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
What is culture?
What is culture? Define culture, artifacts, subcultures, and multiculturalism with your class. This presentation provides a definition, example, and image of each facet of culture.
Eastconn
Learning to Analyze Political Cartoons with Lincoln as a Case Study
Discover the five main elements political cartoonists use—symbolism, captioning and labels, analogy, irony, and exaggeration—to convey their point of view.
Curated OER
Stone Tools of Texas Indians
Provide background information regarding the use of stone tools from the paleoindian through the late prehistoric periods. Learners can read this informational passage to gain insight on how and why we study these amazing artifacts from...
Curated OER
Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus River, and Huang He Civilizations
Young scholars 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...
Annenberg Foundation
Mapping Initial Encounters
Picture someone's excitement of seeing a horse for the first time. How about a cow? The Columbian Exchange changed life for not only Native Americans, but also for Europeans and the entire world. The second lesson of a 22-part series...
Huntington Library
Further Exploration - Exploring the California Missions
How did Native Californians and Franciscans influence one another in early California? Learners analyze a few cultural pieces to examine the impact that integration had on Franciscan and Native Californian culture.
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...
American Museum of Natural History
Create Your Own Time Capsule
The corona virus pandemic is indeed a historic event. A time capsule activity permits young historians to document these days of social distancing, remote learning, and quarantine by collecting artifacts that capture what their lives are...
Annenberg Foundation
Pre-Columbian America
What was life like in America before Christopher Columbus discovered the New World? Scholars investigate life in the Americas through the eyes of Native Americans in the first lesson of a 22-part series covering America's history. Using...
Annenberg Foundation
America's History in the Making: Classroom Applications Two
Reading between the lines helps discover important information! The 11th lesson of a 22-part series on American history has scholars use historical thinking skills to uncover the deeper meaning behind the words on a page. Using backward...
American Museum of Natural History
Up Close With a Zapotec Urn
If a Zapotec urn, buried for over a thousand years in a temple in the lost city of Xoxocotlan in the Valley of Oaxaca in the mountains of southern Mexico could talk image the stories it could tell. That's the set up in a clever resource...
Curated OER
Life in Old Babylonia: The Importance of Trade
Students read maps and artifacts for information indicating the existence of a trade network in Old Babylonia and beyond. They list goods imported to and exported from Babylonia. They indicate trading centers on a map of ancient...
Curated OER
Ragtime: 1880-1920
Build an understanding of the social, economic, and cultural changes that were incited by the American Industrial Revolution. Learners will research the historical context of the Ragtime Era, and compose an oral presentation in the...
Curated OER
Mapping the Past
Middle schoolers study historical maps to view how the world evolved from medieval times through the Renaissance. They work in groups to examine the maps and present a report on one of the listed maps.
Center for History and New Media
A Look at Virginians During Reconstruction, 1865-1877
The transition between rebellion to reunification was not smooth after the Civil War. Young historians compare primary and secondary source documents in a study of the Reconstruction era in Virginia, noting the rights that were not...
Curated OER
Introduction to China
Compare and contrast the distinctive characteristics of art forms from various cultural, historical, and social contexts, and describe how the same subject matter is represented differently in works of art across cultures and time...
Museum of Tolerance
Quilt Activity
After completing the first five lessons from the series, scholars assemble their quilt pieces to create a family history quilt. They then rate their experience of learning about their families by conducting interviews, creating family...
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
Lesson 3: What Makes Attitudes Towards Education Change over Time?
The struggle for women's rights is not unique to this generation, or even to the 20th century. Class members explore the conflicting opinions of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, Mabel Hubbard Bell, regarding women's pursuits of higher...
Curated OER
Putting It All Together: Creating an artifact
Eleventh graders analyze a variety of images and documents, then create artifacts to archive, such as a newspaper, an album, or scrapbook from their writings, drawings, and projects. They present learned information to their peers
Curated OER
History, Artifacts, and Museums
Eleventh graders interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this historical artifacts lesson, 11th graders select and research historical topics that require them to interpret calendars, timelines,...
Curated OER
Worksheet for Analysis of an Artifact
For this primary source analysis worksheet, students respond to 20 short answer questions that require them to analyze an artifact of their choice.
Curated OER
Personal Artifacts
Ninth graders put their observation skills to work. In this observation skills lesson, 9th graders examine personal artifacts that their instructor has gathered. Students take notes on the artifacts they analyze and write lab reports...