All resources in Oregon Social Science

Problemas globales, soluciones locales: El activismo ambiental Global problems, local solutions: Environmental activism

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Who makes decisions about the environment? How do decisions about environmental issues affect a community’s health? Who is an activist? How do individuals inform and/or advocate for their communities? Students will first investigate the global problem of plastics pollution. Through an exploration of maps and data, including from the Pulitzer Center Resource Plastic that Travels 8,000 Miles: The Global Crisis in Recycling, students will gain knowledge of issues pertaining to plastics, both on land and in our oceans. They will utilize the Pulitzer Center resource Joane: We Can End the Toxic Use and Burning of Plastics as one example of a clear community action taken by young people to help bring about awareness and change in their community. Through reading the article and watching the related video, students will identify character traits of Joane, the featured activist, as well as discuss the process of engaging in a civic action. Next, students will examine environmental issues in communities across Chicago, engaging with locally-relevant themes such as the effects of lead in water and soil, microplastics, and air pollution. They will define the terms environmental justice and environmental racism and discuss how those ideas relate to issues locally and globally. During this part of the unit, students will continue to identify traits that exemplify activism in the leaders highlighted in the articles, as well as determine what traits they may share with activists. Finally, students will create an infographic or other call-to-action highlighting an environmental issue of their choosing.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Cara Bucciarelli

Urban Parks in the United States

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In 1853, the City of New York set aside hundreds of acres of swampland in the middle of Manhattan, with the idea that this uninhabitable space could serve a practical, public purpose. Today, we know that area as Central Park, one of the most widely visited and celebrated public spaces in the country. The then-unknown park designer who won the bid to design Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted, would go on to inspire and revolutionize urban park design in the United States. The work of Olmsted and other early parks pioneers, building on older concepts like town squares, would spur the growth of urban parks large and small nationwide. Benefiting from new innovations in design, these parks serve as community centers and defining features of cities and towns across the country. Urban parks have continually adapted to meet the needs of the publics they serve, evolving, for example, from places to simply enjoy nature into recreation sites that offer activities and equipment. More than just sites for leisure, they also play a broader role in supporting community engagement by providing places for civic participation, enhancing quality of life and property values, and offering safe, healthy, and convenient recreation options. This exhibition was created as part of the DPLA’s Public Library Partnerships Project by collaborators from the Minnesota Digital Library. Exhibition Coordinator: Carla Urban.

Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Primary Source, Unit of Study

Transforming Stories, Driving Change

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Short Description: A workbook for bringing new voices into public debate based on the performance creation approach developed by Transforming Stories, Driving Change. Long Description: Can theatre bring new voices into public debate? Facilitating theatre workshops with community members who experience social marginalization is an art that, when done well, feels more like magic. But even the best facilitators are not magicians. With this workbook we pull back the curtain on the magic by taking readers behind the scenes of the Hamilton-based research and performance initiative Transforming Stories, Driving Change (TSDC.) Since 2015, TSDC teams have worked alongside community partners and performer-advocates to make plays designed to draw attention to the voices and visions of people whose opinions are not often represented in discussions of the future of the City. Through our performances, we have tried to contribute to building the movements that can make public leaders more accountable to people who are affected by their decisions. Five years and four plays later, we offer this workbook as a practical guide to TSDC’s creative approach. Word Count: 51178 (Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Material Type: Textbook

Authors: Adam Perry, Catherine Graham, Chris Sinding, Elysée Nouvet, Helene Vosters, Jennie Vengris, Melanie Skene

The Lifestyle Project

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The Lifestyle Project is a way for students to learn about environmental alternatives by modifying their own lifestyles. It is a three-week exercise for students to reduce their impact on the environment by changing the way in which they live from day to day. The project has fairly rigid parameters, allowing students to achieve a gradual but definitive change in their everyday habits. Students choose three categories from a list of six: heat, garbage, electricity and water, driving, eating, and activism. For each category the rules are clearly defined, such as turning down the heat three degrees or eliminating the use of the car. Each week the project becomes more rigorous, because students will have to meet the requirements more frequently. They write about their experiences in journals, which are incredibly insightful, illustrating just how profoundly the project affects them. (Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Karin Kirk

Political ideas in revolution

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This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file. As taught Autumn Semester 2010/2011. This module introduces students to the ideas of key thinkers in the history of western political thought. We look carefully at the canonical works of five thinkers in the history of political thought: Plato, Aristotle, Niccolo Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. The module considers the impact of these thinkers on ancient and modern political thought and practices, with reference to the different contexts in which they wrote. We consider the way in which these thinkers have approached the ‘big’ questions and ideas that lie behind everyday political life. The module examines questions such as: What is justice? What is the purpose of government? What is the best form of government? Is the state ever entitled to restrict our freedom to do what we want? Why should we obey the state? When is it right to have a revolution? Module Code and Credits: M11001 (10 credits) M11151 (15 credits) Suitable for study at: Undergraduate level 1 Dr David Stevens, School of Politics and International Relations Dr Stevens' research is focussed primarily within the area of contemporary normative political philosophy. Specifically, he is concerned with issues of socio-economic justice within liberal democratic societies. Modules taught: Social Justice (level 3); War and Massacre (level 2); Justice Beyond Borders: Theories of International and Intergenerational Justice (level D). Areas of Research Supervision: Social justice; educational; justice; Rawlsian political philosophy. In particular, David Stevens encourages applications for PhD topics in the following areas: Social justice and schooling; State education and the rights of minority cultures. Political liberalism and the creation of civic virtue; Reflective equilibrium/moral constructivism.

Material Type: Syllabus

Author: Dr David Stevens

The Fish Wars: What Kinds of Actions Can Lead to Justice

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This online lesson provides perspectives from Native American community members and their supporters, images, news footage, an interactive timeline, and other sources about an important campaign to secure the treaty rights and sovereignty of Native Nations of the Pacific Northwest. Scroll to begin an exploration of the actions Native Nations took to address injustices.

Material Type: Lesson, Module

Author: Native Knowledge 360

En-ROADS Guided Assignment

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The En-ROADS guided assignment challenges participants to use the free online En-ROADS simulator (https://en-roads.climateinteractive.org/) to create a scenario that successfully addresses climate change while considering implications across the economy, environment, and society. The En-ROADS assignment is used in classrooms, ranging from middle school to graduate level students, and comes in short and long forms. It can also be adapted as an exercise for non-academic settings. Often, the assignment is given following an En-ROADS workshop or Climate Action Simulation role-playing simulation game (https://www.climateinteractive.org/en-roads/).

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Homework/Assignment, Unit of Study

Author: Climate Interactive

U.S. History - Boston, The Hidden History of Boston's Abolition Acre

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This educational curriculum package is the product of a five-year labor of love. Beginning in 2011, several educators, history enthusiasts and social activists coalesced around the charismatic Horace Seldon. Horace was finishing a long local career in social work, years with the National Parks Service, Boston, and as one of the founders of the social service organization Community Change. He was intent upon pursuing a historical research project which he had been contemplating for some time. The resultant group, led by Horace Seldon, then embarked on a research and reading circle exploring the hidden history of the Boston antebellum African American community situated on the North Slope of Beacon Hill and in the area immediately adjacent to the current Boston City Hall Plaza. The work began by investigating legendary author, activist and Beacon Hill resident David Walker. It has since grown organically into a full-fledged historical reclamation project, the results of which we now share with you.Being educators, we have naturally gravitated to exploring avenues which facilitate promoting civic engagement and self-actualization, both in the classroom and for lifelong learning. This enterprise reflects that perspective and energizing prospect. We are currently in discussion with the Mayor's Office of Diversity about bringing this project to City Hall Plaza as an integral part of the upcoming 400'h anniversary celebration of the founding of Boston. Roxbury Community College is honored to have been given the opportunity to create a digital curriculum platform to dispense information and inspire enthusiasm for history across the commonwealth, a history which surrounds us but remains invisible to many residents and tourists. It is our intention to combine an interdisciplinary approach using the latest in technological innovations, artistry and networking to share this compelling narrative, illuminating not only the lessons of the past, but the durability of a community preparing for a future of multiple challenges and inconvenient truths.

Material Type: Unit of Study

StoryWorks: Now's the Time, StoryWorks: Now's the Time Curriculum, 1. Who Were the Radical Republicans?

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Through the play Now's The Time and the accompanying curriculum, students will explore the Reconstruction Era through the life of Thaddeus Stevens and his colleagues as they sought to push for radical change in the making of a "new" America.  

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Homework/Assignment, Lesson Plan, Primary Source, Reading

Authors: Rebecca Welch Weigel, Jennifer Welch

Save The Food: A Teacher's Guide

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Save The Food! A Food Waste Prevention Teacher's Guide This resource provides five lesson plans and resources about preventing food waste. Wasted food costs money and harms the environment. This course explains basic concepts of food waste prevention and provides easy tips for students to follow. The content was adapted from the EPA’s “Food: Too Good to Waste” tool kit.The course was developed by Audrey Seligman, MPH, with assistance and consultation from George Schooley, M.A. TESOL. Funding for the course was provided by the Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy Board.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Full Course, Lecture, Lesson, Lesson Plan, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: Audrey Seligman

The CUNY High School Equivalency Curriculum Framework

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The CUNY HSE Curriculum Framework provides direction, structure and materials for teaching math, science and social studies (integrated with reading and writing) in the new era of HSE instruction. The complete framework is available for free download. The framework was written by the CUNY Adult Literacy PD Team to respond to the challenges facing high school equivalency (HSE) teachers and their students. It is a guide for planning your instruction – including topic recommendations, model lessons, guiding questions, readings, and problems. The framework prioritizes depth over breadth. It does not address all of the content that might potentially be included on an HSE exam, but instead models a focused and coherent study of high priority topics within each content area. As teachers in adult literacy and HSE education, our work has always been demanding. Now that our students face a new and more challenging HSE test, the demands on teachers are even greater. Teaching students to read, write and do math at the HSE level is no longer enough. Students need specific, deep and coherent content knowledge, as well as the capacity to apply this content knowledge to analysis and problem solving. As the demands on our students and teachers are increasing, it is important that we don’t lose sight of one of our greatest strengths — our practice of starting from where students are and our serious respect for their learning processes. As a student of ours once said, “You can’t make a plant grow by pulling on it, you only make it rootless.” The Social Studies section integrates reading and writing through a focus on U.S. history, with extensions to civics, economics and geography. This section has a curriculum map, 12 unit descriptions, six model lesson plans and additional resources. The Science section provides an introduction to matter and basic chemistry with extensions to science/math connections. This section includes a curriculum map with 23 topic descriptions and key questions, and three complete inquiry-based model lesson plans. The Math section focuses on problem-solving in functions and algebra. It integrates problem-solving strategies, productive struggle, perseverance and mathematical discussion into content learning. This section includes a curriculum map, model lessons, rich engaging math problems, samples of student work, powerful routines for math classrooms, classroom videos, and more.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Lesson Plan, Primary Source, Reading, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Authors: Eric Appleton, Kate Brandt, Mark Trushkowsky, Rebecca Leece, Tyler Holzer

safe.netizens@eu project's website

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The project partnership involves five schools from Finland, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia and the coordinating school from Spain and we aim to prepare students for a society dominated by technology and equip them with competences and knowledge built on digital literacy and foreign language skills which can give them the opportunity to implement mobility both within European education and labour market. We want this project to teach our students to become European citizens actively involved in a digitalized society and we are convinced that by providing our students with better digital skills, they will have better job opportunities in the European market as well as a sense of responsibility in terms of technology use. We also aim to promote education for volunteering as a component of European active behaviour since students will learn how to better work in teams, develop leadership and problem-solving skills, and do volunteer work. This is not only essential for schoolwork but also for further involvement in the community. Therefore, throughout the project there will be practical volunteering activities performed by students, parents and teachers of all partner schools at local and international level. We also have a concern for disadvantaged students and underachievement, so as teachers we have a need to improve our teaching skills to develop innovative approaches and practices that contribute to the implementation of inclusive methodologies and also to a greater achievement of our students’ basic skills. We want to enhance our digital skills in order to motivate our students and address diversity with the use of innovative ICT tools. To achieve our aims all schools have agreed on the following objectives: - Develop and enhance digital literacy, skills and inclusion. - Make students aware of the need to make a safe use of new technologies and promote a responsible and respectful digital behaviour. - Increase the European civic competences and behaviour through volunteering. - Cooperate and exchange good practices and innovative methods to motivate and engage students with the help of ICT tools - Enhance language skills in first and second languages as well as intercultural competences to improve the student’s command in ICT and skills for work. - Promote digital training for students and teachers in the use of open educational resources (OER). The activities have been planned in a way that the project covers the nine elements of Digital Citizenship, namely Digital Access , Digital Commerce, Digital Communication, Digital Literacy, Digital Etiquette, Digital Law, Digital Rights and Responsibilities, Digital Health and Wellness and Digital Security. Our project includes activities involving participating and working together on tasks at national level and others with students from the five schools of the partnership collaborating and working jointly during mobilities. They will mainly be implemented in the form of non-formal learning, using tools that are the most suitable for assessing the acquired knowledge and skills. As regards the beneficiaries of the project, the target groups will go through a transparent selection process to take part in the mobilities, but project activities will also involve teachers, students’ families, volunteer students, outside partners, foundations, local authorities and communities for a better impact and dissemination. We expect tangible and intangible results. Students will have an online portfolio where they collect all the materials created – at the end of the project, based on their work and a test, a digital driver’s licence will be awarded – it will later be used for other students as well and incorporated in the curriculum. Students will take part in debate sessions on topics related to project work during student exchanges. · Teachers will learn new ways to motivate students with mobile and ICT tools. They will create a manual of their teaching practice on digital citizenship and tools for different educational purposes in different subjects. The project will have an impact on the students’ future development as the skills acquired will contribute to the improvement of their academic achievements and entering the world of work. The European dimension will be reinforced as a result of the sustainable cooperation of the five partner schools. Mobilities, methodological changes, and the internationalization of the institutions will mark a turning point at school level after the European experience and will serve as the basis for future cooperation. The project will also help create long-lasting synergies with institutions and collaborating partners in the activities at local, regional and international level. We will seek opportunities for carrying on joint activities based on our project findings and will take part in a new eTwinning or another international project trying to involve as many new members as possible

Material Type: Case Study, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Authors: Agnes Jassó, Giuliana Cecarelli, Javier Cerrato Pachón, Juan Fernández de Vega, Mateja Smolar Tic, Terhi Rattila