Educator Resources

Showing 1,555 results for Hands On History ...

Hands Over Time

Type: Student Activities
Grade Levels: Lower Elementary: Pre-Kindergarten through Second Grade

Students will recognize that handprint petroglyphs and pictographs may be prehistoric signatures. By leaving behind their own handprints on paper, students will increase their understanding of the value of petroglyphs and the need for their preservation.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Every Rock Has a Story

Type: Distance Learning
Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

Don't take these rocks for granite! Students will become geologists who learn how to describe and identify rocks by their family-sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. Students will apply their knowledge to uncover the geologic story of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Andersonville National Historic Site

Narrative of privations and sufferings of United States officers and soldiers while prisoners of war in the hands of the Rebel authorities

Type: Primary Sources
Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade

This report, published by the non-governmental United States Sanitary Commission provides multiple accounts of the treatment of Union prisoners of war in Confederate military prisons.

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

War Has Been Declared: Elementary Lesson Plan

Type: Lesson Plan
Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

Students create a timeline of events leading to the Civil War based on a series of articles from the National Park Service. Students will explore the issue of slavery as a major cause starting with the Missouri Compromise, The Dred Scott Decision, The Election of Lincoln, John Brown's Raid, and the numerous states secessions. Then, students become part of a regiment and complete hands-on activities as they discover the structure of an army.

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

War Has Been Declared: Middle School Lesson Plan

Type: Lesson Plan
Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade

Students analyze the primary document, the Emancipation Proclamation and how it affected the Civil War and southern states. They work in teams to creatively share learned information from NPS videos about one of the final pushes in the Civil War, the Atlanta Campaign through Georgia. They listen to and draw meaning from soldier and author, Ambrose Bierce.

President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site

Why Visit His Home?

Type: Lesson Plan
Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

Using a four square graphic organizer, draft, edit and publish a persuasive essay OR draft a speech to persuade OR create a Prezi to persuade the observer to visit the birthplace home of President Clinton.

Thomas Stone National Historic Site

History on Trial

Type: Field Trips
Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade

Students will search for clues to his innocence or guilt and in a mock trial to determine if Thomas Stone was a traitor to Great Britain or an American Patriot for signing the Declaration of Independence. Will your class find him guilty or innocent?

Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park

History Hunters

Type: Traveling Trunk
Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

This activity trunk is designed to introduce learners to the ways that historians, archeologists, and anthropologists use primary resources to learn about the past. Students will role-play by wearing costumes identifying each as an anthropologist, archeologist, or historian.

Cowpens National Battlefield

History and Technology

Type: Student Activities
Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade

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Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park

Historical Characters

Type: Student Activities
Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade

In this activity, students will learn about nine key participants in the Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma and the Siege of Fort Brown. They will discover how the personalities of these key leaders helped them during these clashes and influenced their outcome. Students them compare their own personality traits to discover how they are like or different from these leaders.

Lowell National Historical Park

Do History and Science at the Tsongas Industrial History Center

Type: Field Trips
Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

Science, History and many more field trip opportunities for your students at Lowell National Historical Park!

George Washington Carver National Monument

George Washington Carver - The Artist: Resource to His People

Type: Lesson Plan
Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

Focusing on Carver's fiber art, this lesson concludes with student creating woven bracelets.

Prince William Forest Park

Park History Talk

Type: Field Trips ... Guest Speakers
Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade

Discover the rich history of Prince William Forest Park. This 30 minute to one hour overview program offers information covering various time periods from Native American history to the Great Depression and World War II.

Fort Scott National Historic Site

Sweep Through History

Type: Field Trips
Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

The purpose of this program is to acquaint the students with life at Fort Scott during the primary eras during the site's history: Westward Expansion, Bleeding Kansas and the Civil War.

Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve

History of Kingsley Plantation

Type: Lesson Plan
Grade Levels: Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade

Students will develop an understanding of the history of Kingsley Plantation.

Acadia National Park

"Historic" Journal Activity

Type: Student Activities
Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

Students are able to explore life in an 1800’s homestead. They will write narratives to explain their understanding of life at an 1800’s homestead.

Alaska Public Lands

Russian History Kit

Type: Traveling Trunk
Grade Levels: Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade

This kit brings the story of Russia's colonial history in North America to life. Explore Alaska's Russian influence and cultural exchanges through stories and activities.