Curated OER
Indian Mathematical Achievements
Young scholars explore how Indian culture and religion prompted Indian advancements in math and science. In this Indian culture lesson, students read "India's Work in Math" and conduct research regarding Indian mathematicians.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Kennewick Man: Science and Sacred Rights
"Have respect for the dead!" Scholars investigate how science and religion often clash. As they look into the laws of science and the laws of religion, the legal ramifications at the federal level of both play into an argument they...
Curated OER
Native American Music: Call-and-Response
Students are introduced to call-and-response form of Native American song and dance. They identify and describe a call-and-response form as used in "0 Hal'Lwe."
Male students will perform "0 Hal'Lwe" in call-and-response style with drum...
Curated OER
Hold On to Your Hats
Elementary schoolers study the symbolism and influences found in advertising. First, they learn about the history and cultural significance of the Summer Official's Hat that was a symbol of status in ancient China. Then, they access...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
What Ben Read
Just what did Ben Franklin read? By juxtaposing Ben Franklin’s reading material as a young man with an analysis of his developed ideas, learners gain the opportunity to see how the influences of his youthful reading played out. Roman,...
Curated OER
Mayan Math
Fifth graders investigate the Maya's as mathematicians. In this Mayan math lessons, 5th graders work with the ancient Mayan numbering system by comparing it to the American Number System. They tell the differences and similarities...
Curated OER
North Korea's Power Play
Students research a number of websites to see how North Korea's leaders have shaped the country. They investigate Korea's ancient history and culture.
Curated OER
Putting Back the Pieces
Seventh graders become museum conservators and undertake the hypothetical restoration of an ancient American work of art. Groups design a plan for reconstructing the work of art, outlining the steps they need to take and the materials...
Curated OER
Money Pit
Sixth graders make a list of aspects of our culture found on a penny, and then observe another object based on another culture. For this culture lesson plan, 6th graders take their new object and research that culture.
Curated OER
Unity Versus Diversity
Students explore the 50 State Quarters program and how it represents diversity and unity of the United States. In pairs, they examine quarter designs to gain information about the culture of each state. Students create charts to...
Curated OER
The Anasazi
Sixth graders investigate and determine the origins of the ancient Anasazi who inhabited present-day Utah and the Four-Corners-Region, after receiving direct instruction and carrying out activities in cooperative group settings. They...
Curated OER
The Great Seal
Students study patriotic symbols of America. In this American history instructional activity, students construct a KWL chart on United States symbols and examine visuals of the Great Seal and bald eagle. Students create another symbol...
Curated OER
Ancient Greece
Sixth graders identify ancient Greek influences in the modern world. In this ancient Greece lesson, student research the government, religion, economy, inventions and contributions of Greece. Students participate in a debate about life...
Curated OER
A Road Map for the Roman Empire, Ca. 250 CE
Students consider how empires are created and sustained, examine Peutinger Table as a whole and in detail as tool of empire for Rome, c. 250 CE, create ancient time-distance travel chart that synthesizes series of strip maps, and...
Curated OER
Cultural Representation of Skeletons and Bones
Eighth graders study cultures and beliefs about the final life cycle. In this culture lesson students complete several activities on the origins of Halloween.
Curated OER
Art and Culture
Learners compare and contrast the ways in which human figures are portrayed in rock art made by ancient Native American artists and in the drawings and paintings of historic European and American artists. They use images to identify...
Curated OER
Rock Speaks
Young scholars create primitive forms and caricatures to represent meaningful figures and/or events in their own lives, present their own works to the class, and attempt to interpret the relevant meaning from other students' work.
Curated OER
Ancient Ones, the Study of the Anasazi
Young scholars explore relationships between man and nature. They examine the culture of the Anasazi and the importance of the natural resources around them. Students examine reasons for Anasazi people to leave this area.
Curated OER
Ancient and Modern Diets
Students investigate the ancient Egyptian diet and compare it to the contemporary American diet.
Curated OER
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....
Ocean Explorer
Looking for Clues
Upper graders become "shipwreck detectives" by studying the debris field from a shipwreck in the Aegean Sea which took place in the 700s. A website is accessed that gives specific information about the debris field, and pairs of...
Curated OER
Gran Quivira: A Blending of Cultures in a Pueblo Indian Village
Students examine the changing life ways of the inhabitants of a Pueblo Indian village from the 7th century to the arrival of the Spanish in the early 17th century. They explain the influence of Spanish missionaries on the lives the...
Curated OER
Mini Coil Pots: Ceramics Lesson
Art is a wonderful way to teach historical or cultural concepts. Here, learners view a series of coil pots that have been created throughout history by a variety of civilizations. They then create and decorate a pot of their own that...
Curated OER
National Customs: The Birth of the Ancient Games
Learners discover that different countries have different customs. Using the internet, they research the familiar and unfamiliar customs of a country they are interested in. They work together to create a travel brochure to help...