In our fast-paced world, where information is constantly being shared and consumed, young people need media literacy more than ever.
Fact or fake? Introduce your students to the role of social media in spreading accurate news as well as inaccurate news and rumors. In this lesson, they’ll investigate questions they should ask before sharing news on social media and then design a flowchart for evaluating whether a news story is “shareworthy.”
In What About Social Media?, host Radzi Chinyanganya looks at what makes a story go viral, and explains how to evaluate whether or not the story is real before sharing it. Stories can be evaluated by asking if they’ve been reported elsewhere, if the organization that published it is reputable, and if the website the story was on is official. Deep fake videos that use AI to alter faces allow people to create realistic digital versions of themselves. The ability to swap faces has creative possibilities, but it can also be used to mislead people, so it’s crucial to look for clues that something might be false. This video is excerpted from BBC’s My World, a program created for teenagers eager to learn more about the important stories shaping our world.
Muffin, it's my turn! Talk to your class about the importance of listening and sharing through the Bluey episode "Faceytalk." Because we all know what happens when you hog! The lesson includes printables for three activities in which kids use a bubble map to brainstorm five different ways to share, listen to complete a directed drawing of Bluey in front of her house, and play a Bluey twist on Simon Says.
Faceytalk Episode Summary: Bluey and Bingo love to video chat with Muffin and Socks so they can all draw pictures together. When Muffin won’t give Socks a turn, the kids discover what happens when you hog.
Watch the episode here! (Click here to watch in Australia.)
Hint: fair doesn't mean always mean equal! Talk to your class about what fairness really means through the Bluey episode "Ice Cream." The lesson includes printables for three activities in which kids take turns playing with toys, pretend to be patients visiting a doctor's office (where everyone gets the same treatment!), and plan a pretend picnic.
Ice Cream Episode Summary: Bluey and Bingo want a lick of each other’s ice cream. But they are so focused on making sure each lick is fair, they don’t notice their ice creams are melting.
Watch the episode here! (Click here to watch in Australia.)
After a historic 10-day mission around the Moon — the first time humans have traveled so far into space since the 70s — the Artemis II crew came away with crucial knowledge: appreciate doors on bathrooms.
Commander Reid Wiseman dished on some other reflections about the trip. For example, the crew didn’t even realize what a big deal this was to people on Earth and didn’t hear much of the news until they talked to their families a few days into the mission. We suppose that’s what happens when you literally have your head in the clouds.
Not only was the journey unforgettable for science, but it was also personally significant for the crew members. One of the most powerful moments came when astronaut Jeremy Hansen named a lunar crater after Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll, a pivotal moment that solidified the crew’s bond.
But that bond wasn’t just to make things more fun — getting along in space is actually a matter of safety, and life inside a spacecraft requires serious teamwork. Think about sharing a room with a stinky sibling or living with a roommate who keeps eating your snacks. Now imagine that, in a room one-fifth the size and no way to escape! The astronauts lived, slept, and worked in extremely close quarters, so it was important to deal with disagreements immediately instead of letting tension build.
As exciting as it was to orbit the Moon, the return to Earth may have been just as intense. The crew re-entered the atmosphere at about 39 times the speed of sound. That’s about 30,000 miles per hour. They experienced forces of about four times normal gravity — about what you feel during the most intense parts of a roller coaster, but the astronauts felt this way for about 13 minutes. Nonstop! And that’s all before parachuting into the Pacific Ocean. All that probably makes it just a little more exhilarating than your bus ride to school.
Long before the U.S. Constitution was written, five nations in what is now New York State had agreed to govern together under a shared set of laws. That story, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, is where this Kahoot! begins. From there, it moves across North America and through time: the cliff dwellings Ancestral Puebloans built into the canyon walls of Mesa Verde, the forced removal of the Cherokee along the Trail of Tears, the effort to bring buffalo back to the Great Plains, and the lives of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities in Canada today. Some answers may surprise you, and some will change how you think about history you thought you knew.
Teachers: Use it to open or review a unit on Indigenous history, government, or human rights, or pair it with the rest of the Indigenous Peoples Around the World Kahoot course.
Which woodland animals scamper through the trees, forage for food, or quietly explore the undergrowth? From quick-footed foxes to busy squirrels, woodlands are home to an amazing variety of wildlife, each with its own way of life.
Meet the animals that share our woodlands and neighborhoods, from hedgehogs and badgers to deer, ducks, and raccoons. Explore their habitats, discover what they eat and how they raise their young, and uncover the remarkable adaptations that help them survive. You’ll also learn how these animals interact with their surroundings and why protecting their habitats matters.
Need a quick fix for nature? Just add beavers! Okay, it’s not quite that simple. But a small beaver family in the UK has shown what these animals can do, turning a shallow, struggling stream into what Forestry England called a “watery wonderland.”
Don’t picture water slides. Before the beavers arrived, the stream nearly dried up every summer. The beavers built dams from branches and mud, which held water back and spread it across the land. That created wetlands, areas where shallow water covers the ground for much of the year. Those wetlands now support insects, birds, and bats, along with small predators such as stoats, weasels, and pine martens. (Pine martens are tree-climbing relatives of the weasel.)
For now, the beavers live inside a fenced area. Their success has conservation groups asking whether beavers could one day be released into the wild without fences. That takes more than opening a gate. First, conservationists need feasibility studies (research to check whether a release would work). They also need government permission and a long-term plan for managing the animals. And they have to work out how beavers and people will share the land, since beaver dams can flood farmland, roads, or gardens.
If it’s done well, the payoff could be big. Beaver wetlands can boost biodiversity, or the variety of living things in one area. They also act like sponges, helping land hold on to water during heatwaves and droughts.
When Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the war to preserve the Union also became a war against slavery. How much Lincoln meant it that way is still debated, and this playlist takes up that question directly. It also covers the new technology that changed how armies fought, the medical crisis in which disease killed twice as many soldiers as combat, the turning-point battles of 1863, and Sherman’s campaign through Georgia. The second half follows the country through Reconstruction: lenient early policies gave way to Radical Reconstruction and constitutional amendments that abolished slavery and guaranteed citizenship and voting rights. It then traces how those gains were rolled back as white Southern Democrats regained power and federal troops withdrew in 1877.
Each video comes with discussion questions, vocabulary, a writing prompt, and classroom activities — all printable from the video page. Questions include why the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t free all enslaved people, why historians call the Civil War the first modern war, and whether Lincoln believed in racial equality.
Teachers and Parents: The playlist picks up where The Road to War leaves off, so together the two playlists cover the full unit for ages 11–18. Videos 1 and 2 work as a pair: a straightforward account of the Emancipation Proclamation followed by historian Lucy Worsley’s case that Lincoln’s main goal was saving the Union. That sets up a strong source-comparison or debate lesson. Lincoln’s Legacy extends the discussion through Frederick Douglass’s reassessment of Lincoln. It contains discriminatory language, so preview it before assigning. The last three videos form a short Reconstruction sequence: The Three Phases of Reconstruction gives the overview, and the next two focus on Black Americans' political gains and the deal that ended federal enforcement, a natural lead-in to Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement. Use the "Share With Students" feature to assign videos directly or "Add to Playlist" to build your own sequence.
By 1860, the United States had been arguing over slavery for decades. This playlist follows that argument as it hardened into war. It covers the people who resisted slavery, the court case that denied Black Americans citizenship, a raid that pushed the country closer to the edge, and the election that led seven states to secede before Lincoln took office. Each video runs a few minutes and focuses on a single turning point, so the series can be watched start to finish or one video at a time.
Each video comes with discussion questions, vocabulary, a writing prompt ,and classroom activities — all printable from the video page. Questions include why Southern states seceded after Lincoln’s election and how the Civil War split families in border states.
Teachers and Parents: The videos are in chronological order and work as a full unit introduction for students 11–18. They can also be assigned individually to set up a specific lesson. The opening video, from BBC’s American History’s Biggest Fibs With Lucy Worsley, puts slavery at the center of the conflict and gives students a framework for the rest of the list. The Kentucky video closes the list and leads into the companion playlist, The Civil War and Its Aftermath, which runs from the Emancipation Proclamation through the end of Reconstruction. Use the "Share With Students" feature to assign videos directly or "Add to Playlist" to build your own sequence.
The American Civil War introduced new weapons and technologies that transformed warfare. The Gatling gun, a hand-cranked weapon with multiple rotating barrels, could fire far faster than the single-shot rifles commonly used by soldiers. Railroads helped armies transport troops, food, and ammunition over long distances, while ironclad warships used iron armor and heavy cannons to reshape naval combat. The Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley also made history in 1864 when it sank the Union warship Housatonic, becoming the first combat submarine to sink an enemy vessel.
The war also expanded the use of technology for reconnaissance and communication. Hot air and hydrogen balloons allowed observers to monitor enemy movements from above, and telegraph systems helped commanders share information quickly. These innovations changed how armies moved, gathered intelligence, and fought battles. Although many technologies were still experimental, their growing role in military strategy led historians to view the Civil War as an important transition toward modern warfare.
In our fast-paced world, where information is constantly being shared and consumed, young people need media literacy more than ever.
Fact or fake? Introduce your students to the role of social media in spreading accurate news as well as inaccurate news and rumors. In this lesson, they’ll investigate questions they should ask before sharing news on social media and then design a flowchart for evaluating whether a news story is “shareworthy.”
In What About Social Media?, host Radzi Chinyanganya looks at what makes a story go viral, and explains how to evaluate whether or not the story is real before sharing it. Stories can be evaluated by asking if they’ve been reported elsewhere, if the organization that published it is reputable, and if the website the story was on is official. Deep fake videos that use AI to alter faces allow people to create realistic digital versions of themselves. The ability to swap faces has creative possibilities, but it can also be used to mislead people, so it’s crucial to look for clues that something might be false. This video is excerpted from BBC’s My World, a program created for teenagers eager to learn more about the important stories shaping our world.
Muffin, it's my turn! Talk to your class about the importance of listening and sharing through the Bluey episode "Faceytalk." Because we all know what happens when you hog! The lesson includes printables for three activities in which kids use a bubble map to brainstorm five different ways to share, listen to complete a directed drawing of Bluey in front of her house, and play a Bluey twist on Simon Says.
Faceytalk Episode Summary: Bluey and Bingo love to video chat with Muffin and Socks so they can all draw pictures together. When Muffin won’t give Socks a turn, the kids discover what happens when you hog.
Watch the episode here! (Click here to watch in Australia.)
Hint: fair doesn't mean always mean equal! Talk to your class about what fairness really means through the Bluey episode "Ice Cream." The lesson includes printables for three activities in which kids take turns playing with toys, pretend to be patients visiting a doctor's office (where everyone gets the same treatment!), and plan a pretend picnic.
Ice Cream Episode Summary: Bluey and Bingo want a lick of each other’s ice cream. But they are so focused on making sure each lick is fair, they don’t notice their ice creams are melting.
Watch the episode here! (Click here to watch in Australia.)
After a historic 10-day mission around the Moon — the first time humans have traveled so far into space since the 70s — the Artemis II crew came away with crucial knowledge: appreciate doors on bathrooms.
Commander Reid Wiseman dished on some other reflections about the trip. For example, the crew didn’t even realize what a big deal this was to people on Earth and didn’t hear much of the news until they talked to their families a few days into the mission. We suppose that’s what happens when you literally have your head in the clouds.
Not only was the journey unforgettable for science, but it was also personally significant for the crew members. One of the most powerful moments came when astronaut Jeremy Hansen named a lunar crater after Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll, a pivotal moment that solidified the crew’s bond.
But that bond wasn’t just to make things more fun — getting along in space is actually a matter of safety, and life inside a spacecraft requires serious teamwork. Think about sharing a room with a stinky sibling or living with a roommate who keeps eating your snacks. Now imagine that, in a room one-fifth the size and no way to escape! The astronauts lived, slept, and worked in extremely close quarters, so it was important to deal with disagreements immediately instead of letting tension build.
As exciting as it was to orbit the Moon, the return to Earth may have been just as intense. The crew re-entered the atmosphere at about 39 times the speed of sound. That’s about 30,000 miles per hour. They experienced forces of about four times normal gravity — about what you feel during the most intense parts of a roller coaster, but the astronauts felt this way for about 13 minutes. Nonstop! And that’s all before parachuting into the Pacific Ocean. All that probably makes it just a little more exhilarating than your bus ride to school.
Long before the U.S. Constitution was written, five nations in what is now New York State had agreed to govern together under a shared set of laws. That story, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, is where this Kahoot! begins. From there, it moves across North America and through time: the cliff dwellings Ancestral Puebloans built into the canyon walls of Mesa Verde, the forced removal of the Cherokee along the Trail of Tears, the effort to bring buffalo back to the Great Plains, and the lives of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities in Canada today. Some answers may surprise you, and some will change how you think about history you thought you knew.
Teachers: Use it to open or review a unit on Indigenous history, government, or human rights, or pair it with the rest of the Indigenous Peoples Around the World Kahoot course.
Which woodland animals scamper through the trees, forage for food, or quietly explore the undergrowth? From quick-footed foxes to busy squirrels, woodlands are home to an amazing variety of wildlife, each with its own way of life.
Meet the animals that share our woodlands and neighborhoods, from hedgehogs and badgers to deer, ducks, and raccoons. Explore their habitats, discover what they eat and how they raise their young, and uncover the remarkable adaptations that help them survive. You’ll also learn how these animals interact with their surroundings and why protecting their habitats matters.
Need a quick fix for nature? Just add beavers! Okay, it’s not quite that simple. But a small beaver family in the UK has shown what these animals can do, turning a shallow, struggling stream into what Forestry England called a “watery wonderland.”
Don’t picture water slides. Before the beavers arrived, the stream nearly dried up every summer. The beavers built dams from branches and mud, which held water back and spread it across the land. That created wetlands, areas where shallow water covers the ground for much of the year. Those wetlands now support insects, birds, and bats, along with small predators such as stoats, weasels, and pine martens. (Pine martens are tree-climbing relatives of the weasel.)
For now, the beavers live inside a fenced area. Their success has conservation groups asking whether beavers could one day be released into the wild without fences. That takes more than opening a gate. First, conservationists need feasibility studies (research to check whether a release would work). They also need government permission and a long-term plan for managing the animals. And they have to work out how beavers and people will share the land, since beaver dams can flood farmland, roads, or gardens.
If it’s done well, the payoff could be big. Beaver wetlands can boost biodiversity, or the variety of living things in one area. They also act like sponges, helping land hold on to water during heatwaves and droughts.
When Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the war to preserve the Union also became a war against slavery. How much Lincoln meant it that way is still debated, and this playlist takes up that question directly. It also covers the new technology that changed how armies fought, the medical crisis in which disease killed twice as many soldiers as combat, the turning-point battles of 1863, and Sherman’s campaign through Georgia. The second half follows the country through Reconstruction: lenient early policies gave way to Radical Reconstruction and constitutional amendments that abolished slavery and guaranteed citizenship and voting rights. It then traces how those gains were rolled back as white Southern Democrats regained power and federal troops withdrew in 1877.
Each video comes with discussion questions, vocabulary, a writing prompt, and classroom activities — all printable from the video page. Questions include why the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t free all enslaved people, why historians call the Civil War the first modern war, and whether Lincoln believed in racial equality.
Teachers and Parents: The playlist picks up where The Road to War leaves off, so together the two playlists cover the full unit for ages 11–18. Videos 1 and 2 work as a pair: a straightforward account of the Emancipation Proclamation followed by historian Lucy Worsley’s case that Lincoln’s main goal was saving the Union. That sets up a strong source-comparison or debate lesson. Lincoln’s Legacy extends the discussion through Frederick Douglass’s reassessment of Lincoln. It contains discriminatory language, so preview it before assigning. The last three videos form a short Reconstruction sequence: The Three Phases of Reconstruction gives the overview, and the next two focus on Black Americans' political gains and the deal that ended federal enforcement, a natural lead-in to Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement. Use the "Share With Students" feature to assign videos directly or "Add to Playlist" to build your own sequence.
By 1860, the United States had been arguing over slavery for decades. This playlist follows that argument as it hardened into war. It covers the people who resisted slavery, the court case that denied Black Americans citizenship, a raid that pushed the country closer to the edge, and the election that led seven states to secede before Lincoln took office. Each video runs a few minutes and focuses on a single turning point, so the series can be watched start to finish or one video at a time.
Each video comes with discussion questions, vocabulary, a writing prompt ,and classroom activities — all printable from the video page. Questions include why Southern states seceded after Lincoln’s election and how the Civil War split families in border states.
Teachers and Parents: The videos are in chronological order and work as a full unit introduction for students 11–18. They can also be assigned individually to set up a specific lesson. The opening video, from BBC’s American History’s Biggest Fibs With Lucy Worsley, puts slavery at the center of the conflict and gives students a framework for the rest of the list. The Kentucky video closes the list and leads into the companion playlist, The Civil War and Its Aftermath, which runs from the Emancipation Proclamation through the end of Reconstruction. Use the "Share With Students" feature to assign videos directly or "Add to Playlist" to build your own sequence.
The American Civil War introduced new weapons and technologies that transformed warfare. The Gatling gun, a hand-cranked weapon with multiple rotating barrels, could fire far faster than the single-shot rifles commonly used by soldiers. Railroads helped armies transport troops, food, and ammunition over long distances, while ironclad warships used iron armor and heavy cannons to reshape naval combat. The Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley also made history in 1864 when it sank the Union warship Housatonic, becoming the first combat submarine to sink an enemy vessel.
The war also expanded the use of technology for reconnaissance and communication. Hot air and hydrogen balloons allowed observers to monitor enemy movements from above, and telegraph systems helped commanders share information quickly. These innovations changed how armies moved, gathered intelligence, and fought battles. Although many technologies were still experimental, their growing role in military strategy led historians to view the Civil War as an important transition toward modern warfare.