Materials developed by high school anthropology students to investigate and explain American culture are presented. The purpose of the handbook is to aid social studies classroom teachers as they develop and implement educational programs on the American way of life within the context of global culture. The activities presented in the handbook can be conducted inexpensively within most school and community settings. The 38 topics are grouped into four major areas of investigation: (1) cultural values and belief systems, (2) social and political organization, (3) language and communication, and (4) economic systems. Each concept area is introduced by a brief overview. For each topic, information is presented on focus, teaching procedures, and feedback. Topics include American sports behavior, commercialization of American celebrations, cultural ideas of behavior in various types of restaurants, body language, group membership, consumption of luxury items, and cultural definitions of right and wrong. Activities involve students in interviewing family and community members, observing behavior in fast food and gourmet restaurants, collecting recyclable material, drawing sociograms, conducting library projects, doing map exercises, debating, and maintaining logs of daily activities. (DB)