Walter McKenzie's Innovative Teaching - Social Studies Projects

ART & ARCHITECTURE
Archived project inwhich students study classical elements in architecture and then work to create a virtual tour of architecture in their own home town

COLLAPSE: WHY DO CIVILIZATIONS FALL?
Another superb Annenberg online project, examining ancient Mayan culture and the reasons for its demise

CYBER SCHOOL BUS
United Nation's site involving children in the issues facing today's world; curriculum, community and games for the classroom

THE DAY I WAS BORN
Students practice online research by using their birth date to determine how many days they've lived, Literary figures share their birthdays, and more

eIDITAROD PROJECT
Select a dog team to follow the entire 1000 mile race and receive emails from each checkpoit as they make their way to Nome; lots of problem solving tasks along the way

FIVE POINTS SITE
Archaeologists rediscover a famous New York neighborhood of the 1800s; fascinating look at the processes of archaeology (for High School)

GLOBAL GANG
News, features and discussions bringing together children from around the world to discuss common concerns

GLOBAL GROCERY LIST
Students share local grocery prices to build a growing table of data to be used in social studies, science, health, mathematics, and other disciplines

GLOBAL SCHOOL HOUSE PROJECTS REGISTRY
Grand daddy of them all - fully searchable and easy to use; if ther'es a aproject on your topic of interest you'll find it here!

IDITAROD OFFICIAL HOME PAGE
Official site of the Iditarod committee complete with race history, maps, weather, musher biographies, race updates, links, and teacher materials for purchase

I*EARN
Acronym for the International Education and Resource Network, this site offers great projects you won't find anywhere else, and they have a social consciousness aspect to them Social Studies teachers will love

JASON PROJECT
National Geographic's heralded cross-curricular multimedia project that helps students study high-interest topics about our world at higher levels of thinking

JEREMY PROJECT
This site archives this NASA based exploration of teh Arctic circle in 1998; done in cooperation with Sanata Clara University

ORPHAN TRAIN
Education World provides all the resources you need to replicate this high-interest project for your own students

POSTCARD GEOGRAPHY
K-12 classes swap post cards online or through snail mail to promote a greater understanding of countries and cultures

PRESIDENTS' PROJECT
Surfaquarium project inwhich students select a president to research with your class and create a world class website celebrating his life, administration, achivements and home state

SEARCHING THE WORLD OVER FOR GOOD CHARACTER
Mrs. Sumner's Class of Sullivan Elementary School in Missouri sponsors this project through which students share writing and ideas on character education

SILK ROAD PROJECT
Yo Yo Ma participates in this project to share the art and history of these ancient trade routes; includes a teacher support section

TITANIC MOCK TRIAL
The facts, the plaintiff, the defendant, the legal process, witnesses, exhibits, jury charge, verdict sheet; all about the infamous sinking of the unsinkable

VIRTUAL WORLDS
From Biz/Ed, an opportunity for applying business studies using all the major business functions, including production, accounts and marketing in working with an arcade, a factory, a country and an economy

VOICES OF YOUTH
UNICEF project that encourages secondary students to take part in an electronic discussion about the future they face in the 21st century

WORLD WISE SCHOOLS
Peace Corps project that helps students communicate directly with Peace Corps Volunteers all over the world