Standards Index: D2.Geo.12.9-12.

Students will learn how the federal government’s botched raid on the compound of the Branch Davidian religious sect in 1993 led to decades of controversy over Second Amendment rights.

Students will learn how the Yellowstone fires of 1988 created a national controversy that challenged long-held assumptions about the role that fires should play in forestry policy.

Students will examine the question of what obligation countries have to refugees. As Afghan and Ukrainian migrants settle in the U.S., this video asks whether refugee resettlement is better now than it was for the Vietnamese 50 years ago.

Students will learn how toxic waste dumped under the community of Love Canal led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program.

Students will learn how nuclear energy’s prospects were dimmed by accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, and how modern concerns over climate change have sparked a complex debate about the future of nuclear energy.

Students will learn how some students, scientists and advocacy organizations have sought to influence the way evolution is taught in public schools, and how this debate relates to court rulings involving the First Amendment’s establishment clause.

Students will learn how a prescription medication’s devastating side effects shocked the nation decades ago and led to today’s federal drug safety guidelines.

Students will learn about the Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon oil spills, as well as examining the long-term effects on ecosystems and coastal communities.

Students will learn about the importance to public health of vaccines. They will gain news literacy by examining troubled reporting and public health messaging around the measles vaccine, and discover why we’re dealing with the repercussions today.

Students will learn how human-made catastrophes can help to shape federal policy on food safety.