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Lesson Plans

Below is a collection of lesson plans about cultural heritage and archaeology.

Organization: San Diego Museum of Man

Description: A lesson plan based on physical anthropology science about the human species.

Age group or class level: Grades K-12

Anthropologist’s Journal: Walk This Way: Why Humans Walk on Two Legs (PDF)

Organization: San Diego Museum of Man

Description: A lesson plan exploring other cultures diets in comparison to our culture's diets.

Age group or class level: Grades K-12

Anthropologist's Journal: Shawee: A Kumeyddy Meal (PDF)

Organization: Science NetLinks

Description: To determine what artifacts are, how they are discovered, and what information can be learned from them.

Age group or class level: Grades 3-5

Artifacts 1: What Can We Learn From Artifacts?

Organization: Science NetLinks

Description: A lesson plan about the social changes that led ancient societies in Central America, Mesopotamia, the American Southwest and Western Africa to collapse. Major social changes and prerequisites for a society's survival are the main themes of the lesson plan.

Age group or class level: Grades 6-8

Collapse 1: Why Civilizations Fall

Organization: Science NetLinks

Description: To teach students the factors that contribute to the collapse of a society; to learn how archaeological evidence is gathered and interpreted.

Age group or class level: Grades 6-8

Collapse 2: Interpreting the Evidence

Organization: Science NetLinks

Description: To introduce students to think like an archaeologist by having them analyze and interpret artifacts from different time periods to simulate how archaeologists learn about people of the past.

Age group or class level: Grades 6-8

Learn to Think Like an Archaeologist

Observation and Recording

Interpretations 

Organization: Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies

Description: Instructors Guide used to accompany Anthropology Explored: The Best of Smithsonian AnthroNotes. This guide goes through all of the categories of Anthropology, Biological (Physical) Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Archaeology and includes information about linguistic studies.

Age group or class level: Grades 9-12

Instructors Guide (PDF)

Organization: Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies

Description: Family guide with lessons and activities about the Vikings and the people they met on their travels.

Age group or class level: All grades/class levels

Vikings- The North Atlantic Saga

Organization: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Description: Field trip lesson plan. Using artifacts (gravestones) to understand cultural changes over time and across regions. Students visit a cemetery, answer questions, and record data.

Age group or class level: middle school age students

Exploring Historic Cemeteries (PDF)

Organization: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Description: One 50 minute lesson plan. An introduction to archaeology, including a discussion of what defines art, drawing conclusions about culture, and the importance of context in archaeology.

Age group or class level: Grades 6-12

Teacher’s Corner: Intro to Archaeology and Art Artifacts (PDF)