Malcolm Wallop K-12 Curriculum Project
The Wallop Civic Engagement K-12 Curriculum Project is a partnership with the College
of Education’s Trustees Education Initiative designed to provide a library of virtual
multimedia resources for K-12 Social Studies and English Language Arts Teachers for
their classroom use. This catalog provides short courses whose content areas line
up with one or more of the six Wyoming Social Studies Content Standards:
• Citizenship (Government and Democracy)
• Culture, and Cultural Diversity
• Production, Distribution, and Consumption (Economics)
• Time, Continuity, and Change (History)
• People, Places, and Environments (Geography)
• Technology, Literacy and Global Connections
The English Language Arts catalog providesshort courses whose content areas focus
on themes of 1) culture and people of the West, 2) identity, community, and rural
life, and 3) rights, liberties, and civic responsibilities. Content areas line up
with Wyoming English Language Arts Anchor Standards:
- Reading
- Writing
- Speaking and Listening
- Language
These materials are available to teachers to be used as best suits their course needs.
Each course module consists of a single video, supplementary handout/teaching guide,
and opportunity to schedule chat-back for the class with the expert presenter.
The Wallop K-12 Curriculum Project represents a special commitment to reach out to
the Wyoming education community. We received a prestigious grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities to support our K-12 project "Integrating the Humanities
Across Civics Education in Wyoming." This project is just one of a few of the projects
nationwide selected for the prestigious Humanities Initiatives at Colleges and Universities
Program at the NEH. The associated two-year grant allows us to expand our existing
Social Studies K-12 curriculum catalog and creat the new English Language Arts catalog.
This project has been made possible, in part, by the National Endowment for the Humanities:
Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed
in the resource, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for
the Humanities. Special thanks to The Tucker Foundation, Rocky Mountain Power Foundation
and our generous supporters for making this project possible. The K-12 Curriculum
virtual catalog is available as of December 15, 2020 at
https://civic.catalog.instructure.com/.
The catalog includes 125+ content modules which line up with various social studies
and English language arts content and performance standards. Topics range from a discussion
of Wyoming government and politics, religious freedom in the new republic, to current
topics such as Bitcoin and U.S.-China relations. These resources are unique because
each video presentation includes a teacher resource guide showing how the presentation
addresses one or more of Wyoming’s standards and provides suggested discussion questions
and/or class activities. It also includes an exciting option to schedule a live chat-back,
an “Ask Me Anything” session with the expert presenters to delve deeper into each
topic. Presenters are eager to share their knowledge with teachers and students in
Wyoming.
The catalog also includes a Health Education catalog and Public Engagement catalog
which includes past UW presentations sponsored by the Wallop Program, student research
projects funded by the Wallop Program, and highlights public engagement programs from
Saturday University.
In summer 2024 the Wallop Project hosted their 4th annual Social Studies and English Language Arts Professional Development Workshop,
bringing together over a dozen K-12 teachers from across the state together to discuss
the Wallop content catalog. Uniting the talents of individual educators across the
state, the group meeting in June focused on building relationships, getting feedback,
and creating new content. Our focus on partnership development between K-16 educators
and civics education is a long-term investment in the creation of a successful citizenry
who are successful in their lives but also invested in their communities.
The Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program would like to thank the National Endowment
for the Humanities for helping to make the 2024 K-12 Curriculum Project resource and
our K-12 Professional Development Workshop possible
Testimonial and updates
Educator Testimonial
Spring 2024
New Partnership
The K-12 catalog is now adding added energy content through a partnership with the
School of Energy Resources, including content on personal production of energy, geothermal
energy, and more!
Continued Partnership
The Wallop Civic Engagement Program has been thrilled to continue its partnership
with the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation to grow its social studies and English
language arts resources on Wyoming-specific topics, including on notable people, events,
and culture at Heart Mountain.
Spring 2023
New Partnership
The K-12 catalog has added social studies content through a partnership with Wyoming
Student Atlas, including content on migration, archaelogical sites, and more!
Additionally, through a partnership with Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, content
on notable people of Heart Mountain has been added to the catalog, with more to come!
Spring 2022
New Partnership
The K-12 catalog has added energy content through a partnership with the School of
Energy Resources, including content on personal production of energy, geothermal energy,
and more!
NEH Grant
We received a prestigious grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to
support our K-12 project “Integrating the Humanities Across Civics Education in Wyoming.”
This project is just one of a few of the projects nationwide selected for the prestigious
Humanities Initiatives at Colleges and Universities Program at the NEH. The associated
two-year grant will allow us to expand our existing social studies K-12 curriculum
catalog and create a new English Language Arts catalog. The catalog expansion will
focus on three themes: 1) culture and people of the West, 2) identity, community,
and rural life, and 3) rights, liberties, and civic responsibilities. The co-directors
of this project, Jean Garrison and Jason McConnell (UW School of Politics, Public
Affairs and International Studies), Colby Gull from the Wyoming School-University
Partnership, and Curtis Biggs from the Division of Research and Economic Development
will be working on this project with UW and community college faculty from the humanities,
social sciences, and education along with Wyoming teachers in English language arts
and social studies on issues important to civics in Wyoming. Check out https://bit.ly/nehwallop for more about this exciting opportunity.
This project has been made possible, in part, by the National Endowment for the Humanities:
Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this resource, do
not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
New Content Series
A new content series launched in Spring 2022 is "A Day in the Life" which highlights
Wyoming workers and potential career paths for Wyoming students.
Click the map below for more K-12 Project by the Numbers!
Materials in use in 20 of 23 Wyoming counties
and the Wind River Reservation
137 Educators accessing social studies lessons and activities
Summer Workshop
27 Wyoming K-12, UW and Wyoming Community College educators participated in the 2023 summer professional development workshop. 
Check out some of our available curriculum:
A Crash Course in Wyoming Politics: Culture and Participation
Dr. Jason McConnell-Assistant Professor, School of Politics, Public Affairs, and International
Studies, University of Wyoming
This presentation examines the culture and political participation in Wyoming. Wyoming
is similar to the nation when it comes to political culture and participation, with
competing political ideologies and dominant political culture. The presentation outlines
the factors affecting the culture and participation in Wyoming, including rurality,
and then examines how Wyoming has a higher rate of political participation than the
national average and nearby states. To wrap up the presentation, trends in political
parties and elections in Wyoming are examined and discussed in comparison with the
national trends.
Download the accompanying Resource Guide.
The “Pristine Myth" & Its Influence Today
Dr. Zoe Pearson-Assistant Professor, School of Politics, Public Affairs, and International
Studies, University of Wyoming
Many of us learn or come to believe that “New World” environments were pristine, mostly
untouched wilderness when European colonizers arrived on the continent—especially
in the Amazon rainforest. This belief is known as the “pristine myth” and we now know
it to be untrue. Yet, the power of the “pristine myth” persists in the present, shaping
ideas about nature and society today. In this talk, I explain the myth and how it
came to be, share some of the evidence that disproves the myth, and discuss why it
can be problematic for people and nature.
Download the accompanying Resource Guide.
Fake News! Defining Misinformation
Dr. Kristen Landreville-Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Wyoming
The terms “fake news” and “misinformation” are popular phrases among journalists,
fact-checkers, politicians, partisans, and social media users. What do these terms
actually mean? Do the definitions differ, depending on who is using the term? The
video’s central question asks students to develop a clear, simple, and memorable definition
of fake news and misinformation. This video first introduces the concepts of fake
news and misinformation by relating them to rumors, a concept that students are likely
familiar with. Next, a very brief history of fake news is presented, followed by a
discussion of why fake news is different today due to social media. Finally, various
types of fake news are considered, including satire, false information, and partisan
news. The video concludes by asking students to find commonalities among these various
sources and write a clear, simple, and memorable definition of fake news and misinformation.
The video provides its own scholarly definition on the last slide for students to
compare their definitions to.
Download the accompanying Resource Guide.
Bitcoin
Dr. Bradley Rettler-Assistant Professor, Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Wyoming
About a decade ago, the Bitcoin network was launched by its pseudonymous creator.
It promised a revolution in how money works. Here at last, some thought, was an inclusive
digital system for storing and transferring value -- a system that was inflation-proof,
censorship-resistant, and independent of any central and commercial bank. Bitcoin
has since spawned thousands of cryptocurrencies, and they command coverage in both
popular media and technical research by computer scientists, economists, and lawyers.
In this presentation, I briefly explain what the Bitcoin network is. Then I discuss
the features money is standardly taken to have, and based on those features, whether
Bitcoin is money. Finally, I talk about whether Bitcoin is good. If Bitcoin could
be money, should we use it?
Download the accompanying Resource Guide.
Ready to check it out?
