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Depending on the age of your students, most of them are beginning to experiment with one major drug. Caffeine. This infographic goes through the aspects of coffee and caffeine, including cities that indulge in it, countries that indulge in it, and various other facts about it. But it does so in an interesting way.

There are so many infographics available for people to view, in order to make yours stand out, it has to look interesting. From using a stirring stick in a cup of coffee to using the lid of a coffee cup as a pie chart, this infographic does a great job of incorporating coffee into it’s sharing of information.

What do your students enjoy? What games are popular, or food, or anything else they find interesting? How can they create an infographic using information about their choice, and incorporate pictures of the item into the infographic. It takes practice to figure out what makes a visually appealing infographic, but it is a prized skill today, and probably for many tomorrows.

Blog: http://visual.ly/genetically-wired

Nearly every major figure in our history acted for what they thought was the common good. From our own George Washington, to Germany’s Adolf Hitler, they all had this in common. In addition, they all sparked some sort of change. Martin Luther helped spark religious reform. Martin Luther King Jr. helped spark social equality.

Each of the people and events listed in this video helped bring together the world we now live in. How did each of these do this? Make a viewable timeline of each of the events and people listed in this video, and have students research how each of them affected time then, and time now. Choose a few to hypothesis what may have happened at these events not occurred, what other events did they spark, were there other players that could have continued the movement?

What other events did this video leave out? I don’t remember seeing a reference to the events of September 11, 2001. What about the illegalization of drugs? Can your students think of other aspects of their lives and trace them back a specific event, or a series of events?

Blog: http://visual.ly/causes

Edgar Allan Poe is an important author to introduce your students to. He wrote very well, but also very dark. As this infographic shows, he did not have a great life, and so this probably influenced his writing greatly. I have actually visited the cemetery in which his mother is buried in Richmond, Va. It is also the church in which Patrick Henry gave his famous “give me liberty, or give me death” speech. It is the St. John’s Episcopal Church, a must visit if you ever visit Richmond.

He wrote about many dark emotions, such as guilt in the Tell-Tale Heart. It can be imagined what sort of guilt he had that sparked this story. He was in the army, and married his 13 year old cousin, both of which were common in that day.

One curiosity involves his gravesite. Every October 7th between 1949 and 2009, someone has anonymously left a bottle of cognac and three roses on his grave. What do your students believed this symbolized? Who could have left this? Why did they leave this?

Blog: http://goo.gl/Zqak9B

The ten best of anything can be a matter of opinion. Before sharing this infographic, have your students brainstorm the five or so best inventions. Then backtrack, and figure out what had to be invented in order for these items to be invented. For instance, in order to use Twitter or Facebook, the internet and the computer had to be invented. This was preceded by the typewriter and the printing press, which were preceded by paper and ink. We have come a long way since carving the ten commandments in stone.

Discuss who invented these and what kind of recognition they received. Had this person not lived, would have have been invented? For instance, the Wright brothers weren’t the only men working on flight, if they hadn’t flown, someone else would have developed the technology. What did others think of the men who created these? Can you imagine living your life by candle light, and hearing about a man trying to create light without fire? Witchcraft!

Blog: http://visual.ly/worlds-ten-best-inventions-all-times

Your student’s may giggle at this infographic, but “no invention has saved more lives than a toilet. Billions still lack one. Lack of sanitation is the world’s biggest cause of infection. All of this, entirely preventable.” This quote is entirely true and taken from visual.ly. Toilets are private today, but are extremely important.

How have ancient civilizations used the toilet? Is this a modern invention, or did ancient Rome have them? Rome actually did. Forgive me if I am wrong about the specifics (the location), but I seem to remember hearing about a series of seats outside of an ancient coliseum with holes in them, assumed to be toilets. This shows that an ancient civilization recognized the importance of sanitation (although not our more modern concept of toilet modesty).

What are other aspects of bathrooms that may be useful when traveling? When I was in Germany just before the Euro was introduced, I remember there being restrooms in train stations, but having to pay a small amount (I believe it was 5 Pfennig, about 3 cents) to use it. Because it cost a small amount, these public restrooms were very clean. I have also seen pictures of toilets in Japan, and will have to explore how to use them in more detail before I travel there.

Blog: http://visual.ly/know-your-toilets