Changes in Southern Politics
The political landscape in the South underwent significant change during the twentieth century. Political and social change in Southern states was directly connected to some of the landmark events of American history, particularly the Civil Rights Movement. An understanding of the role of politics in the South is essential to comprehension of the history and culture of the region.
The oral histories in this site illuminate changes in Southern politics from the end of the Civil War up to the pre
Comparing and Contrasting Political Change through Map Making
In this lesson, students will work in cooperative groups to compare and contrast the following presidential elections: 1876, 1896, 1948, 1964, 1972, 1980, and 2008 through the creation of political maps. In addition, each group will provide explanations of campaign platforms for different political parties, voting patterns, and why the election is important for understanding changes in Southern Politics. Students will then present their map and detailed explanations to the class.
Electronic Statistics Textbook
This Electronic Statistics Textbook offers training in the understanding and application of statistics. The material was developed at the StatSoft R&D department based on many years of teaching undergraduate and graduate statistics courses and covers a wide variety of applications, including laboratory research (biomedical, agricultural, etc.), business statistics and forecasting, social science statistics and survey research, data mining, engineering and quality control applications, and many o
History of Evolutionary Thought
This subsite of the University of California's Museum of Paleontology Evolution site for teachers, discusses the development of the modern understanding of evolution from the late Renaissance to the present. The website contains useful information regarding evolutionary thought that is accessed through a clickable timeline. The website allows users to explore the four disciplinary areas that have contributed to the current understanding of evolution: Earth's history, life's history, mechanisms o
The Snowball Earth
This website contains an informational paper by Paul Hoffman and Daniel Schragg at Harvard University. The paper describes many lines of evidence supporting a theory that the entire Earth was ice-covered 600-700 million years ago. Each glacial period lasted for millions of years and ended violently under extreme greenhouse conditions. These climate shocks triggered the evolution of multicellular animal life, and challenge long-held assumptions regarding the limits of global change. Users can rea
Introduction to Computer Science: Programming Abstractions
This course is the natural successor to Programming Methodology and covers such advanced programming topics as recursion, algorithmic analysis, and data abstraction using the C++ programming language, which is similar to both C and Java. If you've taken the Computer Science AP exam and done well (scored 4 or 5) or earned a good grade in a college course, Programming Abstractions may be an appropriate course for you to start with, but often Programming Abstractions (Accelerated) is a better choic
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).
Eye of the Beholder: Using Newsreel Primary Sources
This lesson introduces students to newsreel as primary source.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.
Elementary Statistics
Elementary Statistics is an introduction to data analysis course that makes use of graphical and numerical techniques to study patterns and departures from patterns. The student studies randomness with emphasis on understanding variation, collects information in the face of uncertainty, checks distributional assumptions, tests hypotheses, uses probability as a tool for anticipating what the distribution of data may look like under a set of assumptions, and uses appropriate statistical models to
The Earth and Beyond: Distinguishing the most important groups of materials
Learners respond confidently to their desire to learn about natural phenomena; they investigate relationships and solve problems within the context of science, technology and the environment. In this activity, learners will show an understanding of the interrelationships between science and technology, society and the environment.
Introduction to Political Philosophy
This course is intended as an introduction to political philosophy as seen through an examination of some of the major texts and thinkers of the Western political tradition. Three broad themes that are central to understanding political life are focused upon: the polis experience (Plato, Aristotle), the sovereign state (Machiavelli, Hobbes), constitutional government (Locke), and democracy (Rousseau, Tocqueville). The way in which different political philosophies have given expression to various
Listening to Music
This course fosters the development of aural skills that lead to an understanding of Western music. The musical novice is introduced to the ways in which music is put together and is taught how to listen to a wide variety of musical styles, from Bach and Mozart, to Gregorian chant, to the blues.
The Roman Empire: introducing some key terms
This unit will define basic concepts and terms that are essential for an understanding of the culture and identity of the Roman empire. Terms such as ‘Roman empire’ and ‘imperium’ will be introduced in the context of the formation and expansion of the empire, and the unit will provide you with the background ...
Oil industry in Scotland: making photographs, making demands
The oil industry is perhaps the archetypal globalised industry, and it is this global scale that poses the challenge. How can the full dimensions of the oil industry be adequately represented in a photograph? This unit looks at a series of photographs mad
Understanding Children - taster materials
This Unit provides an overview of Open University Course Y156 Understanding Children. You will be introduced to the types of activities, tasks and assignments that you would be asked to undertake if you were to enrol on the course.
Becoming a critical social work practitioner
What does it take to become a critical practitioner in social work? This unit will guide you through some important concepts. An understanding of ‘critical perspectives’ will help you take a positive and constructive approach to problems that arise in
Studying mammals: food for thought
Who were our ancestors? How are apes and humans related? And where does the extinct Homo erectus fit into the puzzle? In this unit we will examine culture, tool use and social structure in both apes and humans to gain an understanding of where we come fro
Understanding society
This unit will give you a taste of the types of activities, tasks and assignments that you would be asked to undertake on Open University course Y157 Understanding society. After studying this unit you should have a much better idea whether this course is
Welsh history and its sources
This unit is a teaching and learning resource for anyone interested in Welsh history. It contains study materials, links to some of the most important institutions that contribute to our understanding of the history of Wales, and a pool of resources that













