Grade Level: Elementary School

Discipline: Arts and Humanities; Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; Geography; History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760

In this elementary-level lesson students will read excerpts from two publications directed at prospective European immigrants to 18th century Pennsylvania-one written by German immigrant Gottlieb Mittelberger and the other by Benjamin Franklin. Through a directed reading activity, students will compare, contrast, and evaluate the writings. Finally, students will take the persona of a mid-eighteenth century German immigrant and write a letter to a cousin in Germany explaining which of the two authors is more convincing.

Grade Level: High School

Discipline: Arts and Humanities; Civics and Government; History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800; Expansion and Reform - 1801-1855

In 1688 Pennsylvania Quakers were credited with making the first formal protest against slavery. However, support for abolition in Pennsylvania was not universally strong over the next 150 years. In this lesson, students will trace the struggle for abolition from the original Quaker request to the burning of Pennsylvania Hall.

Grade Level: Middle School

Discipline: Geography; History; Science and Technology; Mathematics

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760

Students will evaluate the 1737 Walking Purchase in terms of legitimacy and its effect on Indian relations in early Pennsylvania. They will then simulate the purchase by doing their own Walking Purchase and analyze the effect it would have on their community today.

Grade Level: Middle School

Discipline: Arts and Humanities; Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; Geography; History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800; Post-WWII Pennsylvania - 1946-1974; Contemporary Pennsylvania - 1975 to Present

In this middle-level lesson students will learn about the famous Seneca chief Cornplanter and the tract of land which he was granted "in perpetuity" as a gift from the United States government for his helpful negotiation skills. 10,000 acres of this land was flooded when the Kinzua Dam was created in the 1960s as a flood control measure. As a class, students will use primary source material and logical argument to debate this controversial land/water rights issue from the perspective of both the United States Government and the Seneca.

Grade Level: Elementary School

Discipline: History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760

Students will research Penn's model for the government of Pennsylvania. Through assessment of this framework, students will create a class constitution and working government.

Grade Level: Middle School

Discipline: History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800; Expansion and Reform - 1801-1855

Students will look at daily life in three religious communities in Pennsylvania that flourished in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries: the Ephrata Cloister, Bethlehem, and Harmony. They will examine primary sources such as Conrad Beissel's Rules of the Solitary Life, three memoirs written by Moravian women, the 1766 town plan of Bethlehem, plus the Articles of Association of the Harmonists as well as written reports on the Harmonist Society by members of the community and visitors. Through an examination of daily life in these communities we learn that William Penn's "Holy Experiment" had taken hold in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The lure of religious freedom initially attracted dissidents who were able to follow their dream by creating their own religious settlements.

Grade Level: Middle School

Discipline: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; Geography; History; Science and Technology

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800; Expansion and Reform - 1801-1855; Civil War and Reconstruction - 1856-1876

This middle-school lesson plan will use images, natural resource maps, and a blast furnace computer animation to answer the question posed in the lesson title. Students will learn about the natural resources needed to make iron, the process of smelting iron, as well as several economic factors (population, transportation) influencing the development and growth of the iron industry in Pennsylvania.

Grade Level: Elementary School

Discipline: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; History; Science and Technology

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760

In this elementary level lesson students will learn about William Rittenhouse, the first paper maker in the American colonies, through analysis of several poems written about his mill during his lifetime. Then students will make their own paper and compare and contrast the classroom papermaking method with colonial papermaking techniques.

Grade Level: Elementary School

Discipline: Ecology and Environment; Economics; Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; History; Science and Technology

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800

In this elementary level lesson, students will explore the purpose and importance of a gristmill to early Pennsylvanians. The procedures for creating flour will be reviewed and the importance of mills will be demonstrated through the order of General George Washington, Commander of the Continental Army, to remove grist millstones in proximity to the British troops. During the American Revolution steps had to be taken to deprive the enemy of potential supplies. Control of local resources by both the British and Continental armies was an economic battle within the larger military conflict.

Grade Level: Elementary School

Discipline: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; Geography; History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800

In this lesson, students will learn that the war occurred because of a struggle for control of the Ohio Valley by the British, French, and Indians. Students will trace the route of George Washington from Virginia to Ft. Le Boeuf as he delivers the message from Governor Dinwiddie to ask the French to leave. They will read and transcribe excerpts from his journal, identify problems encountered, and locate the places referenced on the map. Students will participate in a point-of-view activity to learn about the different goals for each group.

Grade Level: Middle School

Discipline: History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; Civil War and Reconstruction - 1856-1876; The Emergence of Modern Pennsylvania - 1901-1928

In 1945 Pete Gray played in 77 games for the St. Louis Browns. He collected 51 hits, 8 for extra bases, and compiled a .218 batting average. As an outfielder, he made 162 put-outs, 3 assists, and 7 errors for a .959 fielding average. These statistics are not that impressive. What they do not tell us, though, is that Gray was the first one-armed man ever to play major league baseball. Students will examine Pete Gray's major league career by studying primary source quotations and the statistics he compiled during his one season with the Browns. The class will be divided into two groups: one will defend the credibility of Gray's career; the other will try to prove that he did not belong in the major leagues. After being given time to gather evidence for their respective cases, the two teams will discuss the issue: "Did Pete Gray belong in the major leagues?"

Grade Level: Elementary School

Discipline: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; Geography; History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800

In this elementary lesson, students will discover the captivity narrative and learn three different ways to read it: for information (of the different cultures), for fun (the plot and suspense), and to understand the time period in which it was written. Students will apply these reading skills to excerpts from the story of Mary Jemison, a young girl living in the Pennsylvania frontier who was captured by Native Americans. Finally, they will contemplate Mary's choice to continue living among the Native Americans or to return her original culture.

Grade Level: Elementary School

Discipline: Arts and Humanities; Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800

The Moravian Communities were unique in colonial America. Unlike the non-religious communities which usually began as economic centers with mills and waterways, this religious community focused on a setting in which to sustain their beliefs and further the mission work. Their highly organized town plan provided a degree of equality for both the women and men by establishing living arrangements according to age, gender and marital status. Bethlehem is one example of Moravian organization for community living known as the "choir" structure in a larger plan called "The General Economy." Students will analyze the differences between this religious community and other non-religious communities as they study town plan documents and excerpts from the Bethlehem Diary.

Grade Level: High School

Discipline: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; History; Mathematics

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800; Expansion and Reform - 1801-1855; Civil War and Reconstruction - 1856-1876; Development of the Industrial Pennsylvania - 1877-1900

In this upper-level lesson students will identify key concepts of the industrial revolution and use those concepts to analyze the industrial advancement of Pennsylvania's iron industry. By completing a case study of iron furnaces from two different time periods and analyzing images of the iron industry, students will be able to identify the industrialization process at work.

Grade Level: High School

Discipline: Geography; History

Historical Period: Worlds Meeting-Beginnings to 1600; Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800; Expansion and Reform - 1801-1855; Civil War and Reconstruction - 1856-1876; Development of the Industrial Pennsylvania - 1877-1900; The Emergence of Modern Pennsylvania - 1901-1928; The Great Depression and World War II - 1929-1945; Post-WWII Pennsylvania - 1946-1974; Contemporary Pennsylvania - 1975 to Present

Students will discover that Native American paths were the blueprints for modern transportation routes throughout Pennsylvania, and in particular, in crossing the Allegheny Mountains. They will analyze a series of maps to determine geographic barriers associated with crossing the mountains and will establish how Native Americans and later travelers overcame these barriers. Journal entries from a traveler will be read and analyzed to provide a first hand account of what it was like to travel across the Allegheny Mountains in the early 1800s. A historical overview of transportation will be provided and students will discover how geographic features provided the foundation for Native American paths, as well as modern transportation routes.

Grade Level: High School

Discipline: History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760

William Penn's "Holy Experiment" established a tradition of tolerance that would become more widespread in America after the American Revolution. In this lesson students will compare the founding of Pennsylvania with the founding of New England and analyze some of the effects of William Penn's vision.

Grade Level: High School

Discipline: History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800

Students will learn the background of the French and Indian War in Western Pennsylvania. Through the examination of the travels of George Washington to the Western Pennsylvania area in the years 1753-1754, students will uncover the events that led up to the outbreak of war in North America. Furthermore, students will use primary documents to comprehend actions that Washington undertook in critical situations (Jumonville Affair), and to understand how different viewpoints on an event can have an impact far beyond the immediate occurrence of the act. Students will be able to discuss and understand the events surrounding Washington's trip to Ft. LeBoeuf and the conflicting claims of ownership between France and England to the Ohio Country, as well as the Jumonville Affair.

Grade Level: Middle School

Discipline: Arts and Humanities; Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800; Contemporary Pennsylvania - 1975 to Present

In this middle-level lesson, students will analyze three different artists" renditions of William Penn's treaty with the Native Americans. Afterward, they will compare and contrast the three artists" use of color, symbolism, and images and discuss how time and history can influence individuals" perceptions of events.

Grade Level: High School

Discipline: Civics and Government; Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800; Contemporary Pennsylvania - 1975 to Present

In this lesson high school students are challenged to think about the roots of their education and how historical events can shape educational policies both in past and present. Students look at the original writings of two early influential educators in our nation, both hailing from Pennsylvania–Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Benjamin Rush. They compare these men's thoughts about education (what to teach, whom to teach, discipline, diet, role of religion, etc.), discuss the historical events which may have influenced those thoughts, and complete an assignment which shows an understanding not only of these men's thoughts, but also incorporates their own thoughts about the educational topic.

Grade Level: Elementary School

Discipline: Arts and Humanities; Economics; Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; Geography; History

Historical Period: Colonization and Settlement - 1601-1760; New Nation - 1761-1800; Expansion and Reform - 1801-1855

In this elementary lesson students will explore the work and play of the men who lived on an iron plantation. They will learn about the duties of an ironmaster, founder, collier, teamster, and miner and imagine some of their social life on a plantation.