American women played a vital role in the Allies victory in WWII. More than 400,000 served in the military and millions worked in defense industries on the home front. WWII gave women new opportunities for work and independence. Some people viewed these changes as positive, some as negative. Many people were ambivalent about the social changes that affected women during the war. This ambivalence can be explored in contemporary images of women from that era.Students will learn about the social tensions brought about by women entering the workforce during WWII by analyzing portrayals of women in editorial cartoons. 

Plastic bottles are everywhere! About 70% of the plastic water bottles bought in the U.S. are not recycled, and end up in the oceans. It seems obvious that using fewer plastic water bottles would be a good thing for our environment, but sometimes the alternatives can have negative consequences. Do the costs of banning plastic bottles outweigh the benefits?

In 1943, Anglo servicemen attacked Mexican American, Filipino American, and African American adolescents in Los Angeles. This violence was known as the "Zoot Suit Riots," named for the allegedly un-patriotic fashion then popular among the city's youth. In this lesson, students examine four historical sources to answer the question: What caused the Zoot Suit Riots?