University of Chicago
Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity
Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...
Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation
Artifacts Tell Stories: Creating a First World War Museum in the Classroom
Although designed for the Canadian War Museum, the concept here is a solid one. Class members select an artifact from the First World War, examine it, research it, and craft an explanative label that they attach to their picture and post...
Curated OER
Primary Sources and Personal Artifacts
Connect historical text to primary sources. Researchers observe and discuss primary sources. Then, historians bring in their own personal artifacts and connect them back to their history.
Curated OER
This Old Ship
Junior archaeologists will be able to describe shipwreck artifacts and the information they reveal. They work in small groups to reasearch wreckage features of different period ships, making this not only a science lesson, but a social...
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.
PBS
Family History: Treasure Troves
It's time for show and tell! Scholars investigate historical artifacts to determine what secrets they reveal about the time periods they represent. They then research their own personal artifacts, as well as those from World War I.
National Park Service
The Power of Remembrance
On every July 4th, we watch fireworks and celebrate our independence, but how is the history of the American Revolution preserved? Four social studies lesson guide learners through different memorials, commemorative objects, and restored...
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
Artifact Identification-What is it?
Students observe an artifact and make an inference about the artifact's purpose. They are going to role-play as archaeologists by using artifacts to hypothesize about the lives of past people.
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,...
US House of Representatives
Objects in Time
Artifacts can be used to study people and events of the past. That's the takeaway from the fifth lesson in a unit study of African Americans who served in Congress. Groups select an artifact associated with a Black Congress Member from...
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.
Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 4 - Grades 4-5
After viewing the West of the West's documentary Cache, individuals craft either a newspaper article chronicling the discovery of the cache on San Nicolas Island, a historical narrative of the placement of the cache in the cliff side, or...
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...
Library of Congress
Child Labor in America
Students investigate child labor during the Great Depression. For this US policy lesson, students evaluate multiple layers of the social, economic, and political affects of policy during the Great Depression. Students will engage in 5...
Wish for the Future
Wish for the Future
What would be your class's ideal world 30 years in the future? What about 100 years? Use a series of activities to discuss globalization, sustainability, scientific contributions to society, and the global community of which your...
Curated OER
What Can We Learn From the Past?
What would future archeologists learn from your scholars' personal belongings? Have them bring in a box of "primary sources" from their home. Discuss the difference between observations and inference, using some of your own items to...
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...
Smithsonian Institution
POWs
Why did Vietnam POWs and their families receive more media attention than POWs in previous wars? To answer this question, class members view artifacts, read articles, and engage in class discussion. Individuals then assume the voice of...
Curated OER
Healing Art: Health and Illness
Students examine African artifacts relating to health and illness
Curated OER
T-shirt Passport Lesson Plan
Students locate their t-shirt place/name on maps, then share facts/artifacts (souvenirs) from their place/name location orally with whole class. They create a database using information gathered from the whole class.
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...
Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Protesting Violence without Violence
The ultimate legacy of Emmett Till's violent death is its role in the non-violent roots of the Civil Rights Movement. A lesson compares contemporaneous articles with the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "The Death of Emmett Till" and prompts...