Source: NOVA
Discover how mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is inherited, and complete a pedigree chart by determining which individuals might share mtDNA with an unknown ancestor.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Genetics. Human Biology. Microbiology. Anthropology/Cultures.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: African American Lives
Develop strategies for investigating history through the examination of artifacts and primary source documents. Explore documents online, then "curate" a photograph, document or artifact relevant to personal or family history.
Grade Level: 6-8
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. Historical Perspective.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Examine a map of the travel routes and evening nesting sites of two chimpanzees and create a travel route of your typical day. Describe the social enhancements that helped humans to evolve from foraging behavior to establish fixed settlements.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Animals: Mammals. Evolution. Anthropology/Cultures.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Discover how scientists began to unravel the meaning of Maya glyphs. Determine your own birth date using the Maya Long Count calendar system.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Math, Social Studies
Topics: Numbers and Operations. Anthropology/Cultures. World History: 4000-1000 BCE. World History: 1000 BCE-300 CE.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore the work of archeologists and anthropologists by building a 3-D clay representation of a human skull to look for clues to a person's physical form, ethnic origin, behavioral patterns, health history and social standing.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Paleontology. Anthropology/Cultures. Archeology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: With Eyes Open
Develop an understanding of personal beliefs about the afterlife following death as well as those of different cultures. Research funeral customs and afterlife myths from various cultures.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Reading & Language Arts, Social Studies
Topics: Mythology. Anthropology/Cultures.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: American Experience
Make connections about how cultural movements affect various minority groups' pride of race as well as how they are portrayed in popular culture. Analyze TV ads that sell products by making consumers feel bad about themselves.
Grade Level: 6-8
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. Media Studies. United States History: 1945-early 1970s.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Destination America
Explore the conditions which forced various immigrant groups to resettle in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. Explore issues and prejudices facing them as they tried to assimilate in American life.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. Historical Perspective. Sociology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Analyze and interpret artifacts and other information in order to locate an archeological site.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. Archeology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Identify the locations of important African finds in the search for early human remains.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Paleontology. Anthropology/Cultures. Archeology. World History: The Beginnings of Human Society.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Investigate human evolution by comparing height data of North American boys from 1890 and 1960 and discuss the significance of the data in terms of possible reasons for the evolutionary trends identified in the comparisons.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Evolution. Genetics. Human Biology. Anthropology/Cultures.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Discuss the work that anthropoligists do, identify things anthropologists would be able to deduce about current culture from studying the classroom and determine which clues would lead to inaccurate conclusions and which could be easily interpreted.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Evolution. Genetics. Anthropology/Cultures.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Understand that many of the words we use every day are the result of "importing" or "inventing" language to reflect changes in our culture. Identify the sources of everyday words by matching the words with their sources and definitions.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Reading & Language Arts, Social Studies
Topics: Vocabulary. Anthropology/Cultures. World History: The Beginnings of Human Society.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Point of View
Explore sports as expressions of culture and transmitted values by comparing photographs of local baseball events with a video of a Japanese game.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Social Studies
Topics: Sports. Anthropology/Cultures. Cultural Studies: Asian Studies.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Egypt's Golden Empire
Investigate the use of Egyptian hieroglyphs as a form of communication, record keeping and as a means for preserving and passing down history. Practice using hieroglyphs to create messages.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. World History: 4000-1000 BCE.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Oregon Public Broadcasting: Passports: Crossing Cultural Borders
Take a virtual trip to other countries, earning stamps for your passport by completing activities that explore the geography, climate, language and daily life of foreign places. Explore the origins of different cultures represented in the classroom.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. Geography.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: KQED: My American Girls: A Dominican Story
Examine school, work and family conflicts in the lives of American and immigrant students. Role-play solutions to school conflicts based on a series of vignettes.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Social Studies
Topics: Conflict Resolution. Family Life. Anthropology/Cultures. Immigration.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Investigate archeological techniques for uncovering buried cities, determine what might survive being buried in an earthquake and consider what future archeologists might assume about a present-day city from uncovered artifacts.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Math, Social Studies
Topics: Measurement. Anthropology/Cultures. Archeology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Oregon Public Broadcasting: Art Beat at School
Consider alternative ways of creating music using non-traditional instruments, and create a percussion instrument out of household materials. Explore art created by people with disabilities by creating art without using hands.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Social Studies, The Arts
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. Creative Thinking. Music. Visual Arts.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Learn about Neanderthals, understand the scientific methods used to create theories from fragmentary evidence and interpret a Neanderthal artifact found at a cave site in Slovenia.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Evolution. Paleontology. Anthropology/Cultures. World History: The Beginnings of Human Society.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: American Experience
Compare and evaluate representative songs from different New Orleans musical styles. Prepare and taste various foods from New Orleans cultures, and write a description of the cuisine of that city.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies, The Arts
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. Music.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: American Experience
Research answers to questions about the origins of Mardi Gras around the world. Explore first-hand accounts of survivors of Hurricane Katrina, and consider how it would feel to lose all one's possessions.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness, Social Studies
Topics: Mental/Emotional Health. Anthropology/Cultures. Religion.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Religion & Ethics Newsweekly
Describe how Hindu Americans have adapted their religious and cultural practices to life in the U.S. Consider the impact this accommodation has had on their culture and their lifestyles.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. Sociology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Religion & Ethics Newsweekly
Compare various religions and explore the tensions associated with religious and cultural differences in the United States. Identify ways religion is embedded in everyday life.
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. Sociology. Religion.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Investigate the challenges facing archeologists when dealing with local cultures near dig sites, and consider the difficulty of remaining sensitive to the past yet still being able to learn from it.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Ethics in Science. Anthropology/Cultures. Archeology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Emulate the work of archaeologists in South Africa attempting to solve the riddles of human evolution by inferring a person's height from the length of one bone. Identify and communicate present-day rituals through ancient art techniques.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Evolution. Anthropology/Cultures. Sociology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Draw inferences about seventeenth-century American colonists by examining a primary source document that describes the possessions of one household.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Reading & Language Arts, Social Studies
Topics: Critical Thinking Skills. Anthropology/Cultures. Archeology. United States History: 1585-1763.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Utilize prior knowledge and clues to interpret information about a set of artifacts.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Reading & Language Arts, Social Studies
Topics: Critical Thinking Skills. Anthropology/Cultures.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore the clues that archaeologists and other scientists use to piece together a picture of the past. Create models to compare and contrast the geology of two islands, and compare the characteristics of various types of fibers.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Geology & Natural Disasters. Anthropology/Cultures. Archeology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Research the work of archeologists attempting to reconstruct the past, interpret the finds of the ancient Bactrian empire and make reasonable guesses about the functions of the structures and artifacts. Build a model of an ancient Aleutian kayak.
Grade Level: 6-8
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. Archeology. World History: 4000-1000 BCE.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: The Meaning of Food
Discuss the role that food plays in people's lives. Research food and food rituals associated with cultural and ethnic groups; and present findings as a poem, picture-story, food tasting, one-act play or multi-media presentation.
Grade Level: 6-8
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. Family Life.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Use descriptive clues to determine the culture and method of mummification of various mummies.
Grade Level: 6-8
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. World History: 4000-1000 BCE.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Point of View
Explore the relationship between language and cultural identity, and how meaning changes as it crosses language, culture, borders and economic divides. Connect language barriers to problems in cultural relations between the U.S. and other countries.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Discuss the characteristics and features common to maps and map objects on a tabletop site.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Math, Social Studies
Topics: Measurement. Anthropology/Cultures. Geography.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Examine how forensic anthropologists use data to investigate skeletal remains and use a data chart to estimate how tall a person might have been from the length of his or her bones.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Human Biology. Paleontology. Anthropology/Cultures.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Explore life-cycle events of the Amazonian Yanomami people and compare those events to those that students experience.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
Topics: Anthropology/Cultures. Sociology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Investigate factors affecting population growth rate by calculating how long it takes a country's population to double in size.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Math, Social Studies
Topics: Data Analysis/Probability. Functions and Algebra. Anthropology/Cultures. Archeology.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
