This Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) activity explores the controversy over whether or not there is life on Mars. Part of the Mysteries of Deep Space Program that originally aired in April 1997, the activity includes instructional objectives, background information, and discussion/essay questions related to life on Mars. It also features an activity where students can grow microorganisms, examine them under a microscope, and analyze their observations with the aid of follow-up questions.

This site presents an essay, timeline, video clips, and interviews examining this photographer, artist, and art impresario. Stieglitz was a powerful force in the arts of the early 20th century and an important interpreter of emerging modern culture. This web site is a companion to first full-length film biography of the photographer, Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye.

These classroom guides have been designed to help educators use the ANCESTORS IN THE AMERICAS series and companion web site in history, geography and social studies classes (grade levels 9-12). The lesson plans may also be adapted for use as stand-alone exercises.

The ANCESTORS IN THE AMERICAS companion Web site helps to round out the stories and ideas presented in this groundbreaking series. Visit the Asian American Timeline to learn about specific moments and events that shaped Asian American history. Join an online discussion to talk about the series or related topics regarding Asian Americans. Use the Resource section to further explore the Asian American experience.

In this lesson students will compare and make distinctions among 5 alternative fuels. They will understand the impact of different types of fuel on: a. the environment b. lifestyle c. the economy/personal finances of car choices. They will also use critical thinking skills to support multi-step decision-making for buying a car.

This guide is designed to take advantage of the educational information in the three-part PBS series BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (PBS airdate November 19-20, 2002), directing teacher’s to specific sections of the series relevant to the lesson plan. The lessons engage students with a media-rich environment that employs video, DVD, computers, and the Internet in addition to more traditional print resources. The lesson plans are flexible, allowing teachers to adapt the instruction to their particular needs. Pre K-12 teachers may videotape the series and use it in the classroom for one year.

In this lesson students will apply astronomy concepts to develop and test a classification system for planets; Participate in a class vote on planet classification; Read an article about astronomers' response to the planetary categorization; Discuss and write an essay about the scientist's role as decision-makers for the public.

Welcome to the CIRCLE OF STORIES lesson plans. These lessons will allow students to examine the complex and rich oral tradition of Native American storytelling, create their own stories to share, explore indigenous and Native American cultures and the issues which face them today, and research and explore their own cultural heritage by recording their unique family stories and heritage. These lessons are directed toward grades 6 through 12, for use in the following subject areas: language arts, theater, history, social studies, multicultural studies, technology, and life science.

This site tells the story of a complex, world-class physicist who became the driving force the Soviet Union's race to develop the atomic and hydrogen bomb.

The Spanish-American War was a complex and significant event that should be examined from all angles and perspectives. Students may be particularly interested in Spanish-American War issues that remain relevant today, namely the role of the media in the war and questions regarding foreign intervention. Educators are encouraged to use the film CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE: THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR to complement their lessons in history, journalism, government, and political science classrooms.

In this lesson plan, students study the biography and work of F. Scott Fitgerald. They learn how the author used autobiographical elements in writing his stories, and they try a hand at writing a Fitzgerald-style story with autobiographical elements of their own.

FATWORLD is a video game about the politics of nutrition. It explores the relationships between obesity, nutrition, and socioeconomics in the contemporary U.S. The game's goal is not to tell people what to eat or how to exercise, but to demonstrate the complex, interwoven relationships between nutrition and factors like budgets, the physical world, subsidies, and regulations.

This site tells the story of a man, a union, and a time when millions of Americans joined a just cause. The Fight in the Fields is a portrait of Cesar Chavez, the charismatic leader of the United Farmworkers Union (UFW), and the history and impact of the UFW.

This site offers several pictures of 10 buildings of the famous American architect, as well as discussion of his life and work. The site offers films clips of Wright being interviewed.

Musical theater book writers, lyricists, and composers have long looked to literature for their inspiration and subject material. In this lesson, students will compare and contrast literary works and the musicals they inspired. Utilizing video clips and Web sites, students will compare specific passages from original texts to moments in Broadway musicals on which they were based, and analyze similarities and differences between the two. As a culminating activity, students will try their hand at adapting and performing a nondramatic narrative, either as a straight play or as a musical number.
Designed for immediate use in middle and high school classrooms, these lessons -- which adhere to national learning standards -- contain comprehensive instructions for classroom implementation, downloadable student handouts, links to relevant and dynamic online resources, and suggestions for cross-curricular extensions. Feel free to adapt the lesson plans to meet your students' needs and your own curricular goals.

This lesson is designed to expose students to the various issues surrounding GMO foods and to help them understand the complexity of the issues surrounding the biotechnology movement. Students will read aloud from two NewsHour pieces, both of which involve a variety of perspectives surrounding the GMO issue. Additionally, students will try to identify GMO foods that they have consumed and discuss the "to label or not to label" debate. At home students will be surveying family and/or peers and attempting to identify GMOs they consume on a daily basis. The article entitled "Food Crisis in Zambia" will bring a more global understanding to the issue of GMOs and will get students thinking about biotechnology, globalization and ethics

Henry Luce, co-founder of Time, Inc., invented the modern magazine when he created a magazine that contained brief, accessible, image-laden news stories to fit into the hectic lives of post-war Americans. After viewing the film that covers the major periods of Luce's life, students will create a version of a "Time" magazine, a "March of Time" video, or a photo-essay that reflects Luce's journalist style. Students will also role play people throughout history who appeared on the cover of Time magazine.

This lesson plan deals with the Ancient Near East, early civilization, and early Israelite history. Use maps to explore principal geographic features of the region and to trace migration, and compare the biblical story of the flood with a similar account in the Epic of Gilgamesh. All activities focus on key concepts explored in Heritage. Lesson plans have been designed to allow teachers to select activities appropriate to the grade levels of their classes. Each plan includes teacher's resource pages and a student worksheet, which can be reproduced for distribution to the class. Historical background, instructions, and answers to the activities on the student worksheet appear in the teacher's resource pages.

It's not that uncommon for secondary school students to study the ups and downs of the stock market, but in this lesson, students will examine the economic roller coaster involved in the production of a Broadway musical. As an introduction to the lesson, students will read a series of online articles to investigate the similarities and differences between nonprofit theater production and Broadway, or commercial, theater production. They will view excerpts from the PBS series BROADWAY: THE AMERICAN MUSICAL to determine how the costs of producing on Broadway have changed over time, and to understand the economic gamble involved in the production of a contemporary musical. As a culmination of the lesson, students will write a persuasive letter describing the benefits and pitfalls of investing in either nonprofit or commercial theater.
Designed for immediate use in middle and high school classrooms, these lessons -- which adhere to national learning standards -- contain comprehensive instructions for classroom implementation, downloadable student handouts, links to relevant and dynamic online resources, and suggestions for cross-curricular extensions. Feel free to adapt the lesson plans to meet your students' needs and your own curricular goals.

In this activity students will: Investigate how triangles can be used to design bicycles; Measure lengths and angles used to make different bicycle frames;Make conjectures about angle sizes and type of bicycles.