For social studies teachers, the challenge is to teach about war by going beyond causes and results and the major battles and highlights historians claim as important. Excerpts from literature and primary source materials and discussion questions are presented to help secondary students study the personal side of World War I. (RM)

Secondary students participate in a library scavenger hunt to find answers to questions raised by the press release containing President John F. Kennedy's telegram to Nikita Kruschev congratulating the Soviets on the first successful manned space flight. Issues for classroom discussion are also presented. (RM)

Relates the positive effects of using an historical document as a stimulus for class projects in the English classroom. (RL)

Through the use of history resource folders containing literature and primary source materials, elementary teachers can involve children in historical issues. Discusses how to design and construct the resource folders and provides suggestions for themes, source materials, and learning activities. (RM)

In this learning activity, which is used in an 11th-grade ancient history course in Canada, students are asked to assume that they are archaeologists of the far-distant future. They are given a box of artifacts that they must analyze to determine what the future society is like. (RM)

Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park is important because of its diversity of life on the surface and underground. Some of the plants in the park include trees such as oaks, hickories, tulip poplars, sycamores, and many types of bushes. The animal population is also very diverse and includes bats, squirrels, deer, raccoons, opossums, chipmunks,…

This lesson plan collection focuses on attitudes and opinions held by Native Americans and European Americans about the United States. The lesson plans are arranged in four sections: (1) "Ancestral Lands" (Debating for Land; Making Treaties and Weaving Wampum; Pipestone Quarry and Westward Expansion: Whose Rock Is It Anyway); (2)…

Using primary documents, maps, and visual data, this lesson packet focuses on the founders of Ontario, California, and the Frankish Building that is on the Historic Register of Historic Places. The lesson could be used with U.S. history units on the Progressive Era, with course units dealing with a variety of civic issues, or units involving the…

Presents background information and learning activities about Camp Hoover, the presidential retreat built by President Hoover and later renamed Camp David. Includes three readings, three maps, two photographs, two drawings, and four student activities. (CFR)

Osborne, located on the Isle of Wight, is almost entirely Victorian. It was designed, built, and furnished to the royal family's specifications (as a holiday home), and remains largely unaltered since Queen Victoria died in 1901. It offers unique resources for those studying not only the Victorian royal family but other aspects of 19th-century…

This tenth grade lesson plan asks student teams to research and analyze the history, the challenges, and the future of contemporary nations and share their discoveries in a poster presentation at a technology pavilion. The lesson plan states that each team, as a participating nation, is required to include three themes in their countries' pavilion…

Designed for use in a one-semester course in U.S. history or literature at the intermediate or secondary level, this collection of the Civil War letters of Lewis Bissell, a Union soldier, is divided into two major parts. Part I (chapters 1 though 5) covers the period of time Bissell spent guarding Washington, District of Columbia. Each chapter…

Nine essays serving as springboards to the study of historical events and cultures focus on the use of memorabilia and primary resources for teaching social studies. Following a short preface by John I. Thomas, Linda Carrillo examines ways in which folk songs can be used to arouse a child's interest in the study of other cultures. In "Using…

In Jacob Abbott's book, "Marco Paul's Travels on the Erie Canal," Marco's cousin Forester explains to Marco that there are two modes of acquiring knowledge--through books and through observation. Students obtain more complete and meaningful understanding of a topic when provided with experiences that use both primary and secondary…

The National Park Service originated with the passage of the Organic Act of 1916. Since then the National Park Service and the U.S. government have designated many places to be protected, either because of their historical significance or natural significance to the nation. In Kentucky, Mammoth Cave National Park is one of four national parks.…