Lesson Plan
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Putting It All Together: Creating an artifact

For Teachers 11th
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
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American Colonial Life in the Late 1700s: Distant Cousins

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore daily life and its influences in the late 1700s for two families in different colonies- Delaware and Massachusetts by becoming historical detectives. After gathering information from artifacts to make inferences about...
Lesson Plan
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Colonial America

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students discover the history of Colonial America by creating a class presentation.  For this U.S. History lesson, students utilize the Internet to research one of 20 topics in which they will create a PowerPoint or other type of...
Lesson Plan
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Social Studies: Exploring Boston's Big Dig

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars, 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. ...
Lesson Plan
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Making Faces: Understanding Artifacts Through Design Elements

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Pupils examine and discuss drinking container artifacts from Jamestown. They view images of the artifacts, discuss their purposes, draw an original facial expression for a brown paper jug, and write a description of the facial expression.
Lesson Plan
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What's in the Soil?

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders create stratified soil levels using pictures. In this earth science lesson, 2nd graders identify "artifacts" from 3 historic eras and divide them into 3 soil levels. Then they draw their own multi-level soil profile and...
Lesson Plan
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Random Strategies in Archaeology

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students critically evaluate cultures according to their artifacts. In this Random Strategies in Archaeology lesson, Students interpret evidence in order to better understand ancient societies. Students watch films that affect their...
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Conflict in the Frontier town of Deerfield

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Students use primary sources to investigate, explore and represent varying perspectives on the 1704 Deerfield Raid. They consider the reasons Deerfield was at the center of English, French and Native American conflicts in the early 18th...
Lesson Plan
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Dressing in Early American Times

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders, by doing research and seeing actual and simulated artifacts, gain knowledge of and make comparisons about clothing in the Colonial and early Republican eras with attire of present time.
Lesson Plan
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Virginia: Jamestown and Its People

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students familiarize themselves with the settlement of Jamestown and practice describing objects and their use. In this Jamestown lesson, students listen to stories about Jamestown, complete an artifact activity, and explore the story...
Lesson Plan
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My Brother Sam is Dead: A study of the Revolutionary War

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders complete an analysis of the Revolutionary War through literature. After "My Brother Sam Is Dead," students create a time capsule containing items that would be relevant during the Revolutionary War. They identify key...
Lesson Plan
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Independence Masks

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students explore how art reflects the economic, political, social, religious and historical concerns of a culture. They research a former colony to determine if there is any history of a mask. Students create a mask representing the...
Lesson Plan
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Understanding Freedom: Catching "The Spirit of '76"

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders complete activities about colonial history through an examination of art from the American Revolution period. In this history and art lesson, 6th graders define an iconic image, sing the song 'Yankee Doodle,' and analyze...
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Networking at Early James Fort

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers examine the impact of global trade on regional civilizations of the world after 1500. They research and analyze images of pottery excavated at Jamestown, and create a poster that presents information about world trade...
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Tintin and I: Primary and Secondary Sources

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Mickey Mouse, Elmo, and Tintin? Belgian cartoonist Georges (Herge) Remi’s famous comic character launches a study of primary and secondary source material and the impact these sources have on storytelling. Class members also examine the...
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Powder Horns: Portals to the Past

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Pupils discuss the uses of a powder horn. They identify the types of etchings soldiers would make on them. They create their own design for their own powder horn.
Lesson Plan
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Creating a Neighborhood Timeline

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research information about their neighborhoods. Uncovering facts about geology and Native Americans, they examine how the neighborhood has evolved over time. They work together to create a timeline of specific events.