Defining Drought
Science NetLinks | Lesson Plan | 9-12
Drought affects humans, animals, and plants. Humans can change the course of the water cycle, to some extent, to meet their needs, but can they do so without imposing risks on the plants and animals?

Down at the Shore
History Explorer | Lesson Plan | K-4
In this activity, students will find and explore a local maritime area-a river, seashore, or another place related to the water, and share the experience with others. The activity guide includes printable tip sheets tailored to help you explore different kinds of water-related areas.

Great Rivers 1: The Nature of Great Rivers
Science NetLinks | Lesson Plan | 6-8
Students will explore why great rivers don’t run dry—that the water cycle supplies them more-or-less continuously.

Great Rivers 2: The Ups and Downs of River Flooding
Science NetLinks | Lesson Plan | 6-8
This lesson helps students understand that rivers flood, but not on a schedule, and introduces the difference between seasonal floods and great floods.

Great Rivers 3: Great Rivers, Great Givers
Science NetLinks | Lesson Plan | 6-8
Students will discover how great rivers have had enormous influence on human history, from the dawn of civilization through the present.

Mail Time! An Integrated Postcard and Geography Study
ReadWriteThink | Lesson Plan | K-2
Children write and receive postcards from friends and family, and then chart where all those postcards come from on a classroom map.

Mapping the Big Idea: 1950s and 1960s Suburbs
History Explorer | Lesson Plan | 5-8
Students will work with an historical map to learn more about suburbs and city planning in 1950s America.

Mapping the Big Idea: 1970s-2000 Global Economy
History Explorer | Lesson Plan | 5-8
Students will work with an historical map to learn more about global consumption, production, and transportation.

Mapping Our Worlds
EDSITEment | Lesson Plan | K-2
In this lesson, introduce your students to the world of maps and discover a world of information online.

Mapping the Past
EDSITEment | Lesson Plan | 6-8
This lesson provides students with experience in working with historical maps as cultural artifacts that reflect the views of particular times and places.

Population Dynamics
Science NetLinks | Lesson Plan| 9-12
Students will investigate the causes and consequences of population growth and the environmental factors that contribute to it.

Shape It Up
Science NetLinks | Lesson Plan | 3-5
This lesson helps students understand that earth’s landscape features change and always have through forces of nature such as wind, water, and volcanism.

Trekking to Timbuktu—Student Version
EDSITEment | Lesson Plan | 6-8
For many people, Timbuktu is a metaphor for the mysterious, the remote, or the unobtainable. But the Malian city of Timbuktu was, in fact, once a thriving center of commerce and intellectual activity.
Trekking to Timbuktu: The Geography of Mali —Teacher Version

Water Nearby
History Explorer | Lesson Plan | K-4
Do you live near the water? There is probably a body of water closer than you think! In this activity, students will use Google Maps to first find their school, and then locate and learn about the closest body of water to their school.

Shape It Up!
Science NetLinks | Interactive | 3-5
This interactive from Kinetic City provides students with the opportunity to experience how mountains, rivers, and canyons were formed.

Snapshots in Time
History Explorer | Interactive | K-12
This interactive map shows images of maritime activity contributed by visitors to the National Museum of American History and its Web site. A teachers guide and instructions for uploading your own images are included.

Genes and Geography
Science NetLinks | Podcast | 6-12
Our early human ancestors began migrating across the globe tens of thousands of years ago. Hear how the record of where we come from and where we've been might be found right in our DNA.

Map of Eastern North America
History Explorer | Resource | K-12
This Dutch map, made about 1655, shows eastern North America from what is now Canada to Virginia. Illustrations within the map include bears, beaver, deer, foxes, turkeys, and rabbits, as well as Indian villages on land, and Indians in boats at sea. The lower right corner of the map contains an inset of Nieuw Amsterdam, the third known engraved view of that city which is now New York.

Where Are We? Learning to Read Maps
ReadWriteThink | Parent & Afterschool Resource | 3-5
Whether we’re using them to find our way across town or around the world, understanding how to read maps is an essential skill.