Sparking History

Seventh graders complete a unit of lessons on Native Americans. They analyze Native American cultures, create a Native American artifact for a Living Museum, and develop a tour of the museum using a digital camera and a Powerpoint...

How important are symbols and symbolic gestures in society? Middle schoolers have an opportunity to analyze the importance of symbols on American currency with a lesson that investigates the controversies surrounding redesigning the $5,...

Upper graders explore the concepts of landscape art, man, nature and their inter-relationship. This is a critical thinking and analysis activity intended to prepare the class for an up coming trip to a local art museum. They analyze,...

Students examine the process of creating patriotic American appliqué designs. They research American patriotic appliqué quilts, list American symbols, and design and create their own paper appliqué designs.

Learners discuss George Washington's life and how he became a symbol of this nation. They categorize various images of Washington into the various roles he plays.

Do the places you have lived influence what you write? Class members research the lives of writers and look for how places these writers have lived might have influenced their writings. 

The work of a team of Russian historians, writers, designers, and programmers, this multimedia project explores the Eastern Front of World War II in great detail. The title of the site reflects the Russian name for the conflict in the...

Like fun house mirrors, motion pictures over the past one hundred years have reflected, challenged, influenced, and altered our visions of ourselves and the world in which we live. This virtual Exhibition was produced by the Photographic...

Corinth was an important center for commerce in ancient Greece, and thus one of the first to produce coinage. This site discusses the symbolism on Corinth's coins, and presents almost two dozen examples from the Smithsonian collection.

Middle schoolers determine how they are included in "Circles of Strength." In this character activity, middle schoolers reflect on how they are part of "Circles of Strength" in the "Circle of Life." They make an individual circle that...