Lessons

Best For
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)

Subjects
Social Studies, Language Arts, Geography

Duration
2 hours, 50 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students examine a case study of how physical features can interact with country borders to cause conflict. In this case, two countries agreed to work together to build a series of dams on the Danube River, but problems kept the project from being completed, and the conflict continues over 40 years later.  

Best For
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)

Subjects
Mathematics, Language Arts, Science, Geography

Duration
4 hours, 30 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students explore issues related to fisheries sustainability and simulate fish monitoring methods commonly used by scientists and resource managers.

Best For
Grades 7-12 (Ages 12-18)

Subjects
Social Studies, Geography

Appropriate For
T I 

Students are introduced to the physical and human features of Afghanisan.

Best For
Grades 6-12 (Ages 11-18)

Subjects
Science

Appropriate For
T I 

Students explore their own heritable behaviors and watch videos of the birds-of-paradise practicing and performing courtship displays.

Best For
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)

Subjects
Social Studies, Geography

Duration
2 hours, 30 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students gather their ideas about the land and peoples of Europe. They map and create lists of things they know about Europe and generate questions they have about the land and peoples of Europe.  

Best For
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)

Subjects
Social Studies, Science, Geography

Duration
3 hours, 20 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students use a decision-making process to explore the complex nature of real-world environmental conflicts and how they get resolved. Students will explore the geographical, cultural, and political context of the social issue within the case, identify the stakeholders and their role and impact, and map out the intended and unintended consequences from the decision that was made.

Best For
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)

Subjects
Science, Geography

Duration
2 hours, 35 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students explore major marine ecosystems by locating them on maps. Students use marine examples to learn about energy transfer through food chains and food webs. They discuss how food webs can illustrate the health and resilience of an ecosystem.

Best For
Grades 6-12+ (Ages 11+)

Subjects
Social Studies, Geography

Duration
2 hours, 20 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students watch excerpts from the film God Grew Tired of Us to learn about the Lost Boys of Sudan and the refugee experience, map the Lost Boys’ migration journey, and discuss the challenges the Lost Boys faced while adapting to life in the United States and trying to maintain their cultural identities as Dinka.  

Best For
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)

Subjects
Social Studies, Language Arts, Geography

Duration
2 hours

Appropriate For
T I 

Students research four additional examples of human geography and borders. They explore how language, culture, and religious differences affect country borders in Europe.  

Best For
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)

Subjects
Science, Language Arts, Geography

Duration
1 hour, 40 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students are introduced to the physical geography of Europe and delineate major drainage basins in Europe.  

Best For
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)

Subjects
Social Studies, Language Arts, Geography

Duration
2 hours, 40 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students research four additional examples of physical geography and borders. They explore how mountains, oceans, and islands create physical barriers that affect the country borders in Europe.  

Best For
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)

Subjects
Social Studies, Language Arts, Geography

Duration
1 hour, 40 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students think about regions and borders by determining where they would place borders in an artificial continent, based on a set of physical and cultural features of the area.

Best For
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)

Subjects
Social Studies

Duration
2 hours, 30 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students will examine the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis to evaluate Kennedy’s leadership toward Cuba during the Cold War.

Best For
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)

Subjects
Mathematics, Arts, Cross-Disciplinary, Science, Geography

Duration
8 hours

Appropriate For
T I 

Students will be inspired by James Cameron’s historic DEEPSEA CHALLENGE dive to investigate pressure and use the engineering process to design, model, test, document, evaluate, and re-design a submersible vehicle. 

Best For
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)

Subjects
Social Studies, Science, Adult and Family Literacy, Geography

Duration
4 hours, 45 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students explore Marine Protected Areas on an interactive map and compare and contrast three case studies. They learn how the MPA classification system works in the United States, apply that system to example scenarios, and create case studies of their own.

Best For
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)

Subjects
Social Studies, Science, Language Arts, Geography

Duration
12 hours

Appropriate For
T I 

Students read a case study and debate the pros and cons of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the region. Then they select a Marine Protected Area and develop and present a management plan for it.

Best For
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)

Subjects
Social Studies, Language Arts, Geography

Duration
2 hours, 30 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students are introduced to the major language and religious groups of Europe. They explore how those groups align with and/or cross country borders.  

Best For
Grades 6-12 (Ages 11-18)

Subjects
Informal Education, Science, Cross-Disciplinary, Geography

Appropriate For
T I 

Through videos and discussion, students will learn about the bird-of-paradise expeditions and how the scientists applied scientific processes in their work, and understand why the birds-of-paradise are a topic of interest to evolutionary biologists.  

Best For
Grades 6-12 (Ages 11-18)

Subjects
Informal Education, Science, Geography

Appropriate For
T I 

Through videos and sorting exercises, this lesson delves into the fascinating process and products of sexual selection: the process by which traits become more or less common depending on an individual’s ability to mate with more or better partners.

Best For
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)

Subjects
Mathematics, Arts, Cross-Disciplinary, Science, Geography

Duration
9 hours, 25 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Inspired by James Cameron’s historic DEEPSEA CHALLENGE dive, students will investigate pressure, biological adaptations, and the engineering process through hands-on activities.

Best For
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)

Subjects
Social Studies, Science, Geography

Duration
7 hours, 10 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students learn about three examples of human impacts on marine life: migration patterns and shipping, algal blooms and water chemistry, and marine debris. Some of these impacts are due to human activity in the ocean, and some impacts on the ocean are due to human activity on land.

Best For
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)

Subjects
Science, Geography

Duration
3 hours, 40 minutes

Appropriate For
T 

Students analyze videos to make observations about species, populations, and communities of organisms and discuss their symbiotic relationships. Then they create a hypothetical marine ecosystem and describe the adaptive, trophic, and symbiotic relationships between the biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem.

Best For
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)

Subjects
Mathematics, Science

Duration
3 hours, 5 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students explore the difference between weather and climate, analyze environmental conditions on Earth and other planets, and design a space probe that can withstand extreme weather on other planets.  

Best For
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)

Subjects
Social Studies, Geography

Duration
1 hour, 50 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students compare maps of European borders at three points in history: after World War I, after World War II, and the 2011 European Union (EU) countries. Students look for political borders that have changed and others that have remained the same, and compare those to what they know about cultural and physical geography in Europe and in their own state or local area.  

Best For
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)

Subjects
Social Studies, Language Arts, Geography

Duration
2 hours

Appropriate For
T I 

Students explore how language and religion have affected the borders in the United Kingdom and Ireland.  

Best For
Grades 2-5 (Ages 7-11)

Subjects
Mathematics, Science

Duration
3 hours

Appropriate For
T I 

Students investigate extreme weather on Earth and other planets, learn about instruments used to measure weather, and design a space probe that will gather weather information on another planet.

Best For
Grades 7-12 (Ages 12-18)

Subjects
Social Studies, Geography

Appropriate For
T I 

Students use maps to understand westward expansion, its impact on different groups of people, and think about the long term impact of westward expansion.

Best For
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)

Subjects
Social Studies, Science, Language Arts, Geography

Duration
2 hours, 45 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students investigate the interconnectedness of the ocean and Earth's physical and human systems through videos, discussions, writing, and mapping. They make personal connections to their own lives and are introduced to the concept of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

Best For
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)

Subjects
Social Studies, Science, Geography

Duration
1 hour, 40 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students are introduced to the idea that humans have enormous impacts on marine ecosystems and resources, and explore the stakeholders involved.

Best For
Grades 9-12 (Ages 14-18)

Subjects
Science, Geography

Duration
1 hour, 50 minutes

Appropriate For
T I 

Students build on their knowledge of individual impacts on the ocean to see how the whole system can react to threats and changes. They examine ways in which human actions throw marine ecosystems out of balance, explore the concept of how impacts can build, and review their understandings of ecosystem dynamics.