Curated OER
Life in Ancient Ghana, Mali, and Songhai
Learners study the ancient African kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. They brainstorm what they know about ancient African kingdoms before investigating the trade and barter situations, and researching one of the kingdoms for an oral...
Center Science Education
Paleoclimates and Pollen
Demonstrate for your earth scientists how plant pollen of the past has become part of sedimentary deposits, providing clues about ancient climates. Then give them simulated sediment layer samples to analyze for different types of paper...
Curated OER
Simulation: Urban Planning for An Ancient Mayan City
Students participate in the simulation of planning an ancient Mayan city. In this urban planning activity, students role play as citizens of an Mayan city. They act out their roles in a classroom that has been rearranged to simulate the...
Curated OER
Wheel of Pharaoh
Learners investigate ancient Egyptian civilization and its rulers. In this ancient history lesson, students simulate playing a game similar to Wheel of Fortune whereby learners have to correctly guess all the letters that spell a word or...
Curated OER
Ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian Writing
Students research cuneiform and hieroglyphics from the internet and use educational software to create their own cuneiform tablet in this excellent World History lesson. The use of the computer software program Inspiration 7.5 is...
Curated OER
History According to Shakespeare
Students read Shakespeare's, Julius Caesar while identifying a number of literary elements including simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole. As a response activity, they simulate a mock trial, and finally, compare and contrast...
Curated OER
Reformation Simulation
Young scholars discover the Medieval reformation. In this ethics lesson, students simulate council and government bodies to determine responses to various opinions regarding religion and ethics. They determine what postilions to take and...
Curated OER
Ancient Mediterranean Trade Fair
Sixth graders begin the lesson by discussing how artifacts are located. In groups, they define the terms supply, demand, resources and trade and discuss how the United States is affected by International trade. They use this...
Curated OER
Protecting the Past: Give a Hoot, Don't Loot!
Students, in small groups, simulate an ancient civilization and the art they created, another group represents vandals, and the final group represents archaeologists who try to figure out what life was like for the "ancient peoples". ...
Curated OER
Ancient Music Recreated in Scotland
Students read, analyze and critique a newspaper article about ancient musical tunes that have been found in a church in Scotland. They assess key vocabulary terms found within the article and compose lyrics for a song after answering a...
Curated OER
Theology…the Use of Silence in the Classroom
Immerse your class in the Middle Ages with a thorough history lesson. After viewing examples of illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells, they discuss how these were the mode of keeping and storing information employed by the...
Curated OER
Simulation: Connecting Osiris
Students identify Ancient Egypt as the origin of the idea that moral worth as the key to eternal life. In this Ancient Egypt lesson, students discuss immorality or eternal life. Students then work the Osiris puzzle and discuss the legend...
Curated OER
Trade in Precontact Alaska
Students explore the geography of Alaska and its effect on trade. In this ancient Alaska lesson, students participate in a simulation that requires them to trade with those in the territory and outside of it.
Curated OER
Aztecs Meet the Spanish
Students simulate an Independent Counsel to represent the Spanish and the Aztecs to formulate a policy for the Roman Catholic Church in 1527. They conduct research, graph the similarities and differences, create a poster, and write a...
Curated OER
Ancient Democracy
Students describe which segments of society were included in the original Athenian democracy. They compare and contrast early Greek democracy to democracy as it is exercised in the United States today.
Curated OER
Will America Fall Apart Like the Maya?
Students work in teams to research ancient Mayan civilization as they simulate working for the President of the United States. He is concerned that if a civilization as technologically advanced as the Maya's could disappear, could the...
Curated OER
The Greek Gods
What were the early Greek myths? Have elementary learners examine the Persian Wars and read various Greek myth in order to identify the cause and the results of the Persian Wars. Myths, activities, simulations, and a unit plan are links...
Curated OER
Icon Adoration: The Byzantine Empire
Learners study idol worship in the Byzantine Empire and the separation it cause between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. In this Byzantine Empire lesson, students study pictograph transparencies and take a pop quiz over them....
Curated OER
Cave Art Drawing
Students design an environment that resembles a prehistoric cave. They use ancient rock art as inspiration for their own artistic expression. They demonstrate their understanding of the vocabulary, tools, and techniques used in...
Montana State University
Sea Floor to Summit
Who knew that mountain formation could be so entertaining? Leanr how mountains form with a resource on Mount Everest. Activities to guide learning include a simulation, project, videos, coloring activities, and worksheets.
Curated OER
Hammurabi's Code: What Does It Tell Us About Old Babylonia?
Students examine life in Babylonia during the time of King Hammurabi. They read and discuss excerpts of the Code of Hammurabi, participate in a simulation of advisors to the king, complete an online interactive activity, answer...
National First Ladies' Library
Digging up the Past: Sir Arthur Evans and the Palace at Knossos
Middle schoolers explore the excavations of the Palace of Knossos on the Island of Crete. They create a simulated news broadcasting on the work of Sir Arthur Evans and his colleges. In their news investigation, learners cover such topics...
National Geographic
Genetic Markers: Connecting the Dots
Biology buffs simulate how genetic markers are passed among populations in order to understand how these markers can help anthropologists map human migration. A couple of volunteers leave the room while you walk the remaining learners...
Curated OER
Cave Paintings
Students examine various types of prehistoric art. In groups, they research the purpose of the drawings and use the internet to research the various ancient human groups. To end the lesson plan, they draw animals compared to the...