Curated OER
Kernels of Wisdom: Investigating Natural Variations in Corn
Here is a brain-popper! Corn, or more appropriately, maize, was intentionally domesticated by humans around 9,000 years ago and over a period of hundreds to thousands of years! Genetics and botany researchers have collaborated to find...
Curated OER
How the West was Won? Conflict and Change on the Western Frontier
Seventh graders assess the conflict and change that occurred in the westward expansion following the Civil War. They list specific reasons why different groups moved west and the interaction between the "white" European civilization and...
Curated OER
The Voices of Slavery
Fourth graders recognize and can describe the settlers of Early America. In this American colonies lesson plan, 4th graders research using primary and secondary sources, Native Americans, Europeans, and African Americans role in the...
Curated OER
Exploring Pottery Techniques
Young scholars examine Native American pottery. In this visual arts lesson plan, students analyze burnished and glazed clay pots. Young scholars study how to create pots from online sources and respond to questions about the process....
Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 2 - Grades 4-6
Class members will dig this activity that has them trying their hand at recovering artifacts. Groups are assigned a section of a sandbox, carefully uncover the artifacts in their section, and then develop theories about who might have...
Curated OER
Early Explorers
Fifth graders examine how the environment and climate affected Pre-Colombian settlements. For this civilization lesson, 5th graders view pictures of different Native American tribes in different places and discuss how different groups...
Curated OER
The French in Texas
Fourth graders use Internet to examine early French exploration and settlement in Texas, and write journal entries from point of view of 17th Century French settler, French or Spanish explorer, or Native American whose land was taken.
Curated OER
The Four Corners Region of the United States Cultures, Ruins and Landmarks
Students who live in the inner city are introduced to the four corners region of the United States. In groups, they examine how the region differs compared to where they live and their culture. They develop maps of the area and locate...
Curated OER
Pages Out of the Past
Students examine examples of rock art and the reasons why they were made. They translate the images into a creative writing piece that be attached to their own rock art.
Curated OER
Reconstructing Artifacts
Students investigate artifacts and reconstruct them. In this artifact lesson, students research archaeologists and Native American groups. Students plan a design for a clay pot which represent the Native American artifact.
Curated OER
Talking Rocks
Artists imitate the symbols used by tribes of the Southwest or use their own word pictures that communicate something about themselves. This lesson is a perfect blend of visual art and social studies. Students create a beautiful piece of...
NET Foundation for Television
1850-1874 Railroads and Settlement
Have you ever wondered how your town was placed where it is? Scholars research the impact the advancement of the railroad due to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act had on the formation of civilization in the Great Plains. Map...
Curated OER
Exploring & Creating Mythology
Students read and compare mythological stories from ancient cultures from around the world. In small groups they read a myth and present the storyline and themes to the class, and write an original mythological story of their own...
Curated OER
Aztec Dance
Seventh graders study Aztec dance to learn about their culture and civilization. In this Aztec study lesson plan, 7th graders watch a video of Aztec dancers and describe the dance on an index card. Students visit a website to learn the...
Curated OER
Ojibwa Arts
Students create a poem based on the Native American Ojibwa art that they read about. In this Ojibwa art lesson plan, students read captions and look at pictures of Ojibwa art and then make up a poem based on them.
American Museum of Natural History
Up Close With a Zapotec Urn
If a Zapotec urn, buried for over a thousand years in a temple in the lost city of Xoxocotlan in the Valley of Oaxaca in the mountains of southern Mexico could talk image the stories it could tell. That's the set up in a clever resource...
Curated OER
American Literature: An Oblique Introduction
Eleventh graders research journals and periodicals of different accounts of Columbus and Latin America. They examine indigenous civilizations and design their own curriculum based on the information they have gathered.
Curated OER
Art to Zoo: India-Where Remarkable Differences Are Ordinary
Students "visit" India to learn about its culture and the lives of children in India. In this India lesson, students conduct research and report on the lives of Indian children in the form of a mock interview between a journalist and an...
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
Native Knowledge
Students investigate what type of climate and physical features certain Indigenous groups live in using an atlas and a provided worksheet. They then match the tribe and its location to the sustainable stategy employed in agricultural...
Curated OER
Latin American Colonial Diary
Students examine the class systems of New Spain. In small groups, they create a five-day diary about the family life, food, occupation, and government involvement of an assigned personality from the time of Colonial Latin America.
Curated OER
Industrial Revolution in America: Exploring the Effects of the Heat Engine on the Growth of Cities
Young scholars research the development of the steam engines. In this US history lesson, students analyze the impact of this invention to civilization. They discuss the events leading to the growth and development of different cities.
Curated OER
Oregon City: A Convergence of Endings
Learners describe the activities that occurred in the Willamette Valley before the establishment of the Oregon Trail and agricultural settlement and explain the impact that American settlement had on the landscape and native groups who...
Curated OER
SEEDS WE EAT
Learners identify seeds humans eat and do not eat. Students make seed collections, using common kitchen foods. Learners display seeds from the foods they serve and discuss them with their guests. Students complete activities which...