
You Decide: Should the US government regulate online pornography to protect children?
This educational guide focuses on online pornography and whether government regulation should protect children from adult materials online. It raises issues concerning censorship and constitutional freedoms such as the right to information, as well as issues surrounding the practicalities of regulation. Students are invited to examine the arguments on both sides of the debate, developing critical thinking skills as they work through the activities and learn how to support their arguments with ev
Mining: For Image or Truth?
Students will analyze how photographic images convey a message, and will examine the integrity and social implications of photographing others for one's own uses.
Immigration: A Vision & A Dream
In this lesson, students will explore issues surrounding immigration, assimilation and maintenance of cultural identity.
Flying Solo With My Digital Camera
Students will view a film clip about immigration and arrange interviews with immigrants they know. Using digital cameras they will create a classroom book that tells about the immigrant experience.
Bough Down to Trees
Students become familiar with the impact trees have in their lives and learn about some of the conservation issues that we face in the 21st century.
What's Growing in That Dish?
In this lesson, students will view the clips of the video discussing the discovery of penicillin and the scientific discovery process. They will then run their own open-ended experiments to see how body molds and bacteria respond to variable substances.
Joining Together to Fight Gun Violence
The purpose of this lesson is to engage students in meaningful dialogues on the issue of gun violence and to explore avenues that could lead to changes in our society.
Producing a Family Memoir
In the second of five lessons in this Family, History and Memory module, students analyze memoir as a genre. They then organize the information researched in the first lesson and put together their own family memoir. The lessons can be delivered as a module or as individual units.
The Presidency
This site features 40 documents from 23 Presidents -- Washington's first inaugural address, Adams' description of his reception by King George III as America's first minister to Great Britain, Adams' letter ordering the relocation of government offices from Philadelphia to D.C., Lincoln's instructions to the commander at Fort Sumter, Roosevelt's letter thanking Oppenheimer and his colleagues for their ongoing secret atomic research, and more.
World War II Military Situation Maps, 1944-1945
The World War II Military Situation Maps contains maps showing troop positions beginning on June 6, 1944 to July 26, 1945. Starting with the D-Day Invasion, the maps give daily details on the military campaigns in Western Europe, showing the progress of the Allied Forces as they push towards Germany. Some of the sheets are accompanied by a declassified "G-3 Report" giving detailed information on troop positions for the period 3 Mar. 1945-26 July 1945. These maps and reports were used by the com
Creating Hypertext Dialogues Drawn from Narrative History Collections
This site invites students to use documents from California As I Saw It: First Person Narratives, 1849-1900, to create hyperscripts depicting the motivations, expectations, fears, and realizations of immigrants who settled California between 1849 and 1900. Students' hyperscripts are online written dialogues that include links to illustrative written materials, images, and sound files from American Memory collections.
Immigration
This site looks at European and Chinese immigration to the U.S., early 20th century immigration documents, 350 years of Jewish life in America, America as a religious refuge (17th century), Irish words, the Tenement Museum in New York City, and the first Yiddish cookbook in America. The website includes images of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, stories of immigrants, and interactive timelines and maps showing immigration patterns.
Elections
This site looks at American political parties of the past, presidential inaugurations, images of presidents and first ladies, our first uniform election day, political cartoons by Herbert Block (Herblock) and Pat Oliphant, the 1877 electoral commission created by Congress to resolve the disputed presidential election of 1876, the 19th and 24th amendments (ending the poll tax and giving women the right to vote), and the Nixon-Kennedy debates.
Today in History
This sit efeatures a different person or event in history each day. Past features include Frederick Douglass, Woodrow Wilson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Banneker, Rosa Parks, Samuel Slater, Louisa May Alcott, Radio City Arts Hall, the Wright brothers' first flight, the Bill of Rights, the Gadsden Purchase, the Federal Reserve System, the Wounded Knee massacre, Pearl Harbor, the first controlled nuclear fission chain reaction, and more.
Tinker, Tailor, Farmer, Sailor
This is a lesson in which students use primary sources to determine why Europeans settlers were drawn to particular regions of America. Among the geographic conditions they consider: access to water, arable land, natural resources, and the growing season. The lesson focuses on New England, the South, and Middle Atlantic colonies.
