Data analysis: as real world as it gets
In Data Analysis: As Real World As It Gets, we feature resources for teaching about data and statistics as supported by the NCTM Standards (NCTM, 2000). Data collection and analysis can be an avenue into the meaningful mathematics and problem-solving skills needed by students in the twenty-first century. And an answer to the student question, Why do we have to study math? can be found when teaching mathematics with a real-world statistics approach.
Scratch
Scratch is a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web.
Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create and share Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.
Theodore Roosevelt: His Life and Times on Film
Theodore Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to have his career and life chronicled on a large scale by motion picture companies (even though his predecessors, Grover Cleveland and William McKinley, were the first to be filmed). This presentation features 104 films which record events in Roosevelt's life from the Spanish-American War in 1898 to his death in 1919; 8 of these films have previously appeared in other American Memory presentations. The majority of films (87) are from the Theodore
The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress
This site presents the papers of the 19th-century African-American abolitionist who escaped from slavery and then risked his own freedom by becoming an outspoken antislavery lecturer, writer, and publisher. The first release of the Douglass Papers contains 2,000 items (16,000 images) that span the years 1841 to 1964 and relate to Douglass's life as an escaped slave, abolitionist, editor, orator, and public servant.
The Constitution: Counter Revolution or National Salvation?
This lesson plan casts students in the role of politically active citizens in 1787, when the Federal Convention in Philadelphia presented the nation with a new model of government. Students, using primary documents from American Memory, produce a broadside in which they argue for or against replacing the Articles of Confederation with the new model of the Constitution.
Working in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting
Working in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting presents 470 interview excerpts and 3882 photographs from the Working in Paterson Folklife Project of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The four-month study of occupational culture in Paterson, New Jersey, was conducted in 1994. Paterson is considered to be the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in America. It was founded in 1791 by the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), a group that had U.
War and Peace
Gain insight into wars by studying maps, letters, and historic newspapers. Consider women’s roles during the Civil War and World War II. See film clips of the Spanish-American War, the first war to be captured on film. Listen to recordings from World War I and the 1920 Election. Analyze Ansel Adams’ photo documentary of life at Manzanar to deepen understanding of Japanese internme
The African-American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920
This site explores the diversity and complexity of African-American culture in Ohio. These manuscripts, texts, and images focus on themes that include slavery, emancipation, abolition, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, Reconstruction, African Americans in politics and government, and African-American religion.
An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
The Printed Ephemera collection at the Library of Congress is a rich repository of Americana. In total, the collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history. An American Time Capsule, the online presentation of the Printed Ephemera collection, comprises 17,000 of the 28,000 physical items. More are scheduled to be digitized in the future. While the broadside format represents the bulk of th
Two Unreconciled Strivings: African-American Identity in the Gilded Age, 1877-1915
Examine the tension experienced by African-Americans as they struggled to establish a vibrant and meaningful identity based on the promises of liberty and equality in the midst of a society that was ambivalent towards them and sought to impose an inferior definition upon them. The primary sources used are drawn from a time of great change that begins after Reconstruction's brief promise of full citizenship and ends with the First World War's Great Migration, when many African-Americans sought gr
After Reconstruction: Problems of African Americans in the South
The collection African American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the Daniel A.P. Murray Collection, 1818-1907, contains pamphlets and other materials, most of which were written by African American authors about pressing issues of the day. In this lesson, students use the collection's Timeline of African American History, 1852-1925 to identify problems and issues facing African Americans immediately after Reconstruction. Working in small groups on assigned issues, students search the collection for
Reel American History Project
The general goal of the Reel American History project is to foster critical thinking about a matter of enduring cultural attention, especially where young people are concerned: the formation of our national identity.
Reel American History is designed to be a "Collaborative Shared Resource". It aims at being a large, ongoing, cumulative, collaborative project that involves many students and many faculty over a long period of time. We strive to engage students in authentic learning – making st
Two perspectives on slavery: A comparison of personal narratives
Students will read and analyze personal narratives written by two North Carolinians: Mary Norcott Bryan and William Henry Singleton. The authors’ lives share many parallels; both were born and grew up on plantations in New Bern during the 1830s and 1840s, both experienced the hardships of the Civil War, and both wrote their “recollections” in the early 20th century, looking back on their lives in North Carolina. However, Bryan was the white daughter of a wealthy slaveholder, while Singleto
Readings in the History of Aesthetics
Anyone with connection to the Internet has access to a vast number of philosophical documents via online etexts. Fortunately, quite a bit of the best work in philosophy is in the public domain, and a few of these readings provide a convenient access for almost anyone seeking information and help in the history of aesthetics. However, many of the historically significant writings in aesthetics are not presently available on the Internet, and this open source text helps somewhat to remedy that nee
Readings in Eastern Philosophy
Many classic works in Eastern philosophy are accessible via online sources on the Internet. Fortunately, many of the influential and abiding works are in the public domain; these readings provide a convenient way to produce quality learning experiences for almost anyone seeking information and help. Our present collection of edited readings is free but subject to the legal notice following the title page. By placing these selections in the public domain under the GFDL, the editors are, in effect
Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha
Almost all major works in philosophy and literature are accessible via online sources on the Internet. Fortunately, much of the best work in philosophy and literature is available in the public domain. A translation of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, in particular, became available through Project Gutenberg by Michael Pullen. This edited version of that text is subject to the legal notice following the title page referencing the GFDL License. By placing this edited reading selection under the GFDL, t
American Made
"American Made" is a film about a Sikh American family whose car breaks down en route to the Grand Canyon, and their only hope for escape is the remote desert highway and the occasional passing car. When car after car fails to stop, family members are forced to confront their notions of faith, conformity, tradition, and sacrifice-and question what it means to be "American" today. This lesson plan includes discussion activities about the definition of family, cultural research activities, and wri
Conflict resolution: Raising an issue
The way we raise an issue has a significant effect on the entire problem-solving process. By raising an issue in a constructive way, we set the stage early for resolving the conflict productively. The purpose of this unit is to give participants an opportunity to practice and explore this type of problem solving.
River City Project
As visitors to River City, students travel back in time, bringing their 21st century skills and technology to address 19th century problems. With funding from the National Science Foundation, we have developed an interactive computer simulation for middle grades science students to learn scientific inquiry and 21st century skills. River City has the look and feel of a video game but contains content developed from National Science Education Standards, National Educational Technology Standards, a
Access to the Internet
Using the Internet depends, in the first instance, on access to the network. The initial emergence of "the Internet" in the early 1990s, from the increasing connectivity of a series of university and government networks alongside private services like America Online, Prodigy, and CompuServe, occurred almost entirely across slow dial-up modem connections over telephone wires. Sufficient for email, Usenet news groups, transferring relatively small files, and later viewing simple web pages, slow tr
