The federal deficit, the trade deficit, and most recently the housing and mortgage crunches have caused the value of the dollar to plummet. A closer look at this issue will help students understand its impact on ordinary citizens.

This silent auction activity can clarify the relationship between money supply and inflation and explain to students why the government cannot simply print more money to solve the national debt.

Josh Otlin

Beverly Milner Bisland and Iftikhar Ahmad

The featured 1937 letter from a Japanese primary school student apologizing for the sinking of the USS Panay by Japanese aircraft provides an entry into the study of U.S.-Japanese relations before World War II.

The author presents his favorite websites, focusing on those that are interesting, well designed, and useful to social studies educators.

Students can learn a great deal about our political system by examining how politicians are financed. The highlighted website that tracks campaign contributions is a rich resource for teaching about the influence of money in our political system.

A world history assignment, kicked off with a question on the French Revolution and furthered with a political cartoon, demonstrates the power of electronic discourse to enhance instruction and increase student participation.

Highlighting a wikinquiry on the Jamestown colony's 'starving time,' the authors demonstrate a wiki's power to promote student collaboration, enhance communication, and improve construction of knowledge.