Butterfly cycle
Students will understand the life cycle of the butterfly and create various art activities that would model metamorphosis.
A renaissance of jazz and poetry
The Harlem Renaissance was the birth of a creative plethora in all fields of art for African Americans. The poetry and jazz composed during or inspired by this era naturally complemented each other. Furthermore, many of the themes from the musical and literary worlds are universal and provide a great lesson on how two different works can have a parallel theme.
Literature-based newspaper: Their Eyes were Watching God
Students will create an Eatonville newspaper depicting the characters and events in Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes were Watching God."
"That Broke Down the Ethnic Barriers": A Steelworker Describes the Decline of Ethnic Hostility in th
Tensions among industrial workers of different ethnic backgrounds often proved a barrier to unionization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was, for example, a key factor in the defeat of the 1919 steel strike. In the 1930s, however, that began to change, particularly under the auspices of the CIO. In this 1974 interview done by historian Peter Gotlieb in 1974, Polish-American steelworker Joe Rudiak recalled how ethnic hostility declined in the "CIO days," particularly amon
"Kill the Indian, and Save the Man": Capt. Richard C. Pratt on the Education of Native Americans
Beginning in 1887, the federal government attempted to "Americanize" Native Americans, largely through the education of Native youth. By 1900 thousands of Native Americans were studying at almost 150 boarding schools around the United States. The U.S. Training and Industrial School founded in 1879 at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, was the model for most of these schools. Boarding schools like Carlisle provided vocational and manual training and sought to systematically strip away tribal cultur
"Oh God, For One More Breath": Early 20th century Tennessee Coal Miners' Last Words
Coal mining and railroad work were the two most dangerous trades in the United States in the early 20th century. Coal miners frequently died in spectacular explosions and cave-ins that could kill dozens or even hundreds at a time. Although most testimony about coal mining disasters came from survivors and observers, the men who suffocated to death in the Fraterville, Tennessee mines in May 1902 left behind their own grim account. Trapped in the mine after an explosion and with their air rapidly
Phases of the Moon
This site contains a series of visualizations of the sun, moon and Earth System and how they relate to the changing face of the moon. Animations are in the form of Java applets, forms for field observation of the moon, and a collection of exercises and PDF versions of background material. There are practice questions and quizzes that discuss the animations.
Oceans of Kansas
Oceans of Kansas is the unofficial, but highly useful, web page of the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. To find content, scroll to the middle of the page. The website contains information on exhibits, articles with photographs of fossils and paintings about marine reptiles and fish who flourished in the Western Interior Sea. The site also contains an online collection of full-text paleontology papers, and a links page.
Rocks and Weathered Rocks
In this lab, students examine what happens when rocks weather, how different minerals weather at different rates, and what the ultimate byproducts are. This website builds context for lab use, details the learning goals and teaching notes, provides teaching materials and lab assessment recommendations, and additional references and resources.
Investigative Case-Malama Keone'o'oi
This Starting Point teaching module highlights a case study of Malama Keone'o'oi. Students will learn techniques for conducting a local environmental assessment in an ecologically sensitive area. Identification of native plants and methodologies for sampling will be taught in the classroom and then reinforced in the field. The module also includes a community awareness and conservation aspect. Users will find information regarding learning goals, context for use, teaching notes and tips, teachin
Coffee Coloured Children
'Coffee Coloured Children' is a powerful exploration of the impact of cultural pressure on self-image. Based on the daily experience of mixed-race children, the narrator recalls the pain and confusion of her own childhood spent in an all-white neighborhood with a white mother and an absent black father. The work opens with a video essay showing adults and children of many ethnicities interacting harmoniously to an upbeat and soulful song with a chorus about 'coffee-colored people.' Through narra
Damnation of Faust: Charming Landscape
'Charming Landscape,' the conclusion to Dara Birnbaum's 'Damnation of Faust' trilogy, shows the debris of a demolished city playground. The self-exploratory narration of two teenage girls is played over images of crowd scenes (often violent) from the civil rights movement, student protests, and the Tianenmen Square demonstrations. The work, which is approximately six and one-half minutes long, is dedicated to Pam Hysinger and Georgeann Ditelli, the teenagers whose words serve as narration. Music
Biodiversity Counts
The design of the Biodiversity Counts resource collection allows you to tailor a curriculum by choosing the combination of resources that meet your requirements, needs, and time constraints. Mix and match to form your own curriculum or try one of the suggested combinations below-they offer a choice between investigating plants, arthropods, or both, in full or abridged versions.
Crystallography 101
This tutorial on crystallography is broken down into equipment set-up, x-ray diffraction basics, symmetry and space groups, structure factors and phase problems, phasing techniques, model building, and real space correlation plots. Diagrams and interactive topics accompany the text, along with an interactive applet on Bragg's Law.
At a Crossroads: The King of Prussia Inn
recounts the history of this inn, built originally as a farmhouse in 1719 at an intersection of two roads northwest of Philadelphia, not far from Valley Forge. The inn provided hospitality to travelers when the colony was just a scattering of farms. In part because of its location, it became a prosperous tavern, inn, and social center for the evolving community of the same name.
An American Success Story: The Pope House of Raleigh, NC
tells the story of Manassa Pope, the first black man to receive a medical license in North Carolina (1886). After practicing medicine and helping establish a drug store and insurance company in Charlotte, Pope moved his family to Raleigh. There he continued his medical practice, built an elegant house (equipped with the latest technologies) located in the best place allowed for a black family in a segregated city. He later ran for mayor.
Our Shared History: African American Heritage
tells about the Underground Railroad, African Americans in the Civil War, historic places of the civil rights movement, the Delta blues of the Lower Mississippi Valley, and landmarks dedicated to Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King, and Frederick Douglass.
The Battle of Bentonville: Caring for Casualties of the Civil War
shows how battlefield medical care developed during the Civil War, particularly in the Union Army.
National Register Travel Itineraries
can help families explore historic places in the U.S. Each itinerary describes historic places and their importance, and provides maps, photos, and tourist information. Find itineraries for learning about Civil War battles in Virginia, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, maritime history, women's history, civil rights movement, Florida shipwrecks, the Southwest, Amana Colonies, Ohio and Erie Canal, Detroit, the California coast, Washington, D.C., and more.
National Mall and Memorial Parks
provides information about the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, Ford's Theatre, the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and more.
