Song in the Curriculum
This teaching resource is aimed at higher level. It includes two methodologies which enable students to engage a number of syllabus requirements simultaneously: one on the general theme of teaching by topic; the second a specific lesson plan for one particular song.
"I Started Filling Rifles": A Woman Strike Supporter Remembers the 1914 Ludlow Massacre
The brutal southern Colorado coal strike reached its nadir on Easter night, 1914, with the horrendous deaths by fire of three women and eleven children at the hands of the Colorado state militia. Mary Thomas, whose husband was on strike, was interviewed at age eighty eight by historian Sherna Gluck in 1974 for the Feminist History Research Project. Thomas vividly recalled the horror of the infamous Ludlow Massacre, described her efforts to save the lives of women and children by hiding them in a
A Year's Wage for Three Peaches: A Black Man Tells of Exploitation in the Late 19th century South
The harsh brutality of race relations in the late nineteenth-century South was sometimes best expressed through small incidents. For William Robinson, the story that best encapsulated his own experience growing up African-American in rural Georgia in the 1880s involved three peaches. He was interviewed by oral historian Charles Hardy in 1983 when Robinson was 103 years old. Apparently, some ninety-five years earlier when he was eight years old, three black boys sneaked into a peach orchard on th
"I'm Going to Fight Like Hell"Anna Taffler and the Unemployed Councils of the 1930s
The Communist-led Unemployed Councils mobilized jobless men and women in hundreds of local communities to demand jobs and better treatment from relief authorities. In these excerpts from a recorded interview, Anna Taffler, a Communist activist and a Russian Jewish immigrant, described how her own experience of facing eviction pushed her into organizing the unemployed. She also talked about the focus of local councils on issues like fighting for more relief and stopping evictions.
The Los Angeles Dressmakers Strike of 1933: Anita Andrade Castro Becomes a Union Activist
In October 1933 Chicana dressmakers in Los Angeles launched a citywide strike against the sweatshop conditions under which they toiled. An interview with Anita Andrade Castro, a young dressmaker who went on to become a longtime union activist, provided glimpses of the experience of the rank-and-file strikers. In two excerpts from a long interview done in 1972 by historian Sherna Gluck for the Feminist History Research Project, Castro described, first, her initiation into the union and, second, h
A Mule Spinner Tells the U.S. Senate about Late 19th century Unemployment
Fall River, Massachusetts, mill worker Thomas O'Donnell (who had immigrated to the U.S. from England eleven years earlier) appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Education and Labor on October 18, 1883, to answer the panel's questions about working-class economic conditions. An unemployed mule spinner for more than half of the year, he described the introduction of new production methods at the Fall River, Massachusetts, textile factory where he worked as a mule spinner (a worker who tende
"It Didn't Pan Out as We Thought It Was Going To"Amos Owen on the Indian Reorganization Act
The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which became known as the Indian New Deal, dramatically changed the federal government's Indian policy. Although John Collier, the commissioner of Indian affairs who was responsible for the new policy, may have viewed Indians with great sympathy, not all Native Americans viewed the Indian New Deal in equally positive terms. In this 1970 interview with historian Herbert T. Hoover, Amos Owen, Mdewakanton Sioux tribal chairman, gave a mixed verdict on the Indi
"He'll Come Home in a Box": The Spanish Influenza of 1918 Comes to Montana
In 1918 and 1919, the Spanish influenza killed 550,000 people in the United States and 20 to 40 million worldwide. In a 1982 interview with Laurie Mercier, Loretta Jarussi of Bearcreek, Montana, described how people would pass through that tiny town seemingly healthy, only to be reported dead two days later. Her father went undiagnosed for many weeks and had plans to go to a nearby hot springs to rest. She believed that her father's death was averted only because the son of the local doctor was
Ice Core Gateway: Vostok Ice Core CO2 Data
The Vostok ice core has a long record of global carbon dioxide concentrations, with variations caused by factors other than photosynthesis and human activity. Ice core data sets from three different authors are available for download. Users can also link to other NOAA paleoclimate projects and information.
Worldwatch Institute Homepage
The Worldwatch Institute offers a unique blend of interdisciplinary research, global focus, and accessible writing making it a good source of information on the interactions among key environmental, social, and economic trends. Worldwatch's work revolves around the transition to an environmentally sustainable and socially just society - and how to achieve it. From their homepage, users can follow links to publications, a resource center, Worldwatch Live, a press room and research information.
Mount St. Helens, Washington homepage
This USGS web page contains images from the Mount Saint Helens eruptions. The site contains information about the 1980 eruption, activity before, during, and after and previous eruptions. The site also contains maps, current hazards reports, background information and more.
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.
The Great Energy Debate
The National Geographic Society's global energy debate lesson plan explores the controversial issues surrounding the energy debate in the United States. Students will research recent initiatives being taken in this area and analyze their implications. They will then assume the roles of pivotal stakeholders in this debate and testify to a mock congressional committee responsible for making decisions about public lands and energy resources. This Starting Point website describes the learning goals
A Golden Opportunity for Science
A Golden Opportunity for Science is an educational exercise developed by the Bureau of Land Management. This exercise uses activities about gold to teach science, centering on the following information: how the pursuit of gold shaped society; metaphors, myths, lores and legends about gold; the mineral properties of gold; lode deposits and placer deposits; mining and recovery of gold; and the technology of heap leaching. There is also a debate between different interest groups involving a small g
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.
Bartending at the Two O'Clock
Employees of the Two O'Clock, a Boston strip joint, talk about their lives and work. George, a bartender, talks about what it takes to be a bartender in a place like the Two O'Clock.
Vacation II
'Connors creates a fantasy vacation in limitless circumstances by constructing a travelogue that moves from New England forests to the bottom of the sea, to outer space and to all corners of the world. The artist uses video effects such as computer-assisted animation, editing processes, and sophisticated matting techniques as metaphors for perceptual experience.' Using both miniature sets and still and moving images of various environments, Betsy Connors evokes both real and virtual spaces.
Project Skymath
Project SkyMath is a mathematics module for middle school students, developed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). The goal of the pilot project is to demonstrate that acquiring and using current environmental and real-time weather data in middle school classrooms, in ways that embrace the dynamic and the uncertain natures of these data, will promote the teaching and learning of significant mathematics, consistent with the standards set by the National Council of Teache
Digital Images: From Satellites to the Internet
Students will learn about digital images and how satellites orbiting Earth send information and pictures to Earth over the Internet.
21st Century Explorer
This site answers questions that include: Why do we want to travel to Mars? How would your body change in space? Where would a space explorer find water and oxygen? How can we travel faster in space? Student actors (on video) and hands-on activities are featured with each answer. The site is for Grades 3-5 and available in Spanish.
