Teaching With Historic Places Lesson Plans

Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP), a program of the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places, uses historic properties to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects. TwHP has created a variety of tools—including lesson plans, publications, and other valuable materials—to help teachers bring historic places into the classroom. All lessons are based on sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places, which include historic units of the National Park System and National Historic Landmarks. Landmarks are nationally significant historic places designated by the Secretary of the Interior because they possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States. Lessons plans that feature units of the National Park System and National Historic Landmarks are noted.

Among the lessons plans offered are several on varying aspects of maritime history from coastal forts to inland canals and from well-known historical figures to the anonymous faces of early settlers as well as the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the U.S. military. To explore the maritime-related lesson plans, click on the links below.