Center for History and New Media
Slavery and Free Negroes, 1800 to 1860
What was life like for enslaved and free black people before the American Civil War? Explore the building tension between states and the freedom of individuals with a thorough social studies lesson. Learners of all ages explore...
Reading Through History
Ain't I a Woman?
Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech has reverberated through American history, giving voice to women of color who had not previously been heard. Learners analyze the tone, audience, purpose, occasion, and speaker of the speech’s...
Curated OER
Fossil Find
Students investigate the practice of digging for fossils. They participate in a mock dig of fossils using real bones and other artifacts. Then students dig through sand in order to go through the simulation. Students make observations...
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Site Robbers
Fourth graders interview a Native American and write a newspaper article or letter that expresses concern about robbing archaeological sites.
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Making Inferences About a Llano River Rancheria
Seventh graders research the Indian groups that lived 1,000 years ago on the Llano River. They analyze paintings and photographs of tools and artifacts, develop inferences and conclusions about how the Indians lived, and present the...
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The Iceman 2
Students identify and analyze the Iceman found in Europe with all of his organs preserved along with his personal artifacts. Students identify then about North Native Americans and write an essay defining their differences.
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Tag It and Bag It: Archeology Lab Lesson
Seventh graders practice analyzing, collecting and categorizing artifacts. Using charts, they organize and interpret information about the artifacts they classified. They work together to create a graph to represent class totals and...
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From Object To Story
Students engage in a study that focuses upon the study of artifacts for the purpose of defining the heritage of family. They conduct research using a variety of resources. The information is used in order to create a personal family...
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A Reporter's Recovery of Place
Students read and write their own story about an artifact they find in their community.
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Visual Arts, Literary Arts, and Performing Arts: Their Connection and Place in America's Minority Culture
Students explore the rich, varied, and full artistic culture of each of these three minority groups, Native Americans, Chicanos, and African Americans. They explore art through dance, music, literature, and many other different mediums....
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Pieces of the Past
Seventh graders compare and contrast the way of life of Native Americans in Texas and around the country. As a class, they brainstorm about the uses of pottery today and use broken pieces of pottery to create an artifact. In groups,...
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The Kanaka Village at Fort Vancouver: Crossroads of the Columbia River
Students study the interaction between Native American and European cultures in the Pacific Northwest in the 1800s. They focus their study on the Hudson's Bay Company and Fort Vancouver.
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The Buffalo Jump
Eighth graders investigate the disappearance of buffalo. They conduct research into the uses of buffalo by the Native Americans. There are resource links included in this lesson. They answer specific questions to help guide the research...
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Show Me a Flowerpot
Students compare and contrast handmade and machine-made products in a study about the evolution of production processes in American history. In this production history lesson, students explore a flowerpot in depth. Students make their...
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Indians in Georgia: How Do We Know What We Know?
Learners discover archaeology by investigating the history of Native Americans in Georgia. In this U.S. history lesson, students participate in a mock archaeological excavation in their classroom by recovering artifacts and...
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Virginia: Jamestown and Its People
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...
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Businesses and Communities on the Move
In this American transportation history worksheet, students read about various forms of transportation and respond to 16 multiple choice and short answer questions regarding trains, streetcars, automobiles, and trucks.
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The Study of the Spanish-Speaking People of Texas: Overcoming Adversity
High schoolers examine the photographs of Russell Lee and identify the obstacles faced by Mexican-Americans in Texas during the early and mid-20th century. They discuss the ways they overcame these obstacles and relate it to obstacles...
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Trade Trials Treaties
Fourth graders explore the trade relationships that existed in the late 1700's Colonial America. In this American history lesson, 4th graders examine English and Cherokee trade treaties by reviewing primary and secondary sources....
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Like Comparing Bison and Fish
Fourth graders study the development of North American Indian cultures by looking at how geography impacted their development. They write a five paragraph essay comparing the Plains Indians and the Clatsop Indians.
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African American Experiences: Window to the Past
Students examine African life during slavery on the Internet. In this slavery lesson, students use the Internet to research slavery and create a scrapbook. Students review pictures of slavery and label them as primary or secondary sources.
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The Native American: Through the Eyes of His Mask With a Special Focus on the Indians of Connecticut
Learners respond to the environment in an artistic way. They assemble a work using found materials and make a pot using the coil or pinch pot method. They develop a meaningful decoration and/or design on the inner or outer surface of...
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Native American Song and Dance
Students examine the importance of the drum and drumming in the cultural context of the Native American. Musical insturments and native dance is employed to support the focus of the lesson.
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Dressing in Early American Times
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.