What Would They Say?
This lesson allows students to utilize their previous knowledge to give a “voice” to the African-Americans in the news reels. This lesson is based on the understanding that students have already been exposed to news reel as primary source documents in the Social Studies classroom (this can be done in succession with Lesson #1 and #2 or as a stand alone lesson during African-American History Month or during another teacher-chosen unit). In addition, this lesson provides the teacher with two o
African-Americans and The Military of World War II
This lesson introduces students to the role of African-Americans in WWII using news reel. This lesson is based on the understanding that students have already been exposed to news reel as primary source documents in the Social Studies classroom (this can be done in succession with Lesson #1 or as a stand alone lesson during African-American History Month or during a WWII unit).
Health, disease and society: Scottish influence in the 19th century
This unit examines the role that Scots played in contributing to the developments in healthcare during the nineteenth century. The radical transformation of medicine in Europe included the admission of women as doctors and the increased numbers of special
Science in the Scottish Enlightenment
How is it that a small, poor country in northern Europe became one of the most dynamic centres of Enlightenment thinking? This unit examines the cultural, intellectual and religious characteristics of Scotland in the eighteenth century that led to the eme
The history of medicine: a Scottish perspective
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the approach to medicine was vastly different from today. Health is now recognised, at least in most European countries, as a universal right, but what was it like in the past? How did social and political bound
Evolution: artificial selection and domestication
In the 18th and 19th century evolutionary biologists, including Darwin, emphasised the similarities between natural evolution and artificial ‘ improvement’ of livestock under domestication. They believed that studying domesticated animals and plants c
Robert Owen and New Lanark
Childcare, education, working conditions, healthcare, crime … these issues are hotly debated in today's society. They are also issues that Robert Owen, seen by some as a visionary and by others as a knave and a charlatan, sought to address in the early
The poetry of Sorley MacLean
Sorley Maclean (1911-1996) is regarded as one of the greatest Scottish poets of the twentieth century. This unit will introduce you to his poetry and give you an insight into the cultural, historical and political contexts that inform his work. MacLean wr
Islamic Societies of the Middle East and North Africa: Religion, History, and Culture
This new course offers a panoramic survey of the Islamic societies of the Middle East and North Africa from their origins to the present day. It will deal with the history and expansion of Islam, both as a world religion and civilization, from its birth in the Arabian peninsula in the seventh century to its subsequent spread to other parts of western Asia and North Africa. Issues of religious practices, political governance and movements, gender, social relations and cultural norms will be explo
The Importance of Religion in Political Life in the 19th Century: Abraham Lincoln's Experience
In this lesson, students will explore the importance of religion in community building in frontier America. They will also analyze the importance of religion in political life in the 19th century.
Chemistry Games: Plastics
Play a game and find out about a Nobel Prize awarded discovery or work! For thousands of years people have been using silk, wool, cotton, wood and leather. In the last century or so, we have added plastics to this list. Key to developing the plastics we now use were the discoveries made by the Nobel ...
Medicine Games: Fight Beriberi
Play a game and find out about a Nobel Prize awarded discovery or work! Before the 20th century, no one had heard of vitamins. It was Christiaan Eijkman who first pointed out a substance in rice skin, which was later to be known as vitamin B1. For this, and for his new ways of investigating, as well ...
NOAA Photo Library: America's Coastlines
America has 95,000 miles of coastline. In this collection of images from NOAA, the user can view images of America's coasts and adjacent coastal regions. Images include early Nineteenth Century sketches and drawings and modern photographs of waves, rocky shores, sandy beaches, marshes, mangroves, seaside villages, and port cities.
Suffer the Little Children - Reflecting on Child Labor in Guatemala
In this lesson, students learn about and respond to the plight of child workers in Guatemala in the face of increased free trade through the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
Ticket to Ride - Designing a Passport for 21st Century America
In this lesson, students consider ideas, images and words that might capture the American identity, then design an American passport for the 21st century that reflects their own vision of and for America.
Natural Inquirer Journals: Rocky Mountains
In the Rocky Mountain Edition of the Natural Inquirer you will learn about fungi, Lodgepole Pine adaptations, mountain streams, Quaking Aspen, the American Marten, skiing, snowboarding, and much more!
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz is home to one of the world's most infamous prisons. From the 1930s to 1960s, Alcatraz was the premier maximum security prison, housing inmates such as Al Capone and George Machine Gun Kelly. Before the prison was created, the island was home to American Indians. Today, it is one of San Francisco's ...
Invention Factory: Thomas Edison
is a curriculum-oriented guide to the work and laboratories of the great American inventor. The site contains photographs, maps, and readings about the laboratories and the process of turning research into commercial products.
Frederica: An 18th-Century Planned Community
recounts British efforts to establish Georgia as a utopia in the American wilderness (1730s) and to fortify the colony against Spanish encroachment, in part through the creation of a fort and military town on St. Simons Island, Georgia.
Herbert Hoover: Iowa Farm Boy and World Humanitarian
is a curriculum-oriented site using the birthplace of the American president to introduce readings and suggested theme topics for student papers. The site shows photos and drawings of the home in West Branch, Iowa, where Hoover was born.
