Curated OER
Face to Face with the Great Depression
Young scholars develop an analytical perspective of how historians record, preserve, and interpret data. In this US history lesson students read and interpret personal accounts of the Great Depression. They discuss how interpretation...
Curated OER
Old Kids From The Bloc
Students study about wide scale construction and development in Moscow and its impact on cultural and historic preservation. They research the political, social, economic, and cultural changes in the former Eastern Bloc and create a...
Curated OER
Preservation and the Power of Light
Students identify the effect of light on objects. In this scientific inquiry instructional activity, students use a chart to write a hypothesis about what will happen when colored construction paper is left in sunlight. Students observe...
Curated OER
Expanding the Mission: Historical Parks
Students explore U.S. geography by viewing a documentary in class. In this national parks instructional activity, students view video clips of individual national parks and locate them using Google Earth software. Students create a...
Curated OER
Secrets of the Mummies
How did the ancient people of Egypt preserve their dead so well that their bodies are still recognizable today? Learn the painstakingly complex process they used for preservation. Young scholars read and summarize a narrative detailing...
Curated OER
Digging Up Artifacts On Line
Why is it important to preserve historical documents and artifacts? Examine the role of primary source documents and the availability of these documents on the Internet. Middle and high schoolers write a journal about the nature of...
Curated OER
Dear Miss Florence: Writing Letters To the Boardinghouse for Artists
Imagine being one of the painters in 1910 at the Lyme Art Colony in Connecticut. Using the Florence Griswold Museum's on-line resources to gather information about the daily life of artists at the boardinghouse, learners write a letter...
Curated OER
Exploring Arthurian Legend
High schoolers investigate the evolution of the King Arthur stories and analyze them as a window into the culture that preserved them. They trace the legends through their earliest versions through medieval and Victorian times and into...
Curated OER
From Umayyad to Abbasid Empires
You can't truly understand the present until you understand the past. Bring a historical context to you next social studies class with an exceptional presentation on the ancient Arab and Islamic empires of Umayyad and Abbasid. Slides...
Curated OER
Traces: Historic Archaeology
Students list at least five different kinds of artifacts archaeologists have found in U.S. excavations. They cite artifacts when describing life at a particular archaeological site.
Smithsonian Institution
Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon
How do barns serve as a window to a community's past? Here are a series of lessons on the symbolism and historical context of barns throughout American history. Topics include community-building, in-depth primary and secondary source...
Smithsonian Institution
A Life in Beads: The Stories a Plains Dress Can Tell
Young learners discover how the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes preserved native culture through the making of traditional dresses, identifying the resources used to make the dresses and discussing behind the meaning behind some American...
Curated OER
"Construction Work" Art Activity
Students explore architectural styles and define architectural terms. They construct a building using various architectural elements, and display their buildings, identifying each of the architectural components they used.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Impacts of Climate on Forest Succession
Part two in a series of four explores the effects of climate on succession or the changing of plant species in a forest. Groups review how to identify trees and then spend a day in the field collecting extensive data on trees to...
Teach With Movies
Learning Guide for: Glory
Invite your class to learn about the first regular US army unit composed of black soldiers during the Civil War with the film Glory. This website reviews the historical accuracy of the movie, offers pre- and post-viewing handouts, and...
Polar Trec
Ice Cores: Modeling Ice Sheets
Ice cores provide scientists with knowledge of historic melt layers, air temperatures, greenhouse gases, and climate stability. Scholars work in groups to build layers representing snow and ice over thousands of years. Then, groups...
Curated OER
If a Picture's Worth a Thousand Words...
Learners examine the debate between the preservation of and access to historical artifacts. They explore the notion of ownership and commodification of historical artifacts and come up with a plan for compromise.
Curated OER
What Building Used to Be There?
Students examine how their city has changed and examine building preservation. In this building preservation lesson, students listen to a reading of Virginia Lee Burton's, The Little House, before making a time line of how their own city...
Curated OER
America's Mighty Rivers
Young scholars examine the cultural importance of America's rivers. Using the Mississippi and Hudson Rivers, they examine a story that takes place on each river. They are introduced to the concepts of preservation and stewardship.
Curated OER
The Meaning of Rock Art
Learners examine the significance of rock art. They discuss and view examples of historical rock art, and create a design on a rock that tells a story using African and American symbols.
Curated OER
Cane River Civil Rights: A Native American Perspective
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this civil rights lesson, students examine the civil rights struggle from a Native American perspective. Students analyze documents and write journal entries that...
Curated OER
Hallowed Ground: Preserving Arkansas's Civil War Battlefields
Students examine Civil War battlefields in Arkansas. They read primary source documents written by Arkansans. They discover what life was like during the Civil War as well.
Curated OER
Preserving the Past with Oral History
Students research history by interviewing people in their community. They create a list of questions and record their responses. They end the project with some type of final product which might include a memory book.
Curated OER
Historic Cemeteries: "History Written in Stone"
Students examine grave markers in their local community. They identify how past generations contributed to life in their town. They discuss their feelings about death and how one is to act at a cemetary.