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"How to Think Like an Archaeologist" - Suggested Pre-Visit Activity For Historic Jamestown
Students examine how archaeologists use artifacts to explore other people and their cultures. They discuss types of artifacts, analyze receipts for clues, and discuss how what the items bought reflect about people.
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The Treaty Trail: U.S. Indian Treaty Councils in the Northwest
Students create a timeline with the major events of the 19th and 20th century dealing with Native Americans. They examine artifacts and discuss how they reflect culture. They also identify trade routes the Native Americans used.
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San Diego Architecture
Eighth graders study the cultural and architectural history of San Diego. After study they create a design of a home based of features from historical and modern homes found in their research.
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Upholding Community Values Leadership, Government and Kings
Students analyze political systems of African cultures. In this political systems lesson, students compare and contrast the political systems of African cultures by studying objects of art for the values of the governments. Students...
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Why is the Past Important?
Students explore, examine and study why it's important to study the past and connect this importance with reasons why we should learn from the past and how cultures have changed over the years. They bring an object, photograph or a...
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Treasure of the Silk Roads
Students generate world maps that act as creative writing prompts. The prompts reflect on the cultures and history of the past through their own experiences. Students create an original writing sample.
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Ceramics: A Vessel Into History
Learners evaluate the work of their peers using the criteria for value and meaning they developed. In this ceramics lesson, students evaluate their peers’ vessels in their journals by responding to the given questions...
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Who am I? Bookmaking
Students explore the process of bookmaking that has its origins from many different international cultures. The multicultural symbolism represented by the medium is utilized by students to expres their identity.
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Shaping Ideas: Symbolism in Sculpture
Students consider the ways that sculptors have represented concepts and ideals as symbolic forms in three dimensions. They compare historical examples to those in contemporary culture, and begin sketching designs for their own symbolic...
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Impact on Your Essence
Students are introduced to the use of symbolism and how it can change one's view of a piece of art. Using a piece of art, they view it as if they were the artist and create a symbol that accompanies it. They discuss the impact of two-...
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An Indian Village: Tepees
Students examine tipis. In this Native American culture instructional activity, students discuss tipis and their construction as they make them out of cardboard.
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Comedia dell' Arte Paper Masks
Pupils create masks from the Italian Renaisance theatre and use them in one-act plays they write. they analyze the role and development of theatre in world cultures.
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Symbols of Power in Native American Clothing
Middle schoolers create power shirts that were highly important in the culture of many Native Americans.
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Daily Life in Ancient Egypt
Young scholars explain how artwork can inform about a culture and its traditions. They pretend to be archaeologists who have just opened a tomb. They interpret the past based on what they discover.
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Balinese Music As An Aspect Of Art In Southeast Asia
Students listen to music from Southeast Asia, study the place on a map, and are exposed to the culture.
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It's in the Garbage
Students analyze how studying garbage relates to methods of archaeology. They examine garbage to determine things about their culture and relate that to prehistoric peoples.
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Earth's Place in the Solar System
Learners study and discuss the planets. They create a visual representation of the layout of the solar system and color it. They also write an informative/narrative summary report on the cultural relevance of the Sun.
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Math: a World of Symmetry
Students expand their knowledge of quadrilaterals and identify basic symmetrical forms. Over three weeks, they explore the math, application, and discussion of symmetry. After conducting Internet research, students create symmetrical...
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Japanese Fans
Fourth graders, understanding that fans are part of the cultural tradition of Japan, create fans that incorporate design techniques and ornamentation similar to that used in Japan. They also use the fan as an aid to expressive action.
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Pottery Analysis
Students study how archaeologists analyze artifacts to answer questions about past cultures. They explain why pottery is important to archaeologists and how they use classification to answer their research questions.
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The Lost Frescoes
Students explore the life and art of Giotto and his use of perspective in his drawings. They then write a short paper about how political support needs to be generated for community action to save objects of art. They investigate what...
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Flora, Fauna, and the Passing Seasons
Students discover representations in art, religion and cultural practices of the flora and fauna of specific geographical regions in this early elementary lesson plan. The lesson ends with a mural project by the entire class.
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Spontaneous Britishstrokes
Students are introduced to Chinese painting and they examine how Daoist phiolosophy influenced artistic style. They discuss how art and artistic technique as a reflection of Daoist culture. Students discuss how art is a reflection of...
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Nature and Haiku Poetry
Students compose haiku poems and recognize how cultures value nature and
natural forces through the study of Japanese poetry. This lesson includes a bibliography of resources.