Planning Fall Curriculum  -  this is a good time of year to begin a really fun, yet very comprehensive, Halloween Unit and/or a Science Fiction Unit.  Incorporate media literacies with War of the Worlds, Harry Potter and much more!  Visit pages below for unit ideas and resources!

 More unit themes.

Johnny Appleseed Find out how you can build a unit to deliver most of your standards through a theme based on a real-life hero, John Chapman, better known as Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman. From ancient mythology to biodiversity, genetics, law, statistics, weather, medical research, the literature of Henry David Thoreau, and much more!  ALL the disciplines are there.  And this theme can easily be adapted from PreK to PhD. Hint:  If you're planning to have student plant apple seeds when school starts you should prepare them 6-8 weeks in advance.  See more at our Johnny Appleseed Page.

 

Monsters! From ancient mythology and religion to modern movies, an interdisciplinary unit on the theme of Monsters can carry your curriculum standards:  incorporate literature, history, geography, philosophy, ethics, medicine, the media culture, economics, advertising and marketing, law and more!  See our ideas at the Monsters link, and celebrate the conclusion of your unit on Halloween with one of these great ideas! Photo from:  http://www.doctormacro.com/Previous%20News/News%20(2005-01).htm

 

Global Warming The movie (and book), An Inconvenient Truth, is an excellent jump-starter for a project-based, interdisciplinary, and VERY relevant unit!  Visit this page for links, with more to be added on a regular basis.

 

Hurricane Season -  In 2005 we stated that "first and foremost on everyone's mind - nationally and globally - is Hurricane Katrina.  A disaster, according to many, "of biblical proportions", each of us has a need to do something to help." As we begin a new hurricane season, this would be a good time to revisit Hurricane Katrina and related topics: Please go to our page, Hurricane Katrina Curriculum to view our three PowerPoint Presentations.  Also see Hurricane Katrina - How Educators Can Respond.  It will direct you from there to Hurricane Katrina unit design, content standards and service-project ideas for your school.

 

HALLOWEEN UNIT Start planning that great Halloween Unit now! - Children's Lit, History, Media Literacy, Geography, Economics, Science, Nutrition, Cultures and more!  Explore the history of  Halloween as it and similar holidays are celebrated through time and different cultures.  Discover connections to the economy, marketing, media literacies, religion, mythology, weather, agriculture, and much more.

 

CANDY UNIT A fun, related unit is Candy!  Visit our Candy Page to see how you can connect all kinds of disciplines as well as social issues, including the environment, labor law, etc.

 

Science Fiction Unit

Frequently, yesterday's Science Fiction is today's Science Fact.  Science Fiction is an excellent theme for an interdisciplinary unit, easily incorporating all the disciplines, and especially lending itself to the use of multimedia and media literacies in exciting ways!  - Disciplines that students will need in order to answer the Big Questions for this theme include:   Astronomy, Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Physics, Algebra, Geometry, Calculus, Civics, Ecology, History, Geography, Economics, Philosophy, Sociology, all the Language Arts (research, writing, teaching, etc.), Health and PE, Social Issues, Cultures and more! 21st century skills  -  teaching, videography, filmmaking, web design, organizing events (Science Fiction Fair and/or Student Film Festival), television and radio production, and even a cooking show a la Alton Brown of Good Eats  -  sample recipes such as these items served at Quark's Restaurant in Las Vegas . . . The Wrap of Kahn, Hamborger, Tribble Tenders,  read more . . . . Quark's Bar is gone, but you get the idea! We will be adding some menu items to our science fiction web page soon - or email us if you need them now!

 

How William Shatner Changed the World! From cell phones to computers, medical technologies, space exploration and even transporters and warp drive.  This topic explores the inspirations and influences of Star trek on today's leading scientists. Today's science fiction is tomorrow's science fact!  Discover how to transport these ideas into an exciting and relevant unit for your students!