Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) has developed more than 130 classroom-ready lesson plans on places throughout the country and topics across the curriculum. In an effort to help teachers meet their own and their students' educational goals, TwHP has categorized its lesson plans according to various skills that specific lessons help students practice and develop through the activities in the lesson's Putting It All Together section. The skill of Local History Investigation currently is the only live link; others will be added shortly. In all cases, refer to the activity in the lesson for a more detailed explanation of the activity.
For more information on lesson plans or our program, contact TwHP. You can also view the entire collection of lessons according to location, topic, time period, U.S. History Standards, and Social Studies Standards.
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Artwork/Drawing/Graphic Design
Cartography
Charts/Graphs/Tables/Diagrams/Lists
Civic Engagement/Community Involvement
Compare and Contrast
Creative Writing/Story Telling
Debating
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Design/Building
Diaries/Journals/Autobiographies
Drama/Role Playing
Exhibits/Displays
Expository Writing
Historic Preservation
Historical Interpretation
Journalism/Newspaper Reporting
Local History Investigation
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Oral History/Interviews
Oral Reports
Persuasive Writing and Speaking
Photography/Videography/Computers
Primary Source Analysis
Small Group Work
Timelines
Whole Class Discussions
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There are certain skills that all TwHP lesson plans strengthen. Because they are based on an inquiry method and contain student questions for maps, readings, and images, all TwHP lesson plans advance proficiency in analysis, critical thinking, geographical literacy, research, and visual literacy. Therefore, these skills are not included in the index list below.
Local History Investigation
All TwHP lesson plans include at least one activity that leads students to research the history and historic places in their own communities related to the theme of the lesson. We include an index heading for this topic to reinforce the relationship between local and national history.
•Have students research how Manifest Destiny and the Homestead Act relates to their community. Have students design and create an exhibit about an outstanding woman who lived (or lives) in the area.
•Have students research their community’s transportation history and write a paper on that topic. Ask students to imagine and describe the kinds of transportation they think might be available a century from now and hold a class discussion on the students’ responses.
•Have students research and discuss race relations in their town. Ask them to conduct an interview with a community member who remembers life during the Jim Crow period. Have students submit their recordings either on paper or on tape to the local library or historical society.
•Have students discuss if the Apollo launch tower should have been preserved. In groups, have them find a place in their town associated with an important event that occurred in their or their parents' lifetimes. Have them decide if any or all of the places should be deemed historic and, if so, if it should be preserved and/or interpreted for future generations.
•Have students research the existence of prisoner of war camps (from any war) in their local area, their state, or a nearby state, and then compare this prison with Andersonville.
•Have students research a historic inn, hotel, or tavern in their community, or have them research the history of a more modern local hotel. Students should give a brief oral or written report on their findings.
•Have students find out if there is a historic place in their community that is endangered. In groups have students research the significance of one of the endangered places and what efforts are being made to preserve the place. Have the class compare each place to King of Prussia Inn.
•Have students investigate their region to see how it was affected by World War II.
•Have students visit a local historic home and determine who did the work to maintain it during the historic period and how that work was done. Have students identify buildings in their community that are used in a way different than their original purpose and create a display of historic and current photographs. Students should collect floor plans and bring them to class for discussion on the house.
•Ask students to survey older members of the community to identify events in the past that filled residents with pride. Have students create a rough sketch about those events for possible display as an "art gallery" for their school and community.
•Have students investigate any mobile military hospitals based in their area and have a representative come into the class to discuss what they do. If there is no community organization, contact a local physician. Compare the discussions and have students interview wounded veterans and community volunteers to learn about their experiences.
•Have students investigate their community to find out if there was a significant issue, recent or long ago, that united or divided the local citizens. Have students work together to prepare a report about this event and discuss other ways in which the problem could have been solved.
•Have students research and report to the class if a historical battle took place in their community, locate it on a map, and determine if anything commemorates the location. Have them debate the value of honoring events and preserving the places where they occurred.
•Have students consider their communities and whether there are examples in which distinct groups previously at odds banded together to meet a common goal. After this discussion, assign a skit or a written or oral report where students further study and learn about their example.
•Have students separate into small groups to research the names of towns and cities in their region to see if any of them are derived from original American Indian inhabitants and if any European American/American Indian battles took place in their area.
•Have students work in groups to investigate and list the types of war memorials that exist in their community. As a class, discuss the types of war memorials in the local community and consider other ways to commemorate wars.
•Have students find a memorial and describe it, including a physical description, what the inscription says, and where the memorial is located. Students may also want to research the history of this memorial.
•Have students produce a written, pictorial, or video report describing a controversial issue which has divided their community.
•Have students choose an important or controversial event that involved local residents. Have them research the event, record an interview with a relative or neighbor who was involved in some way with this event, and write a report that describes the oral history and evaluates its accuracy.
•In groups, have students look at nine historical events associated with the Civil War and what happened in their community in relation to each event; then have each group report its findings to the class. Afterwards, have the class design an exhibit around their community's Civil War legacy.
•Have students determine what war memorials or grave sites exist in their community. Examine the memorial and report their findings to the class.
•Have students check to determine if soldiers from the state where their school is located, or from the states in which the students were born, fought at the Battle of Stones River. Have students research to find out if any Civil War battles occurred in their state. If so, have students describe the battles; if not, have them discuss why their state did not take part in the war in that way.
•Have students locate a war memorial in their community to compare with the Hazen Brigade monument. Ask them to draw their own sketch for a monument of any battle or war that affected their community.
•Have students compare photos of the buildings in Bethlehem with the oldest buildings they can find in their community, discussing the similarities or differences found in size, purpose, and building materials and what may account for the differences. Then have students locate a copy of the oldest map or drawing possible of their community and compare it with Drawing 2 of Bethlehem in 1766. Have students identify the building types on Drawing 2 and the map of their community and color the buildings according to type. In a class discussion, have students compare the two communities looking at the reason each community was founded, whether each community was planned or grew haphazardly, and what buildings, services, and businesses appeared first.
•Have students research and write about aspects of heredity and environment that have shaped who they are.
•Have students choose a local park or other green space to study. Encourage students to prepare a short oral report for class or present their information in a research paper.
•Divide students into two groups and have one group research public schools in their town in the period leading up to the Brown ruling, while the other researches schools in the years following the Brown ruling. Have each group explain its findings and create an exhibit to display.
•Have the students look carefully at the natural landscape of the community before and after people populated the area and discuss how the landscape was formed, how it changed after human interaction and what it may look like in the future.
•Have students research their community to discover what industries were important to its growth, when they developed, and how long they were in existence. Compare these industries with a textile mill like the Boott.
•Have students work alone or in groups to investigate the early transportation systems of their community.
•Have students examine a property in their own community that is listed on the National Register or that students believe should be listed. Have them discuss which areas of significance they would use if they were preparing a nomination for that property, and how they would justify their decisions.
•Have students investigate the economic conditions in their community during the Depression, identify the major businesses in the area today, devise a jobs program that would provide short-term employment and have long-term benefit for the community, and compare their ideas with the jobs programs of the 1930s.
•Have students research the history of their local library and write a report, create a timeline, or design an exhibit.
•Have students research and create a tabloid-sized newspaper of what was happening in their community from 1920 to 1940. Ask students to draw a timeline comparing their community with Castolon.
•In small groups, have students interview someone in their community or members of their family who lived through a war or a natural disaster. Following oral presentations, have the class discuss how the experiences of these local people compared or contrasted with the experiences of those whose lives the Civil War impacted.
•Have students find out more about the history of railroads in their community by investigating local and state histories, newspapers, and photograph collections at the library. Have students examine the long-term effects of the railroad on your community and discuss the current impact, or reasons for the lack of impact, of the railroad on your community.
•Have students describe the main transportation routes in their community today and whether the areas connected by these routes are the same as those that were connected by the railroads.
•Have students ask local business owners how important transportation is to their business, and how it is provided. See if they can determine whether the availability of transportation affected decisions about where to locate or relocate local businesses.
•Have students select and research an example of three-dimensional art in their own community to study. Then have students photograph or make a sketch of the work to show to the class and explain to the class what they think its "message" was intended to be and how it conveys that message. Have them also describe what elements they found that seem similar to those found in French's work.
•Have each student select a site, building, monument, or structure in their community that could be nominated for a local, state, or national register of historic places. Have them complete the "action" steps in the chart from Activity 2 for that place and use the information to create a narrative similar to the reading.
•Have students research a historic or natural site in their community which is endangered due to population pressures, pollution, development, etc. Students should share the information they have found about the site, what threatens it, and why it is worthy of being preserved in the form of a skit, play, or masque (outdoor play).
•Ask students to think of a problem or controversial issue facing their community and write a persuasive speech that will energize people to work toward finding a solution. As Lincoln did in his Gettysburg Address, have students limit their speeches to 300 words.
•Have students investigate organizations in their area which offer assistance; research them to discover their history, similarities, and differences; and look at them in comparison to the Red Cross. Brainstorm ideas for assistance within their own community and discuss ideas with an organization representative.
•Have students talk to older people in their community to determine whether any famous event occurred there, have them research local newspapers to see how the event was covered, and hold a class discussion about whether the event should be commemorated.
•Have students research an invention that has had an important influence on their community. The students will focus on its history and why it is important to the community.
•Have students research heroes in their own communities, determining what kinds of deeds made him or her a hero, and whether any places still standing in the community today are associated with him or her. Have students determine if there is some other commemoration or memorial in the community.
•Have students name some political positions at the local level such as the school board chairman, mayor, or county supervisor. Discuss whether or not it is easier to arrange a personal visit with such individuals than those at a higher level. Have students consider if their individual support or disapproval, or that of their parents, is likely to have more of an impact at the local or state level.
•Using historic and current street maps, topographical maps, and zoning maps, have students compare and contrast the type of information each map contains and locate existing parks and/or park systems. Have students work in groups to discuss possible locations and designs for a park, park system, or greenway, taking into account the topography, history, developed area, and zoning restrictions on the maps. After each group has presented its plan, ask the class, acting as the Parks Commission, to vote on which plan they will adopt.
•Have students investigate their own home town or county to determine if it played a role in the Civil War. Students also could look for evidence of the indirect impact of issues leading up to the war or of the war's aftermath, including circumstances under which the state entered the Union, veterans who explored or settled the area, or ongoing conflicts.
•Ask students to make a list of the volunteer groups and programs in their community and while working in small groups, have the students write and essay on one of the organization’s history and structure. Hold a class discussion and consider volunteering for the organization.
•Have students study the effects of World War II on their town, create a display reflecting what they learned, locate sites where they can go on field trips, and write a report on their experience. Have them help plan a program for Veterans Day or Memorial Day honoring local veterans.
•Have students research their own community to determine if there are any military installations or arms manufacturers nearby, and have them research what has happened to them since 1980. Then hold a debate on the effects of a military installation or defense factory on communities.
•Divide students into small groups and ask each group to research a military installation that existed in their region.
•Ask students to investigate their region to determine if there is a military base in the area, have them research the military base, and hold a classroom discussion based on the students’ findings.
•Divide students into groups and ask each group to select a place from their community that is listed in the National Register of Historic Places or one that they think should be listed. Ask them to visit the site and complete an Observation Worksheet. If the place is not listed, have students look for information in the local library or historical society. After they have completed their research, hold a class discussion about the benefits of historic preservation to the community. Have them share their findings with the PTA or a local historical organization in a PowerPoint presentation, a community walking tour, exhibits, or a web site.
•Have students go to the library or local historical society to obtain an old map, or series of maps, of the local area to chart how their town has changed over the years.
•Have students, either working alone or as part of a group, prepare a photo essay that tells the story of an important historic site in their community.
La versión en español Los Castillos del Viejo San Juan: Guardianes del Caribe
•Have students research and write up a report about the founders of their community and whether any of the buildings there were built by or related to a town founder.
•Have students research and compare different models and histories of planned communities in colonial and modern times, as well as their own community and hold a class discussion on their findings.
•Ask students to find out which school in their city is the oldest and research its history. Ask students to share their findings through oral, written, display, or computer slide-show presentations.
•Have students work in groups to research the history of public education in their community, and have them prepare a report or presentation.
•Ask students to reenact the Fourth of July celebration held at the Glen Echo Chautauqua in 1892 by assuming the roles of the people who took part. If possible, have students stage the program for another class. Have the class research to see if this kind of program was ever held in their community.
•Have students research the history of their community to see what groups faced prejudice in the past and which ones are facing it today. After they complete their research, have them present their findings to the class and discuss what they could do to promote more interaction in the community.
•Working in small groups, have students prepare a written or oral report on their community's role in the westward movement. Have groups investigate if there are any places in their community that relate to this period, such as roadways, farms, buildings, or memorials.
•Have students identify and research a road that is important to their community.
•In groups, have students prepare a written or oral report on an event that brought dramatic economic and/or social change to their town or region. If any buildings or monuments related to the event still exist, collect or take photographs and describe how the place is related to their event.
•In groups, have students research and present their findings about the lives of American Indians who lived in their region from about A.D. 1300 to 1660, emphasizing the similarities and differences between these groups and the people of Gran Quivira.
•Have students research a historic site in their community associated with an important figure and prepare a written report. Have them read their reports aloud and participate in a classroom discussion on whether they feel it is important to preserve historic sites that are associated with important persons of the past.
•Have students identify someone in their community who fit the characteristics of a leader. If possible, have them interview this person, using a set of questions they have developed. Then, have students write a profile of the person and submit it to the school or local newspaper.
•Have students define the term "neighborhood." Have them compare their neighborhood to the one in which William Howard Taft grew up.
•Invite one or more eyewitnesses from your community who have witnessed significant events such as battles of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, or natural disasters such as floods, tornados, or earthquakes to speak to the class and give their perspectives on what happened.
•If there is a Revolutionary site in the local community or region, ask students to visit it and then compare its role in the outcome of the Revolution with that of Guilford Courthouse. In groups, have students find a war monument in their community, take photos of it, and copy its inscriptions for an in-class discussion.
•Have students look at an old building in their neighborhood and take pictures to document their findings. Ask them what they can find out simply by looking at it, such as when it was built or why. If possible, have them conduct an interview with someone who lived or worked there. Ask students to conduct research at the library, community historical society, or courthouse and share their findings in a class presentation.
•Have students conduct a survey to gather information about community definitions of good citizenship, including the values and aspects of community history that have helped shape those viewpoints. Hold a class discussion based on the results of the survey and ask students to develop their own definition of good citizenship and list ways in which they could act as good citizens in the community.
•Have students investigate groups that played a role in the early history of their community and whether there are surviving structures associated with them. Ask students to find examples of the same types of structures from other parts of the country and compare them with the local examples.
•Have students investigate their community to find out about the first settlers there and then describe how customs have changed between the time of the first settlers and today. Hold a class discussion about early life in their community.
•In three groups—furnace work, forest work, and field work—have students list all the jobs in their category, and on a chalkboard draw three circles (furnace, forest, and field) and ask each group to report its list. Students should also research a local industry or business to find out if workers there are as interdependent as those at Hopewell.
•Have students research the economic history of their local community and state to find out how it resembled colonial Pennsylvania and Hopewell.
•Have students research a building where local government officials meet (or the state capitol building if students live in or near the state capital). If possible, arrange to have the class take a tour and/or sit in on a public meeting. Findings could be presented in a written report, an oral presentation, or a visual display. Students may also want to compare the design and layout of the local meeting room with the Assembly Room at Independence Hall and discuss similarities and differences.
•Have students research their community to see how changes in technology and industry have altered the landscape. •Have students produce a classroom or hallway display that shows these changes.
•Have students research their school to find out who designed the building, when it was built, and what conditions influenced the plan and the style, and have them try to discover how the school building has been altered, adapted, and updated over time.
•Have students research events in their community during World War I, including how their community supported the war effort, and have them make class presentations.
•In small groups, have students identify an individual who was prominent in the history of their community. Have them investigate what documents, artifacts, historic places, and/or place names associated with the person remain in the town.
•In groups, have students research the history of their town to create a timeline and to illustrate their timelines with photographs of buildings or monuments. Have them compare and discuss the events of their timeline.
•Have students compare what they have learned about Knife River with information about early life in the Americas found in American history texts. Have students research the Indian groups who lived in their region, visit a local museum that displays prehistoric artifacts, and create matrices about these various Indian groups for comparison.
•Have students walk around their neighborhood or the area surrounding their school and draw a map of the area with a scale and a legend. Display the finished maps in the classroom and share with classmates what they learned from the experience. Then have students compare their own maps to an actual map of the school grounds or their neighborhood file at the local library or with the town.
•Have the class list reasons why people use symbols, and ask them to look for and list several patriotic symbols found in their community or found in advertisements in order to evaluate each symbol and draw conclusions about their use for commercial purposes.
•Ask students to locate farms or factories in their community that supplied the war effort, and have them research how they supported the war. Students should share the information they have discovered in the form of papers, project boards, computer slideshows, skits, or oral presentations.
•In two groups, have students list the advantages of the way of life on two separate islands. At the end have a spokesperson speak to a “visiting journalist” about their way of life. Have each group research everyday life in the early 1800s for people living in their own community.
•Have students create their own historical museum with prepared documents of written short accounts of their own family history, family papers, and artifacts. Students should also write about their current lives or a current issue as if they were writing in 2050.
•Have students conduct research on an important figure in their own community, preferably one associated with a historic site. Then prepare a presentation including visuals.
•Invite a locally elected official to talk to the class on his or her experience in politics, with students asking questions. •Hold a class discussion where students compare the local official and Abraham Lincoln.
•Arrange for the class to visit a local fire station (or Coast Guard station if possible). Have students prepare a list of questions to ask a member of the rescue team about lifesaving procedures and training as well as about the history of the station building and how the space is used by the rescue personnel.
•Have students research the history of their community through local histories and photographs.
•Have students research the most common type of folk housing found in their region and if possible visit some examples of these houses. Students should identify the type of material the house is made of and compare that structure to log cabins.
•Have students list some of the places in their community or region that are visited by tourists or are of special interest to the inhabitants of the community. Have students investigate how preservation of one of the established sites is funded. Working in small groups, ask students to identify another site, one that they think ought to be preserved, but which is not yet protected. Have the groups devise a conservation plan for their site.
•Have the class as a whole to choose a local political race to investigate. Divide the class into two groups and have each group choose one of the candidates and gather information on the campaign. Ask a spokesperson from each group to present their findings to the class and hold a classroom discussion comparing the two campaigns. Ask students whom they would vote for and why. Find out if students became biased in favor of the candidate they researched. Why or why not?
•Divide students into small groups and have each group select a site in the community that is associated with or memorializes African American or women's history (or both) and conduct a site visit, if possible. The groups should prepare a visual presentation on their findings and share it with the rest of the class.
•Have students use old newspapers, information from the local historical society, and other sources to research an important event in their community that reflected the battle over women's rights. Have students present their findings in a paper, an oral report, or another format that effectively tells their audience what happened and why.
•Have students research and prepare a short report on public meeting spaces in their community describing the types, uses, and advantages.
•Ask students to investigate their area and compile a list of historic structures or sites. In teams, have students select one site and research it. Their reports may take the form of a written essay, an oral presentation or skit, a poster, or computer display.
•Have students find primary source evidence that describes the place, the people, and the daily lives of those who occupied a significant site in their community, and compare it with Montpelier. Have them work with their local historical society to develop a special exhibit for the community.
•Have students conduct oral histories with their parents or community members who remember the Cold War. Have students discuss their interviews in class. Students should consider donating the oral histories to a local library or historical society to preserve these stories about the Cold War for future generations.
•Have students identify the location of a local cemetery on a map of their community. Then coordinate with your local library or historical society to arrange for students to see historic maps that show the location of the cemetery. Ask students to compare the area surrounding the cemetery on the historic and modern maps. Students might share their findings by writing an essay or article that compares the founding of your local cemetery with the founding of Mount Auburn Cemetery or making an exhibit comparing and contrasting the local cemetery with Mount Auburn Cemetery.
•Arrange for students to visit a local landscape, either a cemetery or park and compare it with Mount Auburn Cemetery. Then identify how people of their community use this landscape and how they seem to feel about it. Have students assess their emotional reaction to the landscape of their local cemetery and explain why they have that feeling.
•Have students locate and visit a war memorial in their community and have them create an exhibit for the school about the memorial. If the memorial needs to be conserved, have students prepare a letter to the city or local historical society asking them for help in preserving it.
•Have students inventory the veteran grave sites in the local cemetery and create a database and status report on the markers to present to the caretaker, get an unmarked grave marked with a headstone, and research how to clean and care for a historic gravestone or marker. Students should volunteer to help clean the headstones or help with the grounds upkeep.
•Have students create a biography of the life of a war veteran for whom you have located a headstone, or an ancestor who served in a war. When completed, have the students donate the biography to the local historical society or library.
•Divide the class into small groups and have each group research and report on one transportation system (maritime, railroad, roads, airplanes, or subways) that was historically important in the community. Discuss how this information compares with what they have learned about the role of lighthouses and other aids to navigation in maritime travel and commerce.
•Have students research the history of their school or a school in their community from 1954-1970 (essentially from the Brown decision through the implementation of the Green decision). Students should then write a paper comparing the situation in their community and school with the situation in New Kent County, Virginia.
•Have students discuss whether Black Codes or Jim Crow laws ever applied in their community. If not, have the class investigate whether there were other informal restrictions on local African Americans or on members of other minority groups, such as Hispanic- Americans, Asian-Americans, or American Indians.
•In small groups, have students research the towns in their state that might have had a good chance of becoming their state’s capital, and as a class, debate where they would locate the state capital. Have each group research the history of the state capitol building. Then have each group compare their capitol building to one from another state.
•Have students determine if there are any soldier’s graves in the local cemetery and when and where the veteran/veterans served. Using familiar memorial forms, symbolism, and materials, have students design an appropriate memorial and identify a location for it.
•Ask students to consider if there are or were any industries in their region that developed as a result of a transportation system. Have them bring to class items they feel represent these industries. Finish with a discussion of how these industries affect their lives today.
•Have students work in groups to create a timeline or illustrated map of the nation’s transportation history, research a local transportation route or transportation system in order to create a local timeline or map, and compare both timelines or maps for class discussion.
•Have students search for examples of how their community is connected with the broader events and issues of concern to the nation, such as the environment or civil rights, and to determine where such issues are debated and discussed. Have students write short essays, comparing the degree of public interest and the location of discussions with those of the 1840s-1860s railroad controversy and the Old Courthouse. Then hold a class discussion about the role of public buildings in modern communities.
•Have students identify and research an older public building in their own community; if possible have a local preservation expert visit the class to discuss how decisions are made as to whether to preserve such buildings.
•Divide students into teams and have them research the origins of their community and if any sites from that time still exist. If any still exist have students take a photograph or draw a picture of those sites that will accompany a written history of their community.
•In groups, have students research their community to determine what industries were important in its history, discuss their findings to try to determine why certain industries disappeared while others remained successful, and to find out whether any buildings remain that were associated with early industries.
•Have students research their community’s history to determine what industry influenced its development, and in teams find out whether any homes of noteworthy persons associated with the industry survived. They should make a local history display and present it to the community.
•Have students look for war memorials in their community. As a class, discuss what students can learn about their community's participation in World War II from these memorials.
•Have students investigate the ways the automobile changed their community, whether any examples of the types of fanciful vernacular architecture or public art studied in this lesson exist or ever existed in their community, and if efforts are being made to preserve these artifacts.
•Have students read local history books and interview older members of the community to see if any disasters occurred in the area in the past. If so, have them find out if the people involved were warned and able to escape, who or what caused the disaster, if the event could have been avoided, and --if so-- by what means.
•Have students identify and research monuments in their own community. After students visit and photograph their monuments, have them compare the imagery, style, power to evoke emotion, realism, or symbolism with those employed by Saint-Gaudens.
•Have students research their community to discover which religious groups were among the first settlers, and then compare their community's experience with that of San Antonio. Also, ask students to compare the architectural styles of different religious buildings, and hold a classroom discussion based on the results of the student's research.
•Ask students to research their community to determine if there are any descendants of participants in the American Revolution who live there. Students may wish to compile their findings on a large map with pushpins identifying the names and hometowns of the participants they locate.
•Have students research and visit sites in their community to discover what elements of its early growth were alike and which different from the development of the Saugus Iron Works and the settlement of Hammersmith. Students should discuss the history of the economic base of the town and write a short paper describing an industry they would like to promote as Winthrop promoted Saugus Ironmaking.
•In teams or pairs, instruct students to research and locate a current and a historic map of their area and to analyze and discuss the development of their community as shown on the maps.
•Have students check local newspapers of the period and talk to members of the community about what civil rights activities took place there and, if possible, have someone who participated in any of the civil rights marches to come speak to the class. Have students find out whether buildings or other structures associated with these activities still survive, do some research on them, and prepare the text for markers that might be put on them.
•Have students, in groups, research the transportation routes in their community, both past and present. As a class, create a local transportation history display to donate to the local library or historical society, or to display in their school.
•Have students determine if their community has ever suffered from warfare, natural disasters, or social pressures. Students should prepare a "historic marker" that documents the incident and display it for general class discussion.
•Have students compile a list of buildings that illustrate the development of their community, and in small groups have them research a building in order to create an exhibit illustrating its history. The class should develop a promotional brochure or walking tour of their town about those buildings.
•In small groups, have students find and conduct research on a historic site in their community that is open to the public. If possible, have one group find out if there are any archaeological sites in the local area that are either under investigation or are already excavated and interpreted to the public. Groups should prepare an exhibit on the site that briefly outlines its history, explains when and how it opened to the public, and summarizes some of the issues involved in preserving the site today as well as how these issues are being addressed.
La versión en español Las flotas españolas de 1715 y 1733: Desastres en el mar (134)
•In pairs, have students arrange to conduct an oral history interview with a willing senior citizen who remembers life during the Depression and create either a videotape of the interview, snapshots and a written report in a newspaper article format, or an audiotape.
•Have students interview someone who lived in their community or area in the 1950s and ask how they prepared for the possibility of nuclear war. Then have students find out if any physical evidence of the Cold War remains in their area such as fallout shelters or air raid sirens and report their findings to the class.
•Have students interview one person who remembers what he or she was doing on one or more of the days when these events occurred: (1) the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, (2) the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, (3) the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, (4) the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, and (5) any major event that occurred in their community that is still remembered today. Ask students to take notes and share what they have learned with the class.
•Have students locate and trace the history of a building in their community that has served many purposes over the years. Have them make a timeline with information about the structure at various times in its history and events that occurred in the U.S. during that same time period.
•Have students' research and write a history of a local unit that served in the Civil War or any war. They are to follow the war's course through the actions of the local unit. Then have students research to see if any local landmarks in the unit's history (a field where the unit first assembled, the site where it received its flag, or the train station where the troops departed for the front) still exist. Locate and trace the different places on a map where the unit was stationed or fought.
•Have students identify a veteran of war or someone in your community who lived on the home front during wartime and interview him or her as a class project. Have students take a photo of the person they interview and include it with a brief biography as part of the oral history they give to the library or historical society.
•Have students locate soldiers' monument or war memorial in their hometown or county. Then have them prepare a class presentation on it with illustrations or photos.
•In small groups, have students research the history of their school. Ask students to share their findings in a written report, oral presentation, computer slide-show, model, or exhibit.
•Have small groups of students contact and interview transportation workers in major transportation centers nearest their community (airport, bus station, ferry port, railroad freight yard or depot, etc.). Then have each group prepare a class presentation.
•Have students research the history of a preservation controversy in their community. Have two groups debate each other on whether they should favor preservation or development, and as a class vote on their position and explain which side they think presented the best argument.
•Have students study their community to find out who its first inhabitants were and if there are still places associated with them. Have them design a plaque or monument to dedicate this part of their town's history, or have them write papers about how the town preserves and interprets its history.
•Have students locate and identify American Indian tribes that were present at the time of white settlement of their region. Then have them search to see if any treaty agreements between the tribes and the U.S. were made. Have students present their findings to the class for discussion on how their research compares with that of the Cherokee experience.
•Have students choose a successful local business to research its founding and operation, and compare the information found with the origins of both the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company and the J. C. Penney Company. Ask students to think if it is important to preserve buildings associated with these businesses.
•Have students research how their community's response to the Cold War fit into the larger national defense preparedness of the period.
•In small groups, have students select and visit a local organization--museum, hospital, university, library, or social club--that receives substantial philanthropic gifts. Each group should interview someone from the organization and try to find answers to a specific list of questions. Have the groups share their reports with the class and then discuss how their community as a whole benefits from philanthropic gifts.
•Ask students to examine their local community for evidence of diverse cultural groups and ask them to consider what happens when two cultural groups live side by side.
•Take students on a walking tour of a nearby ethnic neighborhood or commercial area with sketch pads and cameras in order to record architectural details; have students point out differences between their local surroundings and the Vieux Carré.
•Have students research whether any group in their community has ever been discriminated against out of fear and, if so, to interview someone who was treated unfairly. Have students write an essay about one of the situations they uncovered and to design a memorial if they think the conflict deserves memorialization.
•Have students, alone or in groups, select a local memorial and identify the person being memorialized, investigate the memorial, photograph or make a drawing of the memorial, and present a report to the class.
•In groups, have students research the origins of their town and the occupational history of it in 1850, 1880, and 1930. Ask each group to share the information it has found in a class presentation that may include graphs and charts, and as a class discuss the changes over time.
•Have students conduct research to discover local artists who depict images of their region’s landscape. Have students make short presentations about the artist or artists studied. Then have the class discuss what is artistically unique about your region and how the artists were inspired by that uniqueness.
•Have students find industries dependent on other industries in their community, and ask them if foreign trade creates a similar kind of interdependence. Have them look for current or former businesses whose success or failure resulted from the growth or decline of another industry, and have them write a paper comparing the development of their community with that of Minneapolis.
•In groups, have students research the economic base of their community, its history, and how and why it has changed or stayed the same over time. Each groups should present their research in short written or oral reports or create displays.
•Have students determine what ethnic/religious groups settled in their community. In teams, have students research one of the groups; look for the impact their group has had on the community's food, social customs, architecture, etc.; and report back to the class..
Have students research local relief agencies and present their findings. Compare local issues with those within the international community and look into potential projects in which students might become involved for the betterment of their community.
•Working in groups, have students research a local effort to commemorate an important person or event in their own community. Have students design an exhibit to present their group's findings and post all the exhibits for others to see.
•Divide students into three groups and have one group research the community's origins, one its ethnic groups, and one available educational and recreational opportunities. After students summarize their findings, discuss the similarities and differences between the history of their community and Ybor City.
TCP
![[Graphic] NPS Arrowhead with link to Parknet](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081103224126im_/http://www.nps.gov/images/parknet.gif "[Graphic] NPS Arrowhead with link to Parknet")