“This was the best money I have ever spent on a teaching tool.” ~ a teacher in Wisconsin
Students will show how their capital city is a combination of natural and human-designed features.
First, students will learn about three capital cities before researching a city of their choosing. They’ll looking at how a city is a combination of natural and human-designed features.
Next, they will use the same worksheet to explain their own capital city’s natural and human-designed features. They will also create a basic map of their city.
Students will create symbols for their civilization’s coins.
First students research an existing country’s coins.
Then, they develop some coins of their own, including the name, denomination, designs, and the significance of those designs.
Students will learn about the study of flags, analyze existing flags, and then develop their own symbolic flag for their civilization.
First, students group existing flags into 3 – 5 categories of their choosing.
Then, they research the symbolism of a few of those flags.
Next, they design their own flag, based on one of the categories from step one.
They can develop a variant flag that is used for a specific purpose within their civilization.
Students explain how their civilization moved from a government where power was in the hands of the few to a government controlled by the people.
Students will create a new calendar for their civilization.
Students will think about the technology that enabled their civilization to move from a hunter and gatherer society to one built around agriculture. They’ll identify their crop and consider the new jobs that their surplus helped create.
Students will develop a realistic river for their civilization.
Students pick the location and resources for their civilization.
Students will determine what makes a hero a hero.
Are those people painting the Brooklyn Bridge?
First, students will learn about the painters maintaining the Brooklyn Bridge in 1914, next they will discover the purpose of their work to protect the steel cables from rust, then they will understand how paint plays a crucial role in preserving the structure, and finally they will discuss the color of the paint used.
Students will judge with criteria to decide which mythological creature is the winner.
First, students work through the initial round of the tournament.
Then, they complete the remaining rounds and decide on their winner!
Students will judge with criteria to decide which domesticated animal is the champion.
First, students work through the initial round of the tournament.
Then, they complete the remaining rounds and decide on their winner!
Students will analyze word parts with the same meaning across multiple languages.
First, students pick a handful of languages and use Google Translate to understand how those languages make a word into its opposite.
Then, students note patterns and investigate how other languages make “person who” words.
After noting another round of patterns, students can pick their own word parts to investigate in the other languages.
After categorizing existing structures and evaluating which structure best represents its category, students will design their own structure that fits one of their categories.
Students will make a list of famous structures from around the world, representing all continents.
They’ll group those structures into 3 to 5 categories based on any characteristic they’d like (except location!).
After naming their groups from last time, students will pick one winning structure from each group that best represents that group.
Finally, students will pick a single winning structure and design a new structure that they think will outdo the current winner.
Here’s a very large statue of an Egyptian Pharaoh being reassembled.
Students will judge with criteria and decide which of these eight wonders deserves to become the Eighth Wonder of the World.
First, students work through the initial round of the tournament.
Then, they complete the remaining rounds and decide on their winner!
Students will judge with criteria and determine which of these pieces of exploration technology wins the tournament.
First, students work through the initial round of the tournament.
Then, they complete the remaining rounds and decide on their winner!
Students work through a tournament to determine which of these inventions is most influential? Least useful today? Most taken-for-granted?
First, students work through the initial round of the tournament.
Then, they complete the remaining rounds and decide on their winner!
Students will analyze examples and non-examples to deduce the topic: Capital Cities.
First, students get a set of items categorized in two groups.
Then they get a set of ungrouped items. Which columns will they go in?
Finally, I reveal the topic: each example is a capital city.
Students will analyze examples and non-examples to deduce the topic: Countries vs Smaller Regions.
First, students get a set of items categorized in two groups.
Then they get a set of ungrouped items. Which columns will they go in?
Finally, I reveal the topic: Countries vs Smaller Regions.
Students will research and analyze four nations in Africa, finding at least one reason why each one is not like the others.
Research Liberia, Libya, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and explain why each nation is unique.
Discover how Liberia speaks English, Libya borders the Mediterranean, Ethiopia has a 13-month calendar and was never colonized, and the DRC is home to gorillas.
Students will analyze examples and non-examples to deduce the topic of archipelagos.
First, students get a set of examples and non-examples to analyze.
Then they get a set of ungrouped items. Which are examples and which are non-examples?
Finally, I reveal the topic.
Students will analyze graphs showing how three countries’ populations have aged over 70 years.
First, students notice changes in the age of the United States’ population from 1950 to 2020.
Next, they look at the US, Japan, and Afghanistan’s age graphs together, finding similarities and differences.
Finally, they consider what unique needs each population would have in 2020 and create a business idea to serve that need.
Students will compare the population of a country with that country’s total Olympic medal count and look for patterns.
Students pick 5 to 7 countries and look up the populations and counts.
Next, they calculate medals per million for each country.
Finally, they analyze their data and look for patterns. Would those patterns continue across other countries?
Students will create and analyze a graph showing countries’ winter and summer Olympic medals.
Students pick a handful of countries and then predict which ones will be stronger in winter or summer or about even.
Next, they find the summer and winter medal totals for each country.
Then, they create a graph and plot each country using the medal data as coordinates.
Finally, they check their predictions and then give each country an award based on their medal counts.
Students will research and analyze four microstates in Europe, finding at least one reason why each one is not like the others.
Research four European microstates and explain why each one is unique.
Discover how Monaco is packed with millionaires, Andorra has two rulers, Vatican City has ATMs in Latin, and Malta is an archipelago with a Semitic language.
Students will analyze four US states and decide why each one is not like the others.
Research Washington, California, Florida, and Rhode Island and explain why each state is unique.
Discover how Washington has a temperate rainforest, California has exclusive redwood trees, Florida borders both the Gulf and the Atlantic, and Rhode Island was one of the original 13 colonies.
Students will analyze four mountains and determine why each is unique.
Research four mountains and explain why each one is unique.
Discover how Mount Rainier is a volcano named after a cherry, Denali reclaimed its original name, the Matterhorn is a Swiss national monument, and Vinicunca is famous for its rainbow stripes.
This is probably the oldest desert on Earth. That river is its border.
Students will come up with at least one reason why each of these four countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia) is not like the others.
Research the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia and explain why each country is unique.
Students will analyze examples and non-examples to deduce the topic: monarchies vs democracies.
First, students get a set of items categorized in two groups.
Then they get a set of ungrouped items. Which columns will they go in?
Finally, I reveal the topics – constitutional monarchies vs democracies.
Students will research and analyze US Presidents from the 19th century, finding at least one reason why each one is not like the others.
First, students will explain why each of the four 19th-century US presidents is different from the others, next they will gather deeper information, then they will cite their sources, and finally they will note any surprising patterns they observed among the presidents.
First, students will learn that James Buchanan never married, next they will find out that Andrew Johnson was impeached, then they will discover that Ulysses S. Grant was a Civil War general, and finally they will understand that Rutherford B. Hayes’s election was decided by a special commission.
Students will research and analyze four US Presidents, finding at least one reason why each one is not like the others.
Research four twentieth-century US presidents and explain why each one is unique.
Discover how Wilson had a PhD, LBJ was never elected to his first term, Eisenhower was a five-star general, and Carter was a peanut farmer.
Students will research and analyze four 20th century, US Presidents, finding at least one reason why each one is not like the others.
Research four twentieth-century US presidents and explain why each one is unique.
Discover how FDR served more than two terms, JFK won a Pulitzer Prize, Nixon resigned from office, and Reagan had a Hollywood career.
Students will research and analyze four microstates in Europe, finding at least one reason why each one is not like the others.
Research four European microstates and explain why each one is unique.
Discover how Monaco is packed with millionaires, Andorra has two rulers, Vatican City has ATMs in Latin, and Malta is an archipelago with a Semitic language.
Students will write at least one reason why each part of the US Federal Government is not like the others.
Research the branches of the US federal government and explain why each one is unique.
Discover how the executive branch is elected by the public, the judicial branch serves for life, and the legislative branch splits into the House and Senate with distinct powers like impeachment and confirmation.
Students will decide which president advances in this subjective tournament.
First, students work through the initial round of the tournament.
Then, they complete the remaining rounds and decide on their winner!
Students will research and analyze four US presidents, finding at least one reason why each one is not like the others.
Research four founding-era US presidents and explain why each one is unique.
Discover how Washington served in a war, Adams never owned slaves, Jefferson was a state governor, and Madison served in Congress.
Students explain how their civilization moved from a government where power was in the hands of the few to a government controlled by the people.
What are all of these black and white shapes?!
A packet of activities to go deep into the 13 Colonies.
Students will think from two perspectives to discuss an important decision from history.
First, students will list what they consider their historic person’s most important decisions.
Next, they’ll pick the one decision they think is most controversial – not a bad decision, but a decision people could debate.
Then they’ll think from two perspectives who would disagree over this decision. Students will write out the main arguments of both sides.
Finally, they’ll write out a conversation between those two perspectives and end with a big idea – a statement both people could agree on.
A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Students will develop an online conversation between people involved in the same event from history.
Students will design an app to help a historical figure to accomplish their goals more efficiently.