Browse lesson plans

Confederate currency: An inflation simulation

Using primary sources from the Documenting the American South collection, students will engage in a brief simulation of inflation during the Civil War while learning about issues faced on the home front in North Carolina.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)

By Lewis Nelson.

The Craft Revival and economic change

In this lesson plan, originally published on the Craft Revival website, students will interpret photographs and artifacts as representations of western North Carolina’s economy at the turn of the century. They will also analyze historical census data and produce a visual web that will represent the changing nature of the economy of western North Carolina.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 Social Studies)

By Patrick Velde.

A dying industry

In this lesson, students learn how tariffs protect certain domestic industries and consider the impact of that protection from a variety of perspectives.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 Social Studies)

By Susan Taylor.

The Great Depression: Impact over time

In this lesson students listen to oral history excerpts from Stan Hyatt from Madison County and evaluate how the Great Depression affected one North Carolina family over time.

Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)

Is China to blame?

In this lesson, students participate in a Paideia seminar about North Carolina's dwindling furniture industry.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 Social Studies)

By Susan Taylor.

Pirates and economics

In this lesson, students will learn the basics of a market economy and how pirates impacted the economic system in colonial times. Students will read one Mini Page about the famous pirate Blackbeard and another about economics. Students will map out the colonial economic system to demonstrate their knowledge of both economics and pirates' interventions. At the end of the lesson, students will imagine they are colonists and write a letter to the governor either in support or in opposition to piracy. This allows students to utilize economic vocabulary in a variety of creative ways.

Format: lesson plan

By Summer Pennell.

U.S. Census: Using the past to predict the future

In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 6.10

In this lesson, students research census data about a career that interests them to find out how the numbers of people in that profession have changed over time in North Carolina.

Format: lesson plan

By Andrea Stewart, Keisha Gabriel, and Patty Grant.

Resources on the web

Future State: U.S. Department of State for Youth

This resource is designed to provide teachers and parents with educational resources for the inclusion of current events and world news in the classroom. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: Department of State