University of Chicago
Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity
Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...
Channel Islands Film
Telling Your Own Story
After watching and discussing a video on the Voyage of Cabrillo, individuals craft their own origin story and design and build an artifact they feel best represents their history.
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...
Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 1 - Grades 9-12
Archaeologists have discovered a cache of Native American relics. They want to preserve these relics by removing them from the rapidly eroding site to a lab where they can be studied. Native American traditions demand that the items be...
PBS
Family History: Treasure Troves
It's time for show and tell! Scholars investigate historical artifacts to determine what secrets they reveal about the time periods they represent. They then research their own personal artifacts, as well as those from World War I.
Curated OER
Social Studies: Exploring Boston's Big Dig
Students, 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. Using...
ReadWriteThink
Designing Museum Exhibits for The Grapes of Wrath: A Multigenre Project
Challenge readers of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath to create a museum exhibit that uses artifacts to focus on one issue raised by the award winning story of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and the Joads.
Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 3 - Grades 4-5
Should the excavation of what is believed to be the cave of the Lone Woman of San Nicholas Island be allowed to continue? As a practice exercise designed to prepare pupils for a timed writing exam, individuals read two Los Angeles Times...
Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 4 - Grades 4-5
After viewing the West of the West's documentary Cache, individuals craft either a newspaper article chronicling the discovery of the cache on San Nicolas Island, a historical narrative of the placement of the cache in the cliff side, or...
Channel Islands Film
Who Owns the Bones
A study of the history of the Channel Islands, located off the coast of southern California, continues as class members conduct a mock trial to determine which group of stakeholders should have the right to claim the remains of Juan...
Channel Islands Film
Sa Hi Pa Ca (Once Upon a Time): Lesson Plan 2
What tools do archaeologists and anthropologist use to learned about what life was like in the past. After watching West of The West's documentary Once Upon a Time that details how scientists use artifacts to establish a history of the...
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 3
Imagine being part of a team of scientists that discover the oldest human remains in North America. Imagine being part of the crew that documents this discovery. Class members get a change to be part of such an exciting adventure in a...
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
Lesson 3: What Makes Attitudes Towards Education Change over Time?
The struggle for women's rights is not unique to this generation, or even to the 20th century. Class members explore the conflicting opinions of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, Mabel Hubbard Bell, regarding women's pursuits of higher...
Curated OER
Social Studies: Aztec Calendars and Culture
Sixth graders analyze the Aztec calendar and create their own examples of them. They determine the meaning of the symbols used in the calendars and record their ideas in journals. Students host a parent breakfast for them to observe...
Curated OER
Stones, Bones & Telephones: Analyzing Artifacts Using Bloom's Taxonomy
Seventh graders define metacognition, Bloom's Taxonomy, and artifacts. They, in groups, try to identify a mystery artifact using the Artifact Analysis sheet. They present their findings to the class.
Curated OER
Artifacts
Pupils examine different artifacts and determine the difference between personal and cultural objects. They collect items from their home of cultural importance as well. They identify all they can from artifacts they are given to analyze.
PBS
African American History: Honored as Heroes
To gain an understanding of the treatment of African American soldiers during World War I, class members watch an excerpt from the History Detectives film, Our Colored Heroes, and then examine three recruitment posters from that time...
Channel Islands Film
Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Lesson Plan 3
Should researchers be able to excavate, examine, and remove Native American artifacts from historic sites? Should companies be permitted to build on sacred Native American land? After watching West of the West's documentary, The Lone...
Curated OER
Design Life: Exploring Society Through Art
Introduce learners to the design elements and artifacts of interior environments in Victorian Canada (or any people and era you care to explore) based on artwork that represents their world. Your secondary social historians view the art...
Curated OER
For the Record
Students read a New York Times article in order to examine the importance of cultural artifacts. They create essays from the point of view of one cultural artifact to demonstrate the knowledge they gained by doing research.
Curated OER
Primary and Secondary Sources - 7th
A link to a beautiful Animoto presentation is included, giving examples of primary sources that a student might want to contact when doing research. Using the Topaz Internment Camp in Utah as a sample topic, middle schoolers view a slide...
Curated OER
The Stories of Status Symbols
A good writer needs to be observant and have an imagination. Hone those creative writing skills with an activity inspired by a very old Chinese artifact. Learners examine the piece Mandarin Duck Rank Badge, and then write a story from...
Curated OER
A Siouan Village
Fourth graders examine the artifacts obtained from an excavated Siouan village site. They make inferences about the people who once lived there based on the artifacts and complete a Research Team Report.
Curated OER
To Protect and Preserve
Students discuss the impact of war on the Iraqi National Museum and the importance of protecting artifacts of cultural heritage. They write letters to the Milwaukee Public Museum to show support for funding for the protection of the...