Amending the Constitution was never meant to be simple. Although thousands of amendments have been discussed since the original document was approved in 1788, there are now only 27 amendments in the Constitution.
Amy Guglielmo, Jacqueline Tourville, and Giselle Potter tell the story of autism advocate Dr. Temple Grandin’s childhood and her quest to experience the sensation of a hug. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Students will work to develop an assistive technology solution for people with autism. Alternatively, students may develop assistive technology solutions for students with differing abilities. Students are encouraged to work with peers in a local special education classroom to combine their love of technology and engineering to help positively influence their peers’ lives.
A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.
Find your congressmen
In this video segment adapted from NOVA: Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, learn how modern genetics and molecular biology offer compelling support for evolution. The video features an interview with biologist Ken Miller.
Students will explore the spatial patterns of the Human Development Index (HDI) to identify regional patterns and causal factors in the data.
GeoInquiries are designed to be fast and easy-to-use instructional resources that incorporate advanced web mapping technology. Each 15-minute activity in a collection is intended to be presented by the instructor from a single computer/projector classroom arrangement. No installation, fees, or logins are necessary to use these materials and software.
This activity is about learning to avoid emotional volcanic eruptions and their consequences. Learning to control emotions takes intention, planning and practice.
Basic overview of capital and human capital. Created by Sal Khan.
Explore the mechanics of hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages, which are a blend of a fixed rate mortgage and an adjustable rate in this video, including how they work and when they might be advantageous.
Basic of hyperinflation. Weimar Germany, Hungarian Pengo and Zimbabwean Dollar. Created by Sal Khan.
In this project, students perform a viewshed analysis to determine the visual impact of a wind farm with four large turbines in a study area in England. A viewshed is the area visible from a specific vantage point. Viewshed analysis shows areas where observers can see an object or objects, or conversely, areas that can be seen from those objects. Although a complete wind farm analysis would examine other factors as well, these lessons focus on the visual impact assessment portion of the analysis. Students assess the visual impacts of building the wind farm by generating maps of zones of theoretical visibility under various assumptions.
The familiar children’s tune “If You’re Happy and You Know It” can take on a pro-social dimension if you change the lyrics. Singing “If you’re angry and you know it” provides an opportunity to explore appropriate responses to anger.
Students will identify how Martin Luther King Jr's dream of nonviolent conflict-resolution is reinterpreted in modern texts. Homework is differentiated to prompt discussion on how nonviolence is portrayed through characterization and conflict. Students will be formally assessed on a thesis essay that addresses the Six Kingian Principles of Nonviolence.
Students will analyze census data and graphs that demonstrate how certain aspects of the lives of African-Americans have changed since civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. Students will select a fact from these data, facts from other sources, and a historical photograph to include on a poster about King.
The initial public offering of our online sock company. Created by Sal Khan.
This collection uses primary sources to explore Ida B. Wells and anti-lynching activism. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.
Ideologies of political parties in the United States. General views of liberals (generally associated with the Democratic Party) and conservatives (generally associated with the Republican Party).
How conservatives, liberals and libertarians think about government intervention for social issues.
This activity is designed to accompany the contextual essay “‘I’m No Lady, I’m a Member of Congress’: Women Pioneers on Capitol Hill, 1917–1934,” from the Women in Congress website, history.house.gov/ exhibition-and publications/wic/women-in-congress/. Students have the opportunity to learn more about the women who served in Congress from 1917 to 1934. Students are encouraged to analyze the role women Representatives and Senators played in Congress during this era, as well as the ways in which they may have changed the institution.
This collection uses primary sources to explore immigration to the US and immigrant Americanization between 1880 and 1930. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.
Students match primary sources to the reasons individuals immigrated to the United States.