The study of earthquakes can help students build connections between theoretical analysis and real-world applications. However, units on earthquakes typically struggle to bridge that gap between theory and application. Traditional class activities focus on measuring earthquakes, such as triangulating epicenters by analyzing P and S wave arrival…

In this timely book, curriculum expert Gerald A. Lieberman provides an innovative guide to creating and implementing a new type of environmental education that combines standards-based lessons on English language arts, math, history, and science with community investigations and service learning projects. By connecting academic content with local…

With contributions from leading experts across disciplinary fields, this book explores best practices from the field's most notable researchers, as well as important historically based and politically focused challenges to a field whose impact has reached an important crossroads. The comprehensive and powerfully critical analysis considers the…

This document reports on an examination of lifestyles, cultures, and heritage of Arab communities within the United States. After a historical overview of the arrival and settling of Arab-Americans in wave after wave of immigration, the work provides close-up views of different communities across the country. Each of those views introduces a few…

This book is the second in a series of works that seeks to examine the Arab-American experience. The original 1984 publication, "Taking Root, Bearing Fruit: The Arab-American Experience" featured surveys of 12 communities in all geographic regions of the United States. Such was the response to that report that its creators decided to…

This publication for educators offers in-depth articles on anthropological research, teaching activities, reviews of new resources, and summer fieldwork opportunities. The document aims to disseminate recent research in anthropology; to help those teaching anthropology utilize new materials, approaches, and community resources, as well as…

Designed for elementary school teachers in Santa Cruz, California, this book outlines an experiential approach to community study. Because the term community can encompass a scope as narrow as the school or as wide as the region, these guidelines are adaptable to several elementary grade levels. The book is arranged in six sections. The first…

These materials discuss the history of Chicago, Illinois, including prominent persons in the city's past, and landmarks for which Chicago is well known. A number of activities are suggested, some of which concern Chicago's industries, historical sites, architecture, newspapers, ethnic groups, and history. A list of books about Chicago for…

How fiction is used in a college-level political science seminar to teach about democratic decision making and U.S. politics is described. The fiction used is clustered around the following topics: community-level decisions, limits to consensus, group values and politics, acquiring elected offices and trying to keep them, and public bureaucracies.…

Explains how studying a floodplain can help students analyze the interactions between humans and the physical environment. Analyzes data from two cities in California to demonstrate that housing prices did not rebound after a flood. (GG)

Elementary and secondary school teachers interested in developing a local history unit can adapt this fourth grade program created for three school districts in Cortland County, New York. Material is divided into 13 chapters. Chapter 1 charts the New York fourth grade curriculum by concept and content and outlines specific community study…

Traces the history of Arthurdale, West Virginia, a homestead community established by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Division of Subsistence Homesteads in 1933. Includes Arthurdale's community projects, activities, and schools. (RW)

Reviews how census data are used every day to make decisions in businesses, government agencies, and community organizations. Identifies key tools used in demographic analysis, suggesting applications of demographic data at a local level. Concludes with ideas for student activities, including guidelines for creating a community profile. (LS)

Offers suggestions for a sociology course in extraordinary groups, utopian studies, or alternative communities to help broaden awareness and understanding of human behavior, past and present groups, and cultural pluralism. Includes ideas for field trips, projects, readings, and films and videos. Discusses basing lectures on commitment, conversion,…

Presents six position statements for developing a multicultural arts curriculum. Suggests strategies for implementing curricula and resources for gathering community information. Provides examples of implementation, including a sample interview to use with artists and sample questions to ask students when analyzing works of art. (KM)