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Why are some countries rich? Why are some countries poor? In the end, it comes down to productivity. This week on Crash Course Econ, Adriene and Jacob investigate just why some economies are more productive than others, and what happens when an economy is more productive. We'll look at how things like per capita GDP translate to the lifestyle of normal people.

In this Yellowhammer History Hunt episode, learn about the lives of the Native Americans and French who in the 1700s lived as neighbors in the land that became Alabama. Learn how the French established Fort Toulouse and how Native American and European languages, customs, and trade shaped Alabama.

In this learning activity, students will research economic and social changes and expansion in the United States after World War II. Students will identify programs that had an economic impact on society such as the G.I. Bill of Rights, suburbanization, and immigration. Click on the Download PDF or DOC button for additional resources including charts, graphs, photographs, and maps.

In this interactive game from WNET Thirteen, “A Cheyenne Odyssey,” players become Little Fox, a Northern Cheyenne boy whose life is changed by the encroachment of white settlers, railroads, and U.S. military expeditions.  As buffalo diminish and the U.S. expands westward, players experience the Cheyenne's persistence through conflict and national transformation. Teachers will need to register for a free account.  The game can be played in a whole group setting or individually.

Website for students that walks students through the process of how a bill becomes law. There are clickable links to the glossary, lesson plans, and annotation tools. 

Students pretend they are reporters from Alabama. They will choose a survivor of the Civil War to interview - a Confederate soldier, a Union soldier, a politician, a civilian (non-soldier), or a woman. Students will create a fictional person to interview, but their answers must be based on historical facts. Students will prepare at least three questions for this person with a focus on their experiences during the war. Edit the video to go between the student as the reporter asking the questions and the student as the interviewed person. Bonus challenge: add costumes/props! 

A YouTube video is attached in the Flipgrid for an additional resource on the Civil War.

This video from the Daily Dose provides a 3-minute micro-learning film on Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was born into royalty in Macedonia, educated by Aristotle, and would ascend to the Macedonian throne after his father was assassinated, building one of the largest empires of his time.

In this lesson plan, students debate the legacy of John Brown and how he should be remembered. The lesson includes videos of an actor portraying John Brown, a plea to the people of Concord from Henry David Thoreau, and a John Brown song.  

This classroom activity is an interactive book from Epic! that introduces emergent readers to opposing spatial directions they see every day. The age range is 5-7 years old. The AR level is 0.9. The book includes a glossary.

Ernest Green and the rest of the Little Rock Nine attempt to integrate into an all-white school following a mandate by President Eisenhower. However, armed guards prevent them from entering the school.

In this online interactive game, Ms. Information is traveling the country trying to re-write history with her false information! Can you stop her? She has traveled to the Jamestown Village in Virginia to change the story of the colony's early history. Use your knowledge of Jamestown to foil her plan once and for all!

This activity can be used in conjunction with the book, Freedom on the Menu by Carole Boston. Through the activity, students will gather information about the Greensboro Woolworth Lunch Counter sit-in and how it was related to the Civil Rights Movement. The activity includes links to other resources.

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, John Green teaches students where American politicians come from. In the beginning, George Washington was elected president with no opposition, everything was new and exciting, and everyone just got along. For several months. Then the contentious debate about the nature of the United States began, and it continues to this day. Washington and his lackey/handler Alexander Hamilton pursued an elitist program of federalism. The opposition, creatively known as the anti-federalists, wanted to build some kind of agrarian pseudo-paradise where every (white) man could have his own farm, and live a free, self-reliant life. The founding father who epitomized this view was Thomas Jefferson.

**Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

In this video, Craig is going to dive into the controversy of monetary and fiscal policy. Monetary and fiscal policy are ways the government, and most notably the Federal Reserve influences the economy--for better or for worse.

In this video, students learn about producers and consumers. Producers are those who make something. People who buy things are called consumers. Students can differentiate between producers and consumers by making real-world connections with food and clothing. 

In this video, we're going to talk about how the Earth moves, but to do that, we're going to have to go way back to the early days of the galaxy. Processes that happened before the Earth even formed have led us to the geographic patterns and processes that create Earth's environments and support all living things. We'll talk about how the Earth rotates, the effects of it being slightly tilted, how events like sea ice melting impact how the Earth wobbles, and talk about how our elliptical orbit gives us seasons. So many of our life decisions are influenced by the motion of Earth. It guides where we decide to live, what food we eat, or even what weather we experience, which we'll talk about more next time.

This learning activity provides a reading passage about Cinco de Mayo, vocabulary support, and comprehension questions. The reading level is 2nd grade, so it is best to read the text aloud to the class instead of independent reading. Cinco de Mayo means the 5th of May in Spanish. Many people think that Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican Independence Day. But it isn’t. Mexico actually celebrates Independence Day on September 16th. On that day in 1810, Mexico declared independence from Spain. They decided the people in Mexico would have their own government instead of being ruled by the Spanish government. 

Note: You will need to create a free account to access this resource.

In this lesson, students will be divided into groups and pretend to be a family being relocated to an internment camp.  They will read from the online exhibit A More Perfect Union and make decisions about what they will take with them to the camp.  After discussing with their groups, students will visit the "Reflections" section and write a response to at least one of the topics.

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, John Green teaches students about the United States in the 1920s. They were known as the roaring 20s, but not because there were lions running around everywhere. In the 1920s, America's economy was booming, and all kinds of social changes were in progress. Hollywood, flappers, jazz, there was all kinds of stuff going on in the 20s. John will teach you about Charleston, the many Republican presidents of the 1920s, laissez-faire capitalism, jazz, consumer credit, the resurgent Klan, and all kinds of other stuff.

Vivian Howard and “soul food scholar” Adrian Miller visit Black-owned Boogie’s Turkey BBQ in Elm City, N.C., in this clip from the How Do You 'Cue episode. Miller offers Howard a crash course in the Native American origins of barbecue and the unsung contributions of African Americans to cherished barbecue traditions.

Students will read the memory of a traumatic childhood incident of William Minner near his hometown of Spiro, Oklahoma. In this reading passage, students read a story about the separation of water fountains during segregation. A video, vocabulary support, and comprehension questions are included for this activity. 

We’re going to step back from hardware and software, and take a closer look at how the backdrop of the cold war and space race and the rise of consumerism and globalization brought us from huge, expensive codebreaking machines in the 1940s to affordable handhelds and personal computers in the 1970s. This is an era that saw huge government-funded projects - like the race to the moon. And afterward, a shift towards the individual consumer, commoditization of components, and the rise of the Japanese electronics industry.

This interactive activity from PBSLearningMedia helps students learn how everyday people can do amazing things. To get started, students choose from a wall of historic figures to learn more about them or create their own!

Chamizal National Memorial sits on land that once belonged to Mexico. What is now a park was once the focus of a century-long border dispute that began when the Rio Grande River changed course. In 1963, a treaty ended that standoff and three years later this park was created as a monument to the friendship between the U.S. and Mexico and the culture we share.

In this lesson, students explore a variety of documents highlighting various issues and perspectives that led to the Cold War and address the question: Who was primarily responsible for the Cold War, the United States or the Soviet Union? Students will read and analyze four primary documents about the Cold War including excerpts from Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech and the Truman Doctrine, to answer the essential question. 

The website includes lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, primary source documents, and student graphic organizers. Teachers will need to create a free account to access the materials. 

In this interactive game from iCivics, students will decide a tough case while learning about what jurors discuss in the deliberation room. Students will choose from different civil cases, analyze evidence, weigh testimony, and use the right arguments to reach a fair and impartial verdict. This game can be played during a lesson on the responsibilities of citizens for reinforcement or after as an assessment. The game can be played in a whole group or individually.

You will need to create a free account in order to access some of the content on this site.

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, explore Alaska Native history and culture using the 11-minute story "Grandpa's Drum" in this episode from the PBS KIDS series MOLLY OF DENALI™. (Move the cursor over the video progress bar to locate the story at 01:00.) An old photograph sends Molly and friend Tooey on a mission to find out why Grandpa Nat no longer sings or plays his drum. As they uncover Grandpa's past, using visual clues and the internet, they understand more about their own heritage and the importance of cultural identity. As students explore the importance of diverse cultures and honoring traditions, as well as Alaska Native lives then and now, they also learn about finding and using informational texts.

John Green explores exactly when Rome went from being the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. Here's a hint: it had something to do with Julius Caesar, but maybe less than you think. Find out how Caesar came to rule the empire, what led to him getting stabbed 23 times on the floor of the senate, and what happened in the scramble for power after his assassination. John covers Rome's transition from city-state to dominant force in the Mediterranean. While Rome's expansion took hundreds of years, he explains it in just under 12 minutes. The senate, the people, Rome, the caesarian section, the Julian calendar, and our old friend Pompey all make appearances, but NOT the Caesar Salad, as Julius had nothing to do with it.

**Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.