Cards, Cars and Currency is a curriculum unit that challenges students to become involved in three specific areas of personal finance: credit cards, debit cards and purchasing a car.

The unit is divided into five lesson plans. The activities in each lesson plan are designed to address problem-solving, critical-thinking and higher levels of learning, using real-world scenarios. With a focus on responsibility for personal financial decisions, students will be able to identify the bottom line of financial decision making: income kept or lost.

All of the lessons are correlated with the national Personal Finance Standards and the National Standards in Economics. (See the Lesson Correlation section for more information.) This content from Econ Lowdown also features alignment to national Financial Literacy and/or Economics standards.

In this lesson, students play a game to test their current level of financial knowledge. Students explain the importance of financial literacy and explain the importance of taking responsibility for personal financial decisions. This content from Econ Lowdown also features alignment to national Financial Literacy and/or Economics standards.

In this activity students examine and learn about the various jobs and skills within engineering careers.

In this activity students examine and learn about the various jobs and skills within industrial organizational psychology careers.

In this activity students examine and learn about the various jobs and skills within stonemason careers.

In this media-rich lesson, students explore careers in science through profiles of Alaska Native scientists. They consider how traditional ways of knowing and Western approaches to science can complement each other and allow students to incorporate their own interests when considering careers in science.

Students are challenged to design a way to drop a raw egg from varying heights without letting the egg break. Creative thinking and evaluation of results are critical to the project.

Students will explore the concept of “cancel culture” through their reading of Ray Bradbury’s 1953 dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451 and study of the historical and social context of 1619 Project including the pros and cons against it.

Students examine propaganda and media bias, research a variety of banned and challenged books, choose a side of the censorship issue, and support their position through an advertising campaign.

Learn about volcanoes and apply what you know to making decisions about how to handle real world situations. You will find lots of supporting materials for these activities.

Students explore the topic of "coming of age" through the story of one boy's life in a dystopian future, and his growing understanding that the world around him is not what it appears.

How can we challenge our own confirmation bias? Our brains are great at using past experiences to make quick decisions on the fly, but these shortcuts can also lead to bias. "Confirmation bias" is our brain's tendency to seek out information that confirms things we already think we know. Help your students learn to recognize this when they encounter news online, as a way to examine competing opinions and ideas and to avoid drawing questionable conclusions. Approximately 45 mins.

LESSON OBJECTIVES: Define confirmation bias and identify why it occurs. Explore examples of confirmation bias, particularly related to news and online information. Identify strategies for challenging their own confirmation biases.

This short video and interactive assessment activity is designed to teach fifth graders about challenging multi-step money problems.

How can you create a digital footprint that showcases your purpose? Research shows that happiness in life is less about what you do and more about why you do it. When your actions have purpose, they lead to positive results -- both for you and the world. Help students use the power of the internet to turn their personal passions into positive impact. Approximately 50 mins.

LESSON OBJECTIVES: Explain what it means to find your purpose and why it is beneficial. Consider different ways that people have used their digital footprint to make a positive impact on the world and whether you would do something similar. Reflect on what your own purpose might be, including a problem you want to solve and how you might go about solving it.

How do you chat safely with people you meet online? Games, social media, and other online spaces give kids opportunities to meet and chat with others outside the confines of their real-life communities. But how well do kids actually know the people they're meeting and interacting with? Help students consider whom they're talking to and the types of information they're sharing online. Approximately 45 mins.

LESSON OBJECTIVES: Analyze how well they know the people they interact with online. Reflect on what information is safe to share with different types of online friends. Learn to recognize red flag feelings and use the Feelings & Options thinking routine to respond to them.

How can you tell when an online relationship is risky? Having conversations online, without nonverbal cues or being able to see people, can be awkward and sometimes even risky -- with drawbacks from simple misunderstandings to manipulation or inappropriate messages. Help students navigate and avoid these situations before they go too far. Approximately 45 mins.

LESSON OBJECTIVES: Identify the types of messages that might cause a red flag feeling for someone. Use the Feelings & Options thinking routine to analyze and respond to a situation involving a red flag feeling.

In this lesson students evaluate published children's picture storybooks. Students then plan, write, illustrate, and publish their own children's picture books.

Students read multiple versions of the fairy tale Cinderella, challenging them to think about how the culture, or setting, of the story influences the plot, and examining the setting and characters.

These five activities allow students to explore the various Cinderella folktales, while comparing and contrasting the characters. They provide lesson extensions, links to charts, discussion questions and the like.

The Civil War and Reconstruction Era brought about the end of slavery and the expansion of civil rights to African Americans through the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Compare the Northern and Southern states, discover the concepts of due process and equal protection, and understand how the former Confederate states reacted to the Reconstruction Amendments. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Identify the division of the U.S. at the outbreak of the Civil War. *Describe the expansion of civil rights and liberties in the Civil War/Reconstruction Period. *Explain the purposes of the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. *Identify the different perspectives on slavery during the Civil War period. *Determine the differences between the Presidential and Congressional plans for Reconstruction.