Current Issues
Classroom activities to engage students in learning about and discussing issues in the news
In this lesson, high school students examine the demographics of fast food and other low-wage workers, learn more about minimum wage and consider different points of view about increasing it, and explore their own opinions about minimum wage and what low-wage employees need. Time needed for lesson...
This short (15-minute) classroom activity uses a 2-minute video and discussion to explore the growing controversy over the Trans-Pacific Partnership 12-nation trade agreement.
In two readings and discussion, students think critically about the connection between cars and climate change, and compare U.S. transportation systems with those of Europe, where people rely less on cars.
Quick quizzes and facts about water use, climate change, and controversy surrounding California's record drought.
In this short activity, pegged to a planned nationwide strike by low-wage workers on April 15, students discuss the growing movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
In this lesson students discuss reactions to the police killing of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, in North Charleston, South Carolina. Students consider quotes and discuss two short videos.
Students analyze and discuss photos to learn about the impact of climate change, resilience, and the climate justice movement.
Students consider three numbers: the Obama administration's newly announced target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions; the target scientists advise; and the zero target called for by many conservatives.
In this brief lesson, students consider competing rights, including the right not to be discriminated against vs. the right of religious freedom.
Students learn about the cyclone that devastated the Pacific nation of Vanuatu on March 14, 2015, and how it relates to climate change, then send a message to Vanuatu's UN representative.