Index of all Curriculum Units, 2005-2024

section "D"

Selecting a Unit number will take you to the Guide Entry for that Unit.

Dance

African American
11.04.01 Performing Resilience: The Study of Culture and the African Diaspora through Literature and Dance

Darwin, Charles
16.06.05 Transitional Forms: The Evidence for Evolution by Natural Selection
16.06.06 The Ever Evolving Brain and Neurodegenerative Disease
12.06.07 What Can We Learn About Animals?
11.01.07 Taking Pride in Our Character

Death
17.06.03 Economics and Community Health - The Wealth-Health Paradigm

Delaware
23.04.01 We are Not in this Together: The Unequal Impacts of Climate Change
22.05.01 New Castle and Climate Change – Causes, Evidence, Impacts, and Potential Solutions
15.03.09 The History and Analysis of Public Art: Using Delaware’s Desegregation History as a Ground to Learn, Interpret, and Create
14.04.07 Energizing the Debate: The Pros and Cons of Renewable Sources of Energy
09.05.03 It's Not Waste: Teaching Recycling through Density, Phase Change and Solubility

Democracy
21.03.07 Cause and Effect: Inequality and Activism
21.03.10 Democracy: The Ancient World and Modern Implications
19.03.03 Understanding Democracy in the Elementary Grades
19.03.06 Expanding Rights in American Democracy – Coalitions, Conflict, & Controversy
09.02.03 Turning Hope into Reality
09.02.09 Hispanic Identity: From Dreams to Civic Participation
08.03.05 Democracy (in)Action: Promoting Critical Youth Consciousness and Participation
08.03.07 Why Rome Fell and Is the United States Next?
08.03.08 Is America a Successful Democracy: A Critical Inquiry
08.03.10 MySpace in Democracy: inquiry on how social networks and media technologies promote and disrupt democratic practices
05.03.12 Dilemma of a Democracy: Liberty and Security

Economic
20.03.01 It’s the Economy, Stupid: Lessons in Economics, Banking, and Personal Finance from the Financial Crisis of 2008
20.03.02 UBI (Universal Basic Income): Yay! We Don’t Have to Work Anymore?
08.03.12 Who decides who benefits? A comparative view of wealth distribution using examples from New Mexico's Legislature, Santa Fe City and the Pueblo of Pojoaque

Elections
20.03.04 What Have You Done For Me Lately; A Tale of Two Parties
20.03.06 Money Talks: First Amendment Freedom of Speech and Campaign Finance
12.03.01 I think, therefore I do? Conscious and unconscious factors influencing our choice for President of the United States
12.03.11 What do Presidents really do?
08.03.01 Road to the White House: Campaign for the Presidency
08.03.02 I'll Vote for That, but Why? The United States Constitution and Presidential Elections
08.03.03 The Elections of 1800 and 2000. How Crisis Elections Have Shaped the Practice of Democracy in United States History

Participation
19.03.02 The Right to Vote: Empowerment and Civic Engagement in our Democracy
14.04.11 Auditorium Building, Chicago: "The Temple of Peace."
12.03.05 Could YOU be President?: Explaining and Exploring Presidential Possibility through Autobiography

Representation
21.03.10 Democracy: The Ancient World and Modern Implications
09.02.05 Analysis of the Obama Election: Will It Bring Rights and Representation for Minorities?

Suffrage
21.03.08 Jim Crow 2.0: Voter Suppression in the 21st Century
21.03.09 Democracy & Inequality: To be or not to be?
19.03.03 Understanding Democracy in the Elementary Grades
19.03.07 The Different Types of Government and The Vote
09.02.08 Setbacks to Suffrage: Inquiry into the Process

Diné Nation (Navajo)

Culture
23.02.07 Through the Eyes of a Navajo: Nature Writing
23.03.02 Using a Length Model of Fractions to Compare Fractions
22.03.01 Reclaiming the Lost Art of Storytelling Using Textile
22.04.03 Using Out of This World Knowledge to Build Literacy Skills! Space Writer on Board!
22.05.06 "To 'iina 'ate: Water is Life," Navajo Farming During a Drought
19.03.07 The Different Types of Government and The Vote
19.03.08 Á?chíní Bi Beehaz’áanii: Applying Navajo Fundamental Law to Preserve Cultural Heritage
19.05.03 Native American Geometric Community
19.05.10 Area and Perimeter: Farming Polyominos on the Navajo Nation
18.02.08 Ekphrastic Poetry: Connecting with the Original Language and Culture Through Poetry
18.03.04 Stories Told through Literature, Film and How It Applies to Our Society
18.03.05 Native American Literature Adaptation: From Smoke Signals to Reading Comprehension
18.03.09 Adapting Culture from Book to Film: Laughing Boy
17.02.02 Identity of Past and Present Diné
17.02.10 Shi - Child of the Holy People
17.05.04 Math World Problems and the Diné Hooghan
16.03.09 Journey to the Sun: Reclaiming Imagination and Self-Esteem through Culture and History
16.05.08 Diyogi (Navajo Rug) and the Number Line
15.02.02 Tragedies and Plots Shaped by Characters of Shakespeare and Navajo Oral Myths
15.04.09 The Authenticity of Native American Indian Character and Culture in Book and Film
14.01.04 Anasazi Images on Navajo Land
14.02.08 Using Poetry Songs to Teach Fluency Using Literature about Navajo Culture in an ELL Classroom
14.04.02 Eloquence and Culture Leading with Words
13.02.03 Seasonal Dine/Navajo Poetry: Interpreting the Seasons through Dine/Navajo Culture
13.03.10 The Significance of My Great-Grandparent
13.05.09 Nihodzaan (Mother Earth)
12.03.10 Naataanii'

Environment
20.04.05 A Plastic Struggle for Mother Earth
20.05.07 Ecological Effects of Strip Mining Coal on the Black Mesa Mine

Health
21.05.07 More Than Frybread: The Road to Healthy Eating and Physical Fitness
17.04.09 Salt and Health – It’s not fair!
16.04.07 Náhasdzáán Nílchi Binaadohígíí - Carbon Dioxide
15.01.03 Farming, Food and a Balanced Navajo Lifestyle
15.06.01 Diabetes and Navajo Nation
14.06.06 Microbiome within the Circle of Life
12.05.01 Diné Be'azee': Diné Traditional Medicine
12.05.08 Medicines between Two Worlds
11.07.08 Diabetes, the Silent Enemy

History
23.01.04 The Effect of the Navajo Long Walk Through Photos
19.02.07 A History of Peacemaking and Incarceration with the Dine People
16.03.09 Journey to the Sun: Reclaiming Imagination and Self-Esteem through Culture and History
14.01.04 Anasazi Images on Navajo Land
14.06.06 Microbiome within the Circle of Life
13.03.10 The Significance of My Great-Grandparent
12.03.10 Naataanii'
12.04.06 Why do you want my children? A Glimpse into Native American Citizenship
12.05.08 Medicines between Two Worlds

Photography
23.01.04 The Effect of the Navajo Long Walk Through Photos

Disability

in Learning
12.06.01 Asking Questions about Learning Disabilities: A Gateway to Self-Determination

in Media
18.03.01 The Miracle Worker: Bridging Drama and Film Study to Build Critical Literacy Skills
18.03.10 Wonderstruck: Disability Awareness Through Visual Storytelling
17.02.01 Identity of Persons with Disabilities: Looking at People and Characters in Novels and Media

in Society
21.05.06 The Curb Cut Effect: A Local and Global Citizen Bioengineering Challenge
13.04.06 People with Disabilities: An Invisible Community

Disease
21.05.07 More Than Frybread: The Road to Healthy Eating and Physical Fitness

and Genetics
16.06.02 Genetic Engineering and the Potential Effects on Evolution
13.06.02 Genetically Engineering Cures for Single Gene Diseases

Brain
13.06.02 Genetically Engineering Cures for Single Gene Diseases
09.06.09 Brain Structure and Function and Disease

Cancer
17.06.06 HeLa Cells, Cervical Cancer, and the HPV Vaccine
15.06.03 Effects of Carcinogens on Cells

COVID-19
24.05.04 Exponential Functions in Evolutionary Disease
24.05.07 Evolutionary Medicine: Pathogen (COVID-19, Influenza) and the Navajo People

Diabetes
15.06.01 Diabetes and Navajo Nation
11.07.02 A Recipe for Success: The Semi-sweet Pancreas
11.07.08 Diabetes, the Silent Enemy
08.06.01 Eat to live: the connection between food, digestion and diabetes

Global
15.06.02 Towards an Understanding of Disease Burdens in Developing and Developed Nations
06.05.02 The Consequences of Global Warming on Human Health

Heart Disease
12.05.09 Cardiovascular Medications, Beta-Blockers and their Effect on Cells
11.07.09 Heart Disease, Transplants and New Technology

Hemophilia
13.06.02 Genetically Engineering Cures for Single Gene Diseases

Hepatitis
11.07.12 Your Liver, Can It Survive Your Abuse?

Historical
21.02.09 Medical Inequality in America: Henrietta Lacks, the Tuskegee Study, and Covid 19
10.06.02 The Impact of Disease on the Civil War
05.02.08 An Approach to Biology, Population Dynamics, and Disease via the Analysis of Mexican Art, History, and Texts

HIV/AIDS
14.06.07 Making Connections in Science: Viruses and the Immune System
13.06.05 HIV: From Horror to Hope
10.06.07 AIDS in The Teenage Community

Huntington’s
13.06.02 Genetically Engineering Cures for Single Gene Diseases

Hypertension
12.05.03 The Down-Low (DL) on High Blood Pressure
11.07.11 Under Pressure! The Circulatory System and Hypertension

Infectious
17.06.07 Micro Life in a Macro World: Understanding Life at the Microscopic Scale and the Spread of Disease
14.06.01 Microbes Rule the School and the Entire Planet

Kidney Dialysis
11.07.07 Teaching Osmosis and Diffusion through Kidney Dialysis

Malaria
15.06.07 The Changing Threat of Malaria and the Impact on Global Health

Muscular Dystrophy
17.06.01 Gene Therapy and Muscular Dystrophy: Structure, Function, and Dysfunction of the Muscular System

Respiratory
20.05.02 Strands of One Braided Cord: How Humans Are Impacting Biodiversity Through the Spread of Disease
20.05.08 Viral Viruses: Land-Use Changes and Emerging Infectious Diseases
13.06.02 Genetically Engineering Cures for Single Gene Diseases

Sickle Cell Anemia
13.06.02 Genetically Engineering Cures for Single Gene Diseases

Smallpox
10.06.06 Teaching Principles of Evolutionary Medicine through a Historical Lens

Vaccines
21.05.04 Math by Design; Creating Innovators in a Post-Pandemic Classroom
18.05.10 Vaccines and the Outbreak of Nonsense
17.06.05 Cure for the Common Cold: Fantasy or Reality?
17.06.06 HeLa Cells, Cervical Cancer, and the HPV Vaccine
17.06.08 Germs Attack!

Viruses
17.06.05 Cure for the Common Cold: Fantasy or Reality?
17.06.07 Micro Life in a Macro World: Understanding Life at the Microscopic Scale and the Spread of Disease
17.06.08 Germs Attack!
14.06.02 This Means War! The Battle of Humans and Viruses
14.06.05 Microbes as a Driving Force of Change
12.05.10 Antibacterial Gone Viral – Understanding Immune Response in Bacterial and Viral Infectious Diseases

Disney

Cinderella
09.01.04 Cinderella: A Cross-cultural Story

Disney, Walt
13.03.07 A picture is worth a thousand words: Rediscovering biography
10.03.05 Approaching Literacy: The Lives of Walt Disney, Helen Keller, and Dr. Seuss

Encanto
22.01.05 Themes in Encanto and Wadjda

Frozen
18.03.02 The Snow Queen in Film
18.03.07 Our White Hats: A Study of Heroes

Mulan
15.04.02 The Visual Art of Writing
15.04.08 Lights, Camera, Action! Reading Children’s Literature through Film in the Spanish Classroom

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
18.03.07 Our White Hats: A Study of Heroes

Diversity (see Social Justice; Immigration)

and Cultural Sensitivity
20.01.08 “Boxing” Asian American History
20.02.01 Mexican-American Labor in California through Art Literacy
20.02.07 Seeing the World through Race-Colored Glasses: Guiding High-School Journalism Students to Report in a Race-Conscious Way to Create a Race-Conscious World
18.01.03 The Intersection of Crime and Immigration
16.03.08 Unraveling the Dream World Stereotype of the Arab People
15.01.04 Defining Culture through the Lens of Literature and Text in Kindergarten
15.01.05 Different Cultures in Chicago's Neighborhoods: Chinese and Mexican Communities
15.04.08 Lights, Camera, Action! Reading Children’s Literature through Film in the Spanish Classroom
13.02.05 Real American: Making Literature a Means for Displacing Native American Stereotypes
13.04.06 People with Disabilities: An Invisible Community
12.02.10 Stylistic Voice and Questions of Speaking for the Voiceless in The Poisonwood Bible
12.04.04 Our Understanding of the Meaning of Race: A Sociological Critical Lens
12.04.06 Why do you want my children? A Glimpse into Native American Citizenship
12.04.07 Diverse Journeys - Americans All!
12.04.08 True Citizenship: A Question of Race
12.04.09 The Resiliency of the Black Family
11.01.01 The Other Side: Experiencing Cultures through the Eyes of My Students
11.01.07 Taking Pride in Our Character
11.01.10 Taking a Role in History: Reading Biography with Empathy
11.03.07 American Tapestry: Interconnectedness Revealed through Historical Fiction
11.03.09 The Hip-Hopcracy of America
11.04.07 Mind the Gap: Planting the Seeds of Cultural Awareness
10.01.01 Art and Poetry of the Afro Mestizos
10.03.11 Contando Vidas/Telling Life Stories: The Biographies of Influential Hispanics in Our Community
09.02.09 Hispanic Identity: From Dreams to Civic Participation
07.04.01 Boricua, Morena: Latin-Caribbean American and African American Cultural Connections En ciudad de Filadelfia
07.04.04 I Know You Are, but What Am I? A Latino Literature Unit
07.04.07 Cuéntame Una Historia, Por Favor! (Tell Me A Story, Please!)
06.04.03 Native American Art Traditions in the Middle School Arts Curriculum

Cultural Geography
18.02.05 Activism and Cultural Identity Through Works of Art in Chicago Neighborhoods
16.01.06 Relationships of African Americans and Creeks in Oklahoma to 1936
15.04.08 Lights, Camera, Action! Reading Children’s Literature through Film in the Spanish Classroom
14.01.09 Pain to Pride: A Visual Journey of African American Life in 19th Century Richmond, VA
14.03.02 Neighborhood as Palimpsest: An Examination of Chicago's Back of the Yards Neighborhood Through Urban Historical Geography
14.03.06 Understanding San Francisco Bay Area Immigration Through an Exploration of Laws and Images
13.01.10 Challenging Perceptions: Persepolis Beyond the American Lens
13.04.01 The Study of a Zip Code: Tulsa's Invisible City
13.04.02 Paseo Boricua: Discovering Our Own Division
13.04.03 Whence We Stand: A Visual/Geography/History Adventure
13.04.04 Travel Stories: Mapping the Vision, Walking the Journey
13.04.08 Invisible Richmond: The History Behind the Urban Landscape
12.04.11 The Heart's Migration: Finding, Making, Coming Home
11.01.01 The Other Side: Experiencing Cultures through the Eyes of My Students
11.04.07 Mind the Gap: Planting the Seeds of Cultural Awareness
11.04.12 Feathers and Beads: Exploring Heritage through the Mardi Gras Indians
05.02.09 The Influence of Mexican Muralists on Wpa Art

Neurodiversity
18.03.10 Wonderstruck: Disability Awareness Through Visual Storytelling
11.01.02 Are You Talkin' to Me? A Bibliotherapeutic Realization of Intelligence and Self-efficacy in Traumatized Adolescents
11.01.07 Taking Pride in Our Character

Pedagogy of

and Film
22.01.05 Themes in Encanto and Wadjda
06.01.02 Life Made Aware: Scripting Lives through Eyes Only
06.01.04 Women in World Cinema: Stories of Struggle and Resistance
06.01.06 Uniting Children of the World through Film: Planning an International Film Festival for Middle School Students
06.01.10 Raising Social Consciousness
06.01.12 Back to the Future: How Earlier Art Forms Have Influenced Contemporary Cinema in Ireland, Iran, and Africa

and Literature
20.01.04 American Heritage: Unmasked, Unpacked & Uncloaked
20.02.08 We Are Family: The Importance of Community through an Exploration of Johnathon Upper Elementary Schools
16.02.09 Who Am I?: Culturally Relevant Text and American Identity
15.01.04 Defining Culture through the Lens of Literature and Text in Kindergarten
13.01.10 Challenging Perceptions: Persepolis Beyond the American Lens
13.02.05 Real American: Making Literature a Means for Displacing Native American Stereotypes
11.01.10 Taking a Role in History: Reading Biography with Empathy
10.01.04 Exploring Cultural Conflict through Poetry and Art
09.01.04 Cinderella: A Cross-cultural Story
09.01.07 A Study of Oral Tradition: Storytelling in Ireland, West Africa and Japan
09.03.08 African Americans and Shakespeare: Partners in Search of Humanity
08.01.02 Race and Gender in Shakespeare and the Art of Rhetoric
07.02.06 Crime Fiction Investigation: "Socially Correct or Not, Let Me Tell You Who Did It"

and Social Sciences
12.04.04 Our Understanding of the Meaning of Race: A Sociological Critical Lens
12.04.07 Diverse Journeys - Americans All!

Douglass, Frederick
24.02.02 Reading in the Dark: Freedom of the Mind and Body
24.02.04 The Why and How of Reading: Literacy Skills from Primary Sources
24.02.05 Through the Labor of Literacy
23.01.10 This is America: Images and Histories of Racism and Exploitation
21.01.03 Remembering the Civil War: A Primary Source Comparative Study of Rhetoric and Author Purpose
20.01.06 Rhetorical Inquiry Through the Lives of Douglass and Truth
16.02.05 Frederick Douglass and Harriett Beecher Stowe: Two Sides to the Abolitionist Narrative
10.02.09 Barack Obama's Rhetoric: The Trajectory of a Post-Racial America?
09.02.04 The Great African/African-American Intellectual Tradition for Liberation: Resistance Past, Present and Beyond
08.02.03 The Role of Rhetoric in the Abolition Movement: A Study of Voice and Power in Narrative, Speech, and Letters

Dr. Seuss

Classroom Use
24.04.06 Using Dr. Seuss to Teach about Environmental Conservation
11.01.02 Are You Talkin' to Me? A Bibliotherapeutic Realization of Intelligence and Self-efficacy in Traumatized Adolescents

Geisel, Theodor Seuss
10.03.05 Approaching Literacy: The Lives of Walt Disney, Helen Keller, and Dr. Seuss

Drama (see Theatre)

American

Beckett, Samuel
11.04.02 Strange Fruit: An Exploration of Imagery and Socio-politics of Post-Katrina New Orleans

Hansberry, Lorraine
20.03.03 Codes of Conduct: Racist Housing and Education Policies that Impact Urban Students
07.01.09 Using Film and Literature to examine The Great black Migration: An Analysis of "A Raisin in the Sun" through poetic voices

Miller, Arthur
23.01.02 Using Objects and Artifacts to Understand The Crucible
05.03.13 Arthur Miller's History Lesson: The Crucible as a Link from the Past through McCarthyism to Present-Day Terrorism

Williams, Tennesse
16.02.06 Creating Connections to Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire

Wilson, August
23.01.09 Illuminating Gem of the Ocean with Art Representing African Diaspora
17.02.05 Uncovering Individuality in a Scripted World

General
11.01.04 Making Friends with Characters: Exploring Friendship through Literature

Greek Tragedy
14.04.01 Medea: Innocent or Guilty? It's just Rhetoric
13.01.04 Seeing Oedipus Rex: Using the Chorus to Understand the Tragedy

Historical Drama
13.03.11 The Tangled Web of Richard III: Shakespeare and the Art of Biography
11.01.08 An Unforgettable Snapshot of Reading Character in The Help and Romeo and Juliet
05.03.13 Arthur Miller's History Lesson: The Crucible as a Link from the Past through McCarthyism to Present-Day Terrorism

Improvisation
13.02.10 Living Texts: Analyzing S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders by Thinking, Reading, Acting, and Thinking Again

Musical
11.03.06 American Musicals, American Freedom

Performance
09.03.08 African Americans and Shakespeare: Partners in Search of Humanity

Shakespeare, William (see Shakespeare, William)

Adaptation
07.01.02 Hamlet and Hollywood: Using Film Adaptation to Analyze Ophelia and Gertrude
07.01.04 Modernizing Shakespeare: Finding Contemporary Themes from Othello

Character
15.02.02 Tragedies and Plots Shaped by Characters of Shakespeare and Navajo Oral Myths
15.02.03 Fate or Action: Character Agency & What the 21st Century Student Gains from The Merchant of Venice
15.02.04 To Thine Own self Be True: the Uncovering the Hamlet in You
15.02.05 Character in Hamlet: Family & Loss
13.03.11 The Tangled Web of Richard III: Shakespeare and the Art of Biography
11.01.08 An Unforgettable Snapshot of Reading Character in The Help and Romeo and Juliet
09.03.01 That Lady is Loca! or Speech as the Main Method of Characterization in Shakespeare's Plays
09.03.03 King Lear, Part II--It's All About the Play
09.03.04 Getting to Know Shakespeare's Characters
09.03.07 Single Parenting and Family Dynamics Then and Now: King Lear
08.01.01 Men vs. Women: Examining the Relationship between Genre and Gender in Shakespeare
08.01.02 Race and Gender in Shakespeare and the Art of Rhetoric
08.01.03 English Language Learners (ELLs) Investigate the Identity of Shakespeare and His Characters
08.01.04 Shakespeare's Characters: A Visual Analysis
08.01.05 To See or Not to See? A Visual Approach to Identity in Shakespeare
07.01.03 Macbeth and Issues of Gender

Tragedy
15.02.02 Tragedies and Plots Shaped by Characters of Shakespeare and Navajo Oral Myths
09.03.03 King Lear, Part II--It's All About the Play