Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reading Artifacts

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore and analyze categorizing objects, material culture artifacts, from a variety of perspectives, to consider the story behind each one. They research skills by assessing how to look at artifacts as cultural outsiders would....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reconstructing Artifacts

For Teachers K - 12th
Students investigate artifacts and reconstruct them. In this artifact lesson, students research archaeologists and Native American groups. Students plan a design for a clay pot which represent the Native American artifact.
Activity
American Museum of Natural History

If Trash Could Talk

For Students 6th - 12th
Trash can talk! Young archaeologists dig through their trash to see what it reveals about their lives. After they examine their midden, links permit users to test their knowledge of archaeology with a 10-questions quiz, learn how...
Activity
National Park Service

Maltese Cross Cabin

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
The Maltese Cross Cabin, a frontier residence of Theodore Roosevelt, is a time capsule that commemorates Roosevelt's time in the Dakota territory. An explanatory video and response guide takes students on a virtual tour of the wooden...
Interactive
DocsTeach

Evaluating a Needlework Sampler as Historical Evidence

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Needlework isn't just for home decor; it can also help record family history. Academics analyze a needlework sampler to understand how they were used to record marriages and births. The activity includes a series of written questions,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Social Studies: Aztec Calendars and Culture

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders analyze the Aztec calendar and create their own examples of them. They determine the meaning of the symbols used in the calendars and record their ideas in journals. Students host a parent breakfast for them to observe...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ancient Civilizations

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders, in groups, research the culture of an ancient civilization. They use the Internet to locate artifacts that illustrate different elements of culture, write a description and analysis of each piece and present their work to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Archaeologists Puzzle Pieces

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students identify how archaeologists use typology to interpret artifacts. They interpret sample artifacts as if they discovered them.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What did I find?

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students excavate an artifact. In this archaeology lesson, students get a bucket filled with dirt and a broken up artifact. They work in groups to take it out and to find what its purpose was. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Archeology Dig

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students look into a bag of artifacts as a group and draw conclusions on what they find. In this archaeology lesson plan, students draw a picture of the settlement represented by these items.
Lesson Plan
Country Music Hall of Fame

Ray Charles and Country Music

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Ray Charles used the pain and adversity from his life to influence an entire genre of American music. Learn about the musician's daily life, struggles and success, and powerful musical style with a thorough resource.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Unearthing the Past

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students analyze artifacts from an early society to determine information relating to daily life in that society. They consider which artifacts from our society would be most valuable to future archeologists.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Destructive Impact of Environment on Artifacts

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers recognize that artifacts are destroyed over time.  In this environmental factors on artifacts lesson, students experiment and observe through the microscope to find the environmental impact on artifacts. ...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Grapes of Wrath: Scrapbooks and Artifacts

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary sources. In this Great Depression lesson, students read John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and use ethnographic research processes...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Predicting/Making a Hypothesis

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students analyze information from a variety of sources in order to create a hypothesis about the origin of an interesting family artifact.They create alternative hypotheses based upon available information to demonstrate that some...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

In Celebration of the Silk Road

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road with a focus on a province in China to identify artifacts and research how these items arrived in the city of Turpan.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Treasures of Ancient Egypt

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders create museum displays about Egyptian life. Their exhibits include information about ancient Egypt's religion, economics, government, and customs. Their museum items resemble actual artifacts they have researched.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

ARTIFACT to ART to GLYPHS

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students study the development of early Latin American civilizations in unit one. The second part of the unit is based on early image-making attempts from the Cro-Magnon to the Peruvian Incas. Students create their own weavings using a...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Ancient Egypt Artifacts: Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery Learning and Outreach

For Students 5th - 6th
In this Egyptian artifacts worksheet, students study photographs and information from the Birmingham Museum. There are 23 pages, each with a color photograph of an actual artifact and background information. There are no questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Artifacts: Bringing the Past Back to Life -- the Mexican Case

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine and discuss the meanings of the various symbols in Tenochtitlan. In groups, they complete a part of the model of the city and discuss the importance of finding artifacts. Individually, they choose an a two-dimensional...
Interactive
Curated OER

Study techniques

For Students 6th - 10th
In this study techniques activity, students answer multiple choice questions about chronology, osteology, and more. Students complete 4 questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shoe Box Archaeology

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Learners assemble a shoe box following a layered pattern alternating between soil and artifacts. The layers of artifacts begin with the grandparents and end with the student's own personal possessions.
Activity
Smarter Balanced

Archaeological Discoveries

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Artifacts, inscriptions, and monuments. Here's an activity designed to ensure that all learners are familiar with the key terms and concepts they will need to begin a study of archaeological discoveries.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pop Culture and Art

For Teachers 6th
Learn about American pop culture, art, and the social voice that art can convey. The class discusses the life and art of Barton Benes, views his piece Reliquarium, then discusses what they see and feel when they view his work. Make sure...