This is a 6th grade, year-long course aligned to MN State Academic Standards. It is a collaborative effort by over a dozen MN School districts.

The purpose of this lesson is to learn how to use Algebra to decide if you can afford to borrow money to purchase a house.

Course Overview

For nearly nine years the United States has had a military presence in Afghanistan.

For over seven years the United States has had a military presence in Iraq.

The wars in these two countries have left thousands of Americans dead and will have cost over $1 trillion by the end of 2010.

For years, debate has raged in this country about whether or not military intervention in these two countries has proven successful and whether or not indefinite financial and military aid to these countries is necessary.

Complicating matters in the Middle East is the seemingly never-ending battle between Israelis and Arab Palestinians for control of the Holy Land. Many experts agree that a genuine, long lasting peace between Israelis and Arabs would be beneficial to the long term stability for the entire Middle East region, but is peace achievable?

An answer to that question is not easy, nor is the rebuilding process currently underway in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, through in-depth research, analysis, and discussion on these topics, by the end of this unit, students will have the basic knowledge and understanding to make critical, educated decisions about the appropriate role the United States should play in encouraging a long and lasting peace in these three regions.

Online Political Portfolio Unit. Designed for students working in Government, Civics, or Senior Social Studies at Prairie Center Alternative Program. This unit looks at the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution and students are asked to create their own views and analysis on these important documents, the state of our state and union, and how they can get involved.

This unit teaches you a way to look at environmental topics. It then has you look at your own lifestyle and evaluate your impact on the environment.

This unit on population geography is consistent with what is taught in an AP Human Geography course. It includes, population pyramids, the demographic transition, causes and effects of population growth and a choice of 4 project type assessments that require students to read the effects of human population on the landscape.

This unit, The Dakota People of Minnesota, is a twelve-week unit dedicated to teaching about the Dakota as a present day people with strong links to the past. 

This is a course for students aged around 8 - 10 years old. It serves as an introduction to Google Earth/Google Maps and deals with the Geography of Place. Conditional activities are set so that once the students have watched the video and click the tick, all the activities will then appear. It was originally used in Our Lady's High School Preston by Mary Cooch.

This unit is an introduction to immigration to the United States from 1840-1920 or so. This time period saw a record number of immigrants come to the US as many were fleeing persecution and poor economic conditions in their home countries.

The unit is designed for fairly capable 5th and 6th grade students. Students will be reading and analyzing primary source documents to discover what the immigrant experience was like. At the end, students will do a project that will allow them to share their learning about the immigrant experience, as well as take a formal assessment on what they learned.

This unit does not cover the more recent waves of immigration from the 1970s to the present day. It is recommended that students get the opportunity to study more recent immigrant groups -- Hmong, Mexicans, Laotians, Vietnamese, Somali, etc. -- with the goal of finding similarities and differences in the experiences of these groups and those that came in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Finally, for reasons of time and space and age level, this is not considered to be an all-encompassing unit. Immigration is a complex and controversial topic, and in our history there were many laws made to both encourage and discourage immigration. These laws and this aspect of our history are not covered here but could be an additional area of learning for students.

Tim Kaari
Bloomington Public Schools
Bloomington, MN

Introduction to Economics: Unit One: This unit will give students an excellent background for the course this semester. Basic economic thinking skills will be stressed, and well as introductions to major topics to be covered throughout the semester.

This course is a study of your role as an active participant in your personal finances.  Students will develop strategies to maximize earnings potential, create and utilize a budget, invest money to grow their net worth, explore the wise use of credit, make informed consumer decisions when purchasing a home or vehicle, and protect against financial risks.  Students will be introduced to various investment options including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and real estate.

This class, written by Beth Sletta, covers the third grade MN Social Studies standards related to mapping skills.

The course is written for students to follow on their own, but guidance from teachers is imperative for the success of the course. Extra resources for teachers to use are included at the end of the course.

Please feel free to use and adapt this course for your use in the classroom. If you have any great ideas related to this course I would love to hear from you.

The working poor are an identified group within American society and the numbers are increasing due to the increased costs, layoffs, and rising unemployment. This unit is designed to be part of a Sociology course as an extension on poverty and class in the United States, but could ultimately be used within a personal finance course or economics course to reinforce topics covered.