Students' awareness of current events from a "Channel One" broadcast is examined. Five three-item quizzes tested high school students' short-term recall and knowledge of the news, features, and "Pop Quiz" questions contained in the program. Questionnaires evaluated students' and teachers' attitudes, perception, (students')…

Notes that there is a rich literature within social studies education promoting the teaching of controversial issues. Observes that, despite this, teachers continue to be cautious, only giving controversies a token nod in curricula. Suggests four reasons why controversial content continues to be difficult for teachers to implement. (DSK)

In this article, the authors present the lessons learned by the teaching community from the September 11 attack and the ongoing war on terror. The ongoing war against terrorism presents some unique challenges to the nation's educators. Classroom teachers must cope with explaining to their students the daily war news and acts of violence. Decisions…

This text was to have been the script for the National Air and Space Museum's exhibition of the Enola Gay, focusing on the end of World War II and the decision of the United States to use of the atomic bomb. The Enola Gay was a B-29 aircraft that carried the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. The atomic bomb brought a…

This paper examines the rapid changes in technology that enables cloning of human embryos and explores the issues related to teaching students about the use of such technologies. STS adoption has made only minimal impact on mainline social studies curriculum, although the topic has been included in discussion for decades. The paper outlines five…

The experiences of 11 innovative public policy education projects funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation between 1988 and 1992 are reviewed. It presents results of a cluster evaluation that used a case study approach to examine effective public policy education and the role of coalitions. The report begins with project descriptions that include a…

This document suggests that the main purpose of the study of current affairs in the social studies program in Alberta, Canada, is to add relevance, interest, and immediacy. It defines current affairs as the study of news events presented by the media. Because the study of current affairs must be tied to the achievement of social studies…

Students must be informed about what is going on in the United States and the world. They must be able to understand, analyze, and evaluate what they hear and read. Newspaper and magazine editorials are excellent sources of argument and information for class study. Genuine understanding of written material requires thinking during reading.…

A "maps in the news" unit can be used to help middle and junior high school students in many subject areas recognize basic map components and identify and analyze thematic maps while building writing skills. Prior to beginning the unit, the teacher introduces students to thematic maps, the parts of a map, and writing organization (topic…

One in a series of booklets on world issues, this document evaluates United States policy toward the nations of Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Vietnam, South Africa, Libya, and Iran. Chapter one reviews United States relations with six radical regimes during the administrations of presidents Carter and Reagan and offers a number of lessons about the…

The selective annotated bibliography is a reader's guide to aspects of the American past and present as seen by British writers since the 1940s. Approximately 250 entries provide a sampling of how British students of United States studies perceive the New World. Childrens books are omitted. Nine categories are organized alphabetically by author.…

The guide offers a compilation of teacher-developed career education materials which may be integrated with secondary level curriculum in social studies. Suggested activities and ideas are presented for the following subject areas and related units in social studies: history and government (26 pages), contemporary issues (49 pages), consumer…

More than 125 simulation and other games related to law are listed in one or more of six sections of this catalog. The section categories are Basic Concepts of Law, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, Current Issues, The Political Process, and Teacher Resources. Within each section materials are listed alphabetically according to the author's…

This four-part report from the Harvard Social Studies Project describes a secondary school curriculum based on an analysis of public controversy and developed to train students to examine, through discussion and argument, the kinds of disputes that cause social conflict. The first part of the report is a discussion of the curriculum approach which…

An innovative political science program in Fairfax County, Virginia, involves a semester's study of political theory and processes, followed by an optional semester-long internship in which each student works 8 to 10 hours per week with a county, state, or federal government agency and then prepares a report on a contemporary issue related to the…