Subject(s): Social Studies Grades(s): Junior High/High School

 

Community & Sociology:

• Here’s a brief idea to teach about the “people next door”
• This lesson plan is on society and social groups
• Sociology and social change are the subject of this great lesson plan
• This lesson helps students understand cultural differences with “The House on Mango Street”
• In this lesson, students build a web while exploring the correlation between different careers in the workforce
• This is an outline for a medical careers unit
• This Ballou High School Band Documentary Film Unit challenges students to improve their schools and community and to consider education as a civil right
• Unit Intro: The documentary film “Ballou” follows a struggling inner city school band as it overcomes obstacles and uplifts its community on the way to a national competition
• Lesson 1: Students examine Ballou High School in terms of the America’s Promise Five Point Initiative and create proposals for reducing school drop out rates
• Lesson 2: Students learn about Civil Rights Movement leaders in the film “Ballou,” discuss the impact of the movement on their education, and reflect on celebrities as role models
• Lesson 3: Here students assess their school in comparison to BHS and then send letters proposing improvements

 

• Groups solve their created town’s biggest problem here with a POOCH diagram and a multimedia presentation
• Students learn the concept of community in this well-developed photography “about me” project
• This lesson teaches students the poverty statistics of their community and challenges them to initiate solutions

Culture:

• Teach about different countries and cultures with this must-have compilation of creative ideas
• This fun hands-on lesson teaches students Spanish language and culture as they improve their Baleros skills.
• Students print meaningful geometric Adinka Design patterns in the Ashanti tradition in this multi-disciplinary lesson
• An American quilt is created here from the cultural magazine covers students made with Desktop Publishing
• The relevance of ancient Roman architecture, culture, and language are explored in this Pantheon lesson
• This is an ESL Level 3 literature lesson on culture shock
• This lesson is an introduction to Australia’s indigenous culture through poetry
• Venn diagrams are completed here comparing a Hispanic quinceañera with other rites of passage
• This lesson analyzes the cultural impact of African American folktales, songs, and hymns during the time of slavery
• Students develop a basic understanding of Buddhism and its traditions in this lesson by compiling online research into a narrated photo story

Economics & Business:

• This is an introductory economics lesson on wants, needs, resources and scarcity
• This is an economics lesson on supply curve shift factors and effects
• This dual-purpose lesson is on ratios and marketing
• Identifying different travel and tourism types is the subject of this lesson
• This hands-on idea for illustrating assembly line and mass production concepts involves sandwiches
• Use this to lead your discussion on the impact of electricity and the assembly line on business in the 1920′s
• This empowering lesson plan utilizes an economically-centered African American Board Game
• In this webquest, students explore how future global issues might affect their personal wealth
• If your students are into clothes, they will love this world economics lesson on international trade
• In this marketing lesson, students develop a company, product, marketing plan and advertisements
• This is the study guide for the Karma Tycoon On-Line Video Strategy Game sponsored by Do Something, JPMorgan Chase and 9MMEDIA. In this free and popular social entrepreneurship game, kids help their communities and learn financial responsibility running their own U.S. nonprofit organizations.
1. Unit Introduction
2. About Us
3. Karma Tycoon Program Description
4. Learning Goals and Links to Classroom Learning
5. How to Play Karma Tycoon
6. Vocabulary
7. Cities and Nonprofit Data
8. Pre-Game Lesson Plan 1 – What Is a Nonprofit Organization?
9. Pre-Game Lesson Plan 2 – City and Nonprofit Internet Learning Hunt
10. Pre-Game Lesson Plan 3 – The Importance of Managing Your Finances
11. Post-Game Lesson Plan 1 – Devising a Budget for Your Nonprofit

 

• Students present career exploration information here using Movie Maker software
• In this marketing lesson, students learn about the different stages and time spans of the fashion cycle
• In this finance lesson, groups research income and expenses, then prepare a PowerPoint budget that works
• Here students use Excel worksheets to create a personal budget

Environment – Other:

• A fun, well-developed unit on Garbage and Recycling that makes use of the Internet:
• Here’s the Project’s Lesson Outline and additional materials
• Here’s Lesson 1 which involves activities at the Recycle City website
• This one involves a scavenger hunt at Recycle City
• This part is very interesting – determine the efficiency of your lunch packaging
• Lesson 4 is on the 3 R’s of Recycling
• Lesson 5 is on landfills and how they work, involves creating a simulated landfill
• The last lesson plan involves “what you can do” – developing possible action plans

 

• This is just a set of handy questions that can be used after listening to a radio program available on the Internet on Nuclear Waste Cleanup
• Here’s an idea for using a Computer to Graph the Litter in school
• Here is a reading comprehension quiz over a Nuclear Water Contamination article
• This is a global warming lesson disguised as a measurement conversion worksheet
• Be sure to play this Airport Transition Game to review ecosystems and habitats between units
• This is a 10-day Environment Curricula from Do Something, Inc.
• Day 1: Introduction to global warming, energy conservation and how rising temperatures affect us locally
• Day 2: Students learn about greenhouse gases and the power of language
• Day 3: Students learn about the potential consequences of global warming
• Day 4: Students examine their own energy consumption and conservation
• Day 5: Students learn how schools can participate in energy conservation
• Day 6: Students compare U.S. energy use to that of other countries
• Day 7: Students explore different types of renewable energy sources
• Day 8: Students discuss pros/cons of renewable energy
• Day 9: Students debate the pros/cons of government involvement in energy conservation
• Day 10: Students present their energy conservation projects

 

• This Globalization and the Environment Unit culminates with a mock Kyoto Protocol negotiation
• This is a lesson on the effects of urban sprawl on our environmental footprint

• This multimedia unit researches and reports the facts about Environmental Injustices:
• Lesson 1 – Research the Facts
• Lesson 2 – View the PowerPoint
• Lesson 3 – Go on the WebQuest
• Lesson 4 – Create the Television Newscast
• Lesson 5 – Make the Presentation

 

• This is a four-part Environmental Unit on climate change and the water pollution problem
• Part I: The Science of Climate Change
• Part II: A Macro Plan for Climate Change
• Part III: A Personal Plan for Climate Change
• Part IV: The Water Pollution Problem

 

• Students love this Earth Day Jeopardy game activity
• ESL students create a recycling brochure in this SIOP lesson
• Sustainability posters with recycling, composting, water conservation, organic gardening, repurposing and biofuel facts are created by groups here

Family:

• This lesson to teach family concepts develops a “family resume”
• A family tree using scanned-in photos is the outcome of this lesson idea
• Titled “This Is Your Life,” this lesson involves a family tree, interviewing, childhood treasures, and writing
• In this holiday idea, students present a family report and collage
• Here is another family tree activity
• Students create a narrated video family tree photo story from a template in this lesson

Geography – Nations:

• Here students create a PowerPoint on the history, art, literature, and culture of a Spanish-speaking country

Geography – Nations – Costa Rica:

• This is a product country of origin research chart idea

Geography – US:

• This 50 States Research Project helps students learn more about the different parts of the US
• Students communicate electronically here while photographing local geography for PowerPoint presentations

Geography – World:

• This “Wagon Trail” idea is for learning about the geography, history, etc. of different nations
• This idea is for studying other countries and is called “See The World”
• This Canadian lesson plan uses a quiz game to discuss aboriginal land treaties
• Your students will love exploring the USA and the world with this cartogram lesson from SHOW®
• This lesson explores nationalism, regionalism, and their roles in shaping the political boundaries of Europe
• Students map, interpret and analyze the growth of Islam here, incorporating the concepts of location, diffusion, and population distribution

Geography – World History:

• Here’s a large, well-developed unit on The Renaissance:
• Here’s the outline for the unit
• Here’s an introduction to The Renaissance
• Part 2 is on Writing Styles of the Renaissance
• Lesson 3 is on Timelines and Creating them
• Lesson 4 focuses on the Copernican Revolution
• This Writing lesson is on the Autobiography and Training of a Guildsperson
• The last lesson is on Shakespeare

 

• Here is a large, well-developed lesson plan on the Holocaust
• This lesson plan is on “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes” and Japanese History
• Students study the geography, politics, and people of Afghanistan in this lesson
• This fun activity is for teaching about the Canadian Gold Rush
• “A Taste of Canadian Confederation” teaches a little Canadian history
• This is an outstanding differentiated learning project about Ancient Egypt
• In this lesson, students will experience Tiananmen Square
• Here students create a political cartoon illustrating imperialism prior to WWI
• This is a lecture about “The Enlightenment” for AP European History
• Students create a medieval crusade journal here after reading a story about Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
• “Chessays” are a collection of chess-related essay ideas especially useful when teaching creative writing, British literature or medieval history units
• Groups make PowerPoint presentations in this unit on ancient Greece and its cultural contributions to the modern world
• This is a well-developed lesson plan on the background, course, and consequences of the Holocaust
• Students write a compare/contrast paper on Elsie Wiesel’s “Night” and the Holocaust movie “Life is Beautiful” in this well-developed lesson
• Here students write a parody of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” covering a year, decade, or historical period

Geography – Other:

• Here is a geography lesson on ideas and culture
• This is a brief lesson idea called “Travel The USA”
• This lesson idea is on journeys and preparation for them
• This lesson idea is called “Who Needs Geography?”
• “Lovely Rivers” is a lesson idea about river songs
• This geography map competition idea helps students quickly learn the names of countries, states, landforms, etc.
• In the lesson, students apply social studies & math skills to plan a field trip
• Students create an Inspiration diagram here linking major processes (government decisions/environmental events) with their impact on different world regions
• Google Maps and Google Earth are used here to study plate tectonics and the corresponding locations of earthquakes and volcanoes

Government:

• Here’s an idea for creating a Bill of Rights Mural
• This brief lesson idea covers Federalism, Separation of Powers, and Checks and Balances
• The US Constitution and the Executive Branch are the subject of this lesson
• This lesson looks at “How a Bill Becomes Law”
• Here’s some information, discussion topics, and activities that look at whether we need a new Constitutional Convention
• Posing as 1788 journalists, students create a newspaper front page to share their viewpoints on the ratification of the constitution
• In this election idea, students make “T” charts of the candidate’s views on issues, and vote based on “Just the Facts”
• This is an outstanding presidential campaign/electoral college lesson where students forecast the electoral college votes
• Here are two election/constitution worksheets concerning the Executive Branch and political parties
• This electoral college lesson focuses on representation in democracies
• After watching the State of the Union address, seniors write a “State of My Union” speech here
• This is a 10-lesson Teen Voting/Civic Engagement Unit from Do Something, Inc.
• Students learn about why people get involved in their communities
• Students will discuss the role of citizens in a democracy
• Students learn about the system of representation in a democracy
• Students learn how holding a political office effects change
• Students learn about social capital and how to use networking for civic action
• Students learn how cartoons and satire raise concerns about an issue
• Students learn about the strategies of unionizing and boycotting
• Students learn how jury duty is a type of civic engagement
• Students learn how the written word is a method of civic action
• Students learn how speeches can gather support for community change

 

• This is a lesson on voting and holding office
• This is an outline of an election lesson
• Here students tackle social issues after creating their own country with pictures and video
• This is a lesson on persuasive techniques commonly used in political advertising
• Here students learn through an Inspiration software presentation “How a Bill becomes a Law”
• Students create a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation illustrating the Bill of Rights amendments here in their unique personal style

Morals & Life Skills:

• This lesson on Concept Formation involves Equality Under the Law
• A nice Thanksgiving lesson plan encouraging us to be Thankful for what we have
• This is a graphic organizer that students use to research corporate companies and benefits
• This is a personal finance lesson on buying your first car
• This is a 10-lesson School Violence Unit from
  Do Something, Inc.
• Students will be introduced to the unit and learn the definition of bullying
• Students will learn about bullying in the news and take on the perspective of someone being bullied
• Students will explore the differences and similarities of female and male violence
• Students will talk about safety in their own schools
• Students will learn about gangs and the theory of groupthink
• Students will learn about diffusion of responsibility and discuss how they should play a role in protecting others
• Students will learn about the principal of diffusion of responsibility and techniques that can help them if they are ever a victim of violence
• Students will investigate zero tolerance laws and learn about the difficulties schools face when deciding how to handle school violence
• Students will learn about how to find inner strength and cope with bullying
• Students will launch an anti-bullying campaign in their school

 

• This is a 15-day School Violence Art Curricula Unit from Do Something, Inc.
• Students explore the use of abstract shapes and the feelings they evoke
• Students learn about the emotional and physiological affects of color
• Jackson Pollack – Students explore the use of line to convey emotion
• Goya and Picasso – Students explore two paintings and their use of shapes
• Students explore the power of words in art
• Tree of Decisions – Students explore different choices and outcomes and use the branching pattern
• Students learn to use visual language to have a conversation
• Keith Haring Figures Part I – students work together to create a mural modeling cooperation and conflict resolution
• Keith Haring Figures Part II
• Keith Haring Figures Part III
• Keith Haring Figures Part IV
• Safe Carriers Part I – Students use modern packaging materials to create a safe place
• Safe Carriers Part II
• Safe Carriers Part III
• Students create artwork based on their knowledge of line, shape, color, words and emotion

 

• This is a Cherokee Tale of Good and Evil – Which one will win?
• This is a career guidance lesson on how to interpret EXPLORE test results
• “American Political Culture” is a values and rights poll that will definitely stimulate classroom debate
• Be sure to tell your kids these “10 Benefits of Homework”
• In this college readiness lesson, students investigate characteristics universities, internship and scholarship organizations seek in an applicant; create a short photo story illustrating their qualifications, and identify additional activities that could enhance their resume
• Students create a 30-second photo story commercial for their personal hero in this hero vs. hero worship lesson
• Students define “What is a hero?” to determine “Who is a hero?” by those criteria in this kinetic activity and on-line essay assignment
• This classroom behavior modification idea was inpired by the movie “Groundhog’s Day”
  

News & Current Events:

• Here is a geography lesson on current events
• This is a lesson on political cartoons
• This is a current events blog resource
• These global issues lessons can be use together or individually:
• This idea has students summarizing a global current events newspaper article on a weekly basis
• Here students tackle social issues after creating their own country with pictures and video
• In this webquest, students explore how future global issues might affect their personal wealth

 

• In this unit, students serve on the United Nations Human Rights Council and develop a statement on Darfur
• Students craft “double entry responses” in their personal reading or current events journal here

Research:

• This fun scavenger hunt idea takes place on a computer (with any good reference CD-ROM)
• This multi-disciplinary lesson has students research the geography and cultural history of an area while creating a travel journal on a budget
• In this class research lesson, students find historical quotes matching their alphabet letter
• This “Youth and the Civil Rights Movement” research project uses Kuhlthau’s ISP and subject directories
• This is a multidisciplinary research unit on Igor Stravinsky

US History – Native Americans:

• Here are several good ideas for a unit on the Trail of Tears
• These ideas explore the complex relationships between Native Americans and European Settlers
• These Native American “leather” stories make a great Thanksgiving hallway display
• This webquest uses different search engines to research pro and con opinions on the changing of school Native American mascot names
• Here students debate “Was Westward Expansion beneficial?” after studying the effects of Manifest Destiny on the growth of the United States and the decline of Native Americans living in the Great Plains
• This is a lesson on Westward Expansion and Native American displacement

US History – People:

• This lesson idea is on Ben Franklin, his virtues, and virtues for the 21st Century
• This lesson is on John F. Kennedy, the 1960 election (compared to the 2000 election), and foreign policy
• Students research about others and write biography poems in this lesson idea
• This lesson explores the influence Langston Hughes and his poetry had on history
• Here students design a stamp to commemorate the life of Thomas Jefferson
• This is an African-American history research scavenger hunt
• Students create a Photo Story 3 biography of Abraham Lincoln here focusing on the Civil War years
• This resume writing for teens lesson can also be used for historical character analysis
• This digital storytelling lesson also encourages students to use personal pictures to tell the story of an historical person

US History – War:

• This lesson is for creating a PowerPoint Presentation on the Revolutionary War
• Although not a lesson plan, this brief idea provides some good information for teaching about Pearl Harbor
• This idea is called “Veterans In My Family” and is great for Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day
• Information, Discussion Topics, and Activities that help answer the question “What Is Terrorism?”
• Students Record and Mix their own World War II Radio Broadcast in this Social Studies / Technology lesson
• This inspirational lesson about student activism in WWII can serve as a catalyst for student activism today
• This is a lesson on the origins of World War II, complete with worksheets
• Here’s a Civil War virtual vield trip that also involves a Hyperstudio presentation
• This lesson covers the beginning of the American Civil War
• To demonstrate their Civil War knowledge, students write a diary entry or letter from the period, in this lesson
• This revives a WWII idea of sending “Pocket Poems” to our troops
• This is a WebQuest on the American Revolution
• This Civil War lesson includes great details on setting up group PowerPoint presentations
• This is a lesson on the significant leaders of the U.S. Civil War
• Here students debate, rank, and present causes of the Civil War in timeline order
• Students read about the rights of pre-1760 colonists here and design “Go Britain” bumper stickers
• Students create a propaganda piece here and write about an American Revolutionary War colonist who is influenced by it
• In this thought-provoking lesson, students write letters to soldiers and apply critical thinking to the subject of war
• After reading about the causes of WWI, students make pro- and anti-war posters here and defend their positions
• This technology-based unit on the institution of slavery incorporates PowerPoint, a WebQuest, and Inspiration software
• This PowerPoint lecture is titled “On the Backs of Slaves”
• This is an “Underground Railroad” WebQuest
• In “Path of a Slave,” students make PowerPoint presentations mapping the journey of a slave from Africa to the Thirteen Colonies.
• In “Inspiration to Map Slavery,” students chart the process of slavery including the Triangle Trade Route, regions of slavery, reasons, consequences, etc. using Inspiration software

 

• Visual learners gain understanding of the contributions of FDR and Churchill to World War II’s conclusion here with the help of modern day technology
• Students create a Civil War digital diorama here, showing how physical and human geographic factors can affect a war’s outcome
• “Voices Through Time: Character and Characteristics of the Kansas-Missouri Border War” provides AP students with an in-depth understanding of the people, places and events that marched our nation to Civil War
• This is a lesson plan about the causes of World War I, Wilson’s Fourteen Points, and ethnic and nationalistic biases in propaganda
• After choosing from this great list of Vietnam War topics, students conduct their own original research and write a paper on the subject

US History – Other:

• This one is on Colonization of the English Colonies
• This lesson is on Black History Month
• Here’s a lesson on the Toponomy of the 13 Colonies
• Here’s a well developed Internet Project for teaching about the Civil Rights Movement
• This idea involves Research, Writing and creating a Time Capsule covering the 20th Century
• An advanced, well-developed lesson plan on US Foreign Policy in the 1970s and at the turn of the new millennium
• In this lesson students look at the Original Sources of Historical Facts
• This lesson looks at the Jamestown Colony and Fact Vs. Fiction
• The following is a lesson on The Great Gatsby and the 1920s:
• Here is the Project Description
• This section discusses more about the Magazine Project
• An information page on Prohibition
• An information page on Famous People of the 1920s
• An information page on the Jazz Age
• Here’s information about the Automobile in the 1920s
• Information on the 1920s Trends – Fashion

 

• Here’s a fun History Project called “We Didn’t Start The Fire”
• Here are some instructional ideas using “Super Pop-Up Reports for American History”
• Here’s a good filler idea called “Today in History”
• Explore the Roaring Twenties with this lecture, some research and role playing
• In this civil rights lesson, students experience what discrimination is like
• This similar civil rights lesson is based on the movie “Remember the Titans”
• This is a “how barbed wire changed the West” lesson activity
• Students create a state history PowerPoint presentation in this lesson
• Here students demonstrate their knowledge of space exploration during the Cold War with Photo Story 3
• This lesson on “passing” is part of a discrimination unit on strategies people used and still use to obtain equal rights and equal access to benefits
• Students work with primary sources here to evaluate the efficacy of arguments and tactics used by woman suffragists
• Here students discuss Massachusetts Bay Colony source material about the trial of Ann Hutchinson on a class website discussion board
• Students democratically draft ten amendments to create a classroom Bill of Rights in this lesson
• This excellent lesson on Freedom Riders and the “We Shall Overcome” civil rights anthem teaches the historical power of music, the impact individuals can have on society and society’s responsibility to protect the rights of all

Other / Multiple Topics:

• A high school lesson plan for students in child development/care classes – creating fun Holiday ideas for children
• This idea is on “Radio Stars” and involves the students Acting as Radio Personalities
• An interesting lesson plan on marketing a product, including making commercials
• Here are some worksheet ideas to be used before beginning a lesson
• Titled “Personal Text,” students write their own social studies textbooks as they learn in this lesson
• Here students make a class timeline after a history course
• This is a psychology lesson on levels and characteristics of mental retardation
• This well-developed idea uses a museum analogy to explain “What will be learning this year”
• Here students are taught to use symbols when taking Social Studies notes
• Students explore, contrast and debate the role of an ally to a country or person here
• “Deep Sea Exploration” is a history unit wrap-up or introductory activity

Art Connections:

• In this idea for Coping with Terrorism, students make a Flag from Sept. 11th Newspaper Clippings
• Photography is the subject of this lesson involving Dorthea Lange’s Migrant Mother
• This lesson on Violence involves creating Memorials for September 11th through Poems & Painting
• A good Art-focused lesson on Painting, the Elements of Light, and Studying Countries
• A unique lesson plan on African Jewelry Making
• Students make Puppets of their favorite Artists and look at art’s importance in society in this lesson
• This outstanding 3-week multi-discipline fresco art unit features lessons on painters, symmetry, pigment, color wheel, primary colors, Italian Renaissance, solutions, chromatography, molecules, and atoms; plus a good museum education bibliography.
• In this art history project, students present an artist to the class with a short speech, poster/PowerPoint, and original art in the artist’s style
• If your school hasn’t made a flag on the fence with paper cups yet, you really should try this idea!
• This Modern American Abstract Art history lesson is also a good civil rights/Black History Month lesson
• This non-objective art history lesson shows how current events influences art
• This is an integrated aboriginal dot painting lesson plan
• Still life contour drawings are changed into an abstract collage here utilizing cubist techniques
• Here students generate object art in the manner of Wayne Thiebaud and other 1960s pop artists

Computers & Internet Connections:

• Students can learn about the presidents with this great technology lesson
• Students research, create, and present a PowerPoint of the dance of a country and how it relates to its culture here
• Here students study multimedia persuasion techniques and use them to create a Photo Story 3 advertisement

Language Arts Connections:

• A high school lesson on 20th Century Literature
• This lesson plan is on Canada’s Nortwest Rebellion and uses the poem “Dialectics”
• An interesting lesson involving “Hoboes” and Poetry which is called “Communication Arts”
• Here are some Reading and Writing ideas collectively called “The Hat Connection”
• This lesson on the Colonial Period involves Creative Writing and Creating Cameo Portraits
• The History of Radio for Communication and Entertainment is the topic of this lesson
• This isn’t a lesson plan, but you may find this Charles Dickens Internet Scavenger Hunt to be helpful
• Here’s another Internet Scavenger Hunt, this one on Shakespeare
• A good lesson on delivering Persuasive Speeches (as Presidential Candidates) that also teaches Presidential History
• This great International Pen Pal idea helps students combat terrorism in a significant way
• Students create a travel brochure to an imaginary or actual place in this lesson
• Students will create a picture book biography in this thorough 7-day unit
• A graphic organizer is used in this American literature lesson to compare and contrast freedom themed texts
• Here students research a key American poet’s relationship to an American literary era
• Students explore popular genres of Spanish-language music in this Spanish II lesson
• This George “W” Bush movie writing assignment taps issues of the presidency, invasion of privacy, international relations, etc.
• This “sea shanty” poetry lesson relates to the time of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick
• Students produce a fairy tale or historical photo story here told from a different perspective
• Here a topic-centered newspaper is created using a template
• This is a model for a persuasive essay based on a press conference question asked of President Obama

Math Connections:

• Here the slope formula helps students analyze population trends in a local county
• Groups present a multimedia digital story about a selected biome here including non-copyrighted art and music

Music Connections:

• This lesson on Composers & History is called Look, Listen, & Learn and can be taught without saying a word!
• Music in relation to history is the topic of this contemporary classical music lesson
• Here a Student Representative Council For The Bands is created

Physical Education / Health Connections:

• Students role-play about providing cheap medications to poor countries in this Globalization and World Health Unit
• This is an outline for an integrated First-Aid Unit

Science Connections:

• In this lesson, students build a car using an index card
• This technology lesson looks at inventions and discovery and makes use of PowerPoint
• In this multidisciplinary lesson, students use K’NEX to design and build a bridge
• This is a lesson on careers in the health field
• Here is a lesson on Ville Diagram neural activity

Now You Can: