Curated OER
social Studies: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorow
Sixth graders take an Internet trip back in time to explore ancient cultures. Working in teams, they assume the roles of theologian, cartographer, economist, political analyst, and anthropologist. The same groups then create time...
TCI
Picking Rusty Gold: Why Do People Buy and Sell Antiques?
Your historical sleuths will work to research the in-depth history of chosen artifacts and will use their research to design a fictional advertisement for an early 20th century item.
US House of Representatives
Objects in Time
What is the role artifacts play in the study of past events and people? As part of an examination of the careers and contributions of women in Congress from 1917 to 2006, groups examine artifacts that symbolize each woman.
Curated OER
Social Studies: Exploring Boston's Big Dig
Students, in a high school class for autistic children, take a virtual tour of Boston's "Big Dig" and the artifacts discovered there. During weekly lab sessions, they discover the processes involved in artifact preservation. Using...
Center for History and New Media
Slavery and Free Negroes, 1800 to 1860
What was life like for enslaved and free black people before the American Civil War? Explore the building tension between states and the freedom of individuals with a thorough social studies lesson. Learners of all ages explore primary...
Curated OER
What Artifacts Reveal About The Past
Middle schoolers take a closer look at artifacts to learn about the people who used them. In this colonial America lesson, students examine photographs of everyday items used in colonial times and determine what the uses of the tools may...
Curated OER
What Do We Learn From the Repartiation of Alaska Native Artifacts?
Students observe and evaluate evidence of Alaska Native cultural symbols and artifacts. They research historical data from a variety of primary resources, including the Harriman expedition journals, related web sites, oral accounts,...
Museum of Tolerance
And Justice for All? Slavery Not Just in the Past
Slavery in India, Sudan, and Mauritania? What about in the United States? Groups research modern slavery in these four countries, collecting factual evidence (What), determine their feelings about this evidence (So what), and consider...
BrainPOP
Famous Historical Figures Lesson Plan: Who Am I?
History detectives select a famous person to research, fill a bag with items associated with their subject, then ask class members to guess the historical figure represented by the artifacts.
National History Day
Helping Life and Aiding Death: Science, Technology, and Engineering at Work during World War I
Science, engineering, and United States history? Pupils research collections of artifacts from the Smithsonian to learn about historical scientific innovations. At the end of the lesson, they write an essay to discuss technology's...
Curated OER
Lesson: Snake Handling
Are the studies of art and archeology connected? You bet they are! Young scholars research the ancient temples of Mexico by visiting an archaeology site. They describe the various temples they see, taking note of shapes, stairs, details,...
Curated OER
Living Art-i-facts: Technology Takes Us There!
Students create living artifacts dealing with different times and cultures. They explore Ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, Islam, Africa, and the United States.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: Carving Through History
Peek into the art and history of ancient Mexico by analyzing the artifact Stone Serpent Heads. Learners examine images of the piece, discuss its origin, history, and significance. They experience the carving process by creating similar...
Curated OER
Interpreting History With Artifacts: Mid to Late 1800s
Fourth graders study history though the exploration of artifacts. In this Civil War lesson, 4th graders examine artifacts such as sweet grass basket, spinning top, photos on tin, cast iron kettle, china"bone plate," bonnet, wooden carved...
Curated OER
Ancient River Civilizations Jigsaw PowerPoint
Ninth graders use captions to determine an artifact's function and to list the features of a civilization. They classify artifacts according to the 8 Features of Civilization and for each Feature of Civilization they locate one artifact...
Curated OER
Healing Art: Health and Illness
Students examine African artifacts relating to health and illness
Curated OER
Ancient Artifacts
Students research the earliest Americans. In this ancient civilizations lesson, students investigate the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas. Students examine artifacts used in the cultures and then determine what the artifacts were used for and...
Curated OER
The World of Work: The Portfolio
Learners compile information to include in their career portfolio. In this portfolio lesson, students view example portfolios using the given website and identify the portfolio components. Learners gather and compile artifacts for their...
Center for History and New Media
The Impact of the Jim Crow Era on Education, 1877–1930s
Even though American slaves were officially emancipated in 1865, the effects of slavery perpetuated throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Middle and high schoolers learn about the ways that discrimination and the Jim Crow laws...
Channel Islands Film
Sa Hi Pa Ca (Once Upon a Time): Lesson Plan 2
What tools do archaeologists and anthropologist use to learned about what life was like in the past. After watching West of The West's documentary Once Upon a Time that details how scientists use artifacts to establish a history of the...
Curated OER
Native Americans of Texas
Fourth graders research Native American tribes and their way of life. They locate picture of artifacts such as arrowheads and describe tools used and the purpose of each. In groups, 4th graders create a model Native American village and...
Curated OER
Scarab Beetle
Students research the importance of symbols to the material culture of the Ancient Egyptians. They investigate the use and meaning of the scarab in Egyptian culture and recreate the Egyptian artifact using white Crayola Model Magic.
Curated OER
Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus River, and Huang He Civilizations
Students develop a timeline of events associated with Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus River, and the Huang He. They prepare a clay, wood, or paper model of a representative artifact from one civilization. They write a description of their...
Curated OER
Celebrating Modernism at the A Century of Progress World's Fair
Students examine aesthetic movement known as modernism, discover why organizers chose modernism as World Fair's design pattern, interpret photographs of modernist fair buildings and identify artifacts that reflect modernist ideas, and...