Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This site explores the ramifications of using credit cards by showing how much they cost users. Students do calculations to figure out the amount of money they would lose by charging. With many young students holding credit cards today, it's never too early to start educating them about the power of plastic! Other topics covered include scams, losing a purse or wallet, identity theft, and credit fraud. A helpful glossary explains the often confusing vocabulary found on credit card statements and user agreements. Some of the activities at this website are Java enabled. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

tag(s): money (113)

This is an environmental site and should NOT be confused with catalogchoice.COM, a consumer site FULL of advertising. Catalog Choice(.org) provides free membership to "opt out" of catalogs. Their self-described mission is "a free service that allows you to decide what gets in your mailbox. Use it to reduce your mailbox clutter, while helping save natural resources." If you teach consumer skills, basic economics, or environmental issues, this site is a real world place to visit with your students as part of your class discussions on marketing, advertising, and environmental issues caused by junk mail.

tag(s): advertising (26), earth (184), earth day (60), environment (252)

A compilation of data about fund-raising and the financing of political candidates in the United States, this site contains a massive amount of information. You can drill down to the zip code level and find out who in your local area is donating how much to which political candidates and parties. You can search by politician or by candidates and see where their financial support comes from. You can track particular issues or take a historical look at campaign and political finance.

tag(s): elections (82), politics (118)

Gapminder is an interactive site designed to present world demographic information in a highly visual way. Using either a world map, or a chart with "bubbles" sized according to each country's population, users can track 30 years of change in a wide variety of economic and social indicators (for example, population size, percentage of GNP dedicated to military spending, proportion of girls in school, infant mortality). Math teachers can use the site to demonstrate data analysis skills with meaningful data. Slides will save to your Google drive. Be sure to check out the Resources from the top menu

tag(s): data (151), demographics (13)

This is a wonderful compilation site of news from all over the world. Users can read the home page or search news of a specific geographic region. An excellent plus here is the ability to choose to read the news in a variety of languages. World Photos today, multimedia, global weather, and sports are just a few of the many attractive sections that add to this site's appeal.

tag(s): news (228)

Created in response to the CIA Factbook and other data sources, NationMaster draws together data from multiple sources so students (and adults) can compare and contrast using the tools of the web site itself. Use pulldowns to select a statistic to compare, such as Education, and the specific statistic you wish to look at (Average years of schooling of adults, for example). You will see the actual data as well as a bar graph or switch to a colored world map representing the data. The site makes working with data more student-friendly. You will have to ignore some of the ads along the top and left side of the page.

tag(s): data (151), statistics (121)

Get the facts fast. Simply click Country to find an alphebetical list of countries and learn all about its significant data. The information is separated into categories: Introduction, Natural Resoures, Land Use, Natural Hazards, Geography, People, Government, Economy, Communications, Transportation, Military, and Transnational Issues. All the information is presented in a dry, factual format (mostly numbers) but provides an excellent way to compare countries, draw inferences, and predict trends, hypothesize cause/effect, and more. By researching the data, your class can look for possible connections between demographics and economics, for example.

tag(s): data (151), demographics (13), population (51)

Doris Voitier, Superintendent of the St. Bernard Parish Schools in New Orleans area gave this speech in acceptance of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation's Profiles in Courage Award in 2007. Her account of the challenges during and after Hurricane Katrina and the response by the staff of the St. Bernard Parish schools is awe-inspiring and heartening to educators. Her oral history also provides a powerful view of FEMA and the U.S. government from the eyes of hurricane survivors and local public officials.

TeachersFirst is fortunate to have Doris Voitier as a member of the board of directors of our parent company and is proud to congratulate her on this prestigious award.

tag(s): hurricanes (32)

This is a companion site to a PBS series on the forces world wide that are affecting global population. There is a wealth of information here on historical trends in population growth, the impact of population on the environment, and the continuing imbalance between the rich and the poor in the world. Although there are still flash-enabled slide shows illustrating global population growth over history, they are few. Don't miss the Teachers Guide in the right menu. The teacher's guide gives further information about using the resources in the classroom.

tag(s): demographics (13), environment (252), population (51)

A companion to an independent film focusing on the conditions facing workers who make blue jeans for the Western market, this site provides information about "sweatshops" in China and other developing countries. There is specific information about the sources for several well-known jeans manufacturers, and stories of the young workers in these factories and their brutal working conditions.

The site would be useful in an economics class during a discussion of the emerging global economy. In addition, it would be a good supplement to a discussion of China in general, or as part of a comparison with 19th century sweatshop labor in the United States and the development of the labor union movement. There are also links to other web-based sources on human rights, China, and the global economy.

tag(s): china (81)

This is an online simulation game focusing on sustainable fishing. Students can manipulate variables (numbers of fishing boats, catch quotas) and see how those changes affect both the bottom line and the environment. Each change results in a year's worth of data (up to 15 year's worth), and then reactions from different stakeholders. The game can be played as one, but other participants will need to be online, or as a group. Register with your school email to get a code to set up your class, which could take two business days.

tag(s): environment (252), financial literacy (93), fish (18), resources (83), sustainability (50)

This teacher friendly site has it all - thinking questions, facts, research activities and more! This site is designed for grades 6-8, but could be useful in grades 5-10. The students are taken back to the late 1800s by authentic pictures and creative learning activities. Topics include working women, railroads and other forms of transportation and mass production.

tag(s): industrialization (12)

A thorough site on planning for a career. Includes timelines, options, many links to different career paths and college planning resources, even a cover letter generator. the site does have some advertising, but it is tolerable (turn on your pop-up blocker). Special Education teachers working with students on transition planning will also find this site helpful in providing a structured approach.

tag(s): careers (156), college (45), financial aid (13)

What would a world map look like if countries and continents were sized not by land area, but by population, number of elderly, various type of imports, or emigration? This site presents dozens of cartograms - or density-equalizing maps - in which each country is resized according to a specific variable. Each map is accompanied by a downloadable Excel file and a printable poster.

tag(s): immigration (68), maps (220), migration (45), population (51)

Here are economics lessons for elementary through high school students that explores the rights of individuals versus the obligations of government to preserve and protect natural resources. The site presents opposing economic theories and asks students to evaluate the merits of each as they apply to a hypothetical example. While written as an economics lesson, this example could also work as part of a government class. Aligned to national standards. Many engaging and relevant lessons that are highly engaging.

tag(s): natural resources (37), resources (83)

Use deductive reasoning skills to isolate the diverse factors that contributed to the Great Depression. This standards-based lesson plan leads students through Internet research and analysis of related economic writings to the creation of a concept map illustrating the interdependence between businesses in a market economy. Aligned to National Standards.

tag(s): business (52)

Give your students some real-world experience with the concept of interest rates over time. This authentic lesson plan puts students in the driver's seat as they contemplate lending money to a sibling. Is it more lucrative to demand payment at once, or accept a series of installments? Great basic introduction to a vital economic concept. Aligned to National Standards.

Practice and review basic economic vocabulary with this online matching activity. Click "Start Over to reset the game with a new set of words and definitions. Teachers may wish to check out the "List of Terms" for a consolidated glossary of all concepts used in the activity.

tag(s): vocabulary (238)

Add a little bit of economic reality to a 20th century American history lesson. Just choose a country and year, and this site will provide exchange rate data between the United State dollar and foreign currency. Changes in currency units for countries throughout the world and links to related resources are included.

tag(s): currency (14)

Bring current events to life in your classroom with this resource that connects students with international events. Politics, economics, geography, and culture are addressed by lesson plans (aligned to national standards) that challenge students to think deeply about global issues. Articles are written at a fairly high reading level and issues are complex. This is definitely a high-powered resource for concentrated analysis and serious discussion.

tag(s): air (101), politics (118)