Education Blog
New resources and ideas are added monthly
Find videos, activities and lesson plans to nurture curiosity and spark the discovery of history! This content can be used in the classroom or at home to keep students engaged and active. You can conveniently browse them by topic and/or grade level.
Ohio Village Virtual Field Trip is an interactive online experience that explores life during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Through this virtual field trip students help different Ohio Village characters achieve their mission. Characters in the experience represent people of different backgrounds and lived experiences of the time.
Learn more about dermestid, or flesh-eating beetles, from our curator Dave, and see how these insects help clean animal bones for display or study.
Join archaeologist Krista to learn about Ohio’s historic cemeteries and gravestones! Learn how to read a gravestone for information about the person buried there, and find out where you can visit a historic cemetery near you. Interested in checking out a cemetery near you? Pay close attention to Krista’s instructions on using the “mirror effect” to read the carvings on a worn or weathered stone. Then find an historic cemetery near you to investigate some headstones!
Learn about the history and chemistry of Soda Bread!
Ohio has a rich history stretching back thousands of years, and it is all in your backyard! Pick an Ohio Historical Marker about a historical person, place or event in your county and be ready to learn more about what makes Ohio so historic!
Learn about the variety of ways museums tell stories through exhibits. Discover the different tools exhibit designers use to tell stories as you visit a few exhibits at the Ohio History Center. Then check out the activity Using Dioramas to Tell Stories to guide you as you make your own diorama.
Join Dave, a natural history curator, and learn all about the giant animals that roamed Ohio during the Ice Age. Discover how these animals lived, and hear about a few ways our natural history curators learn information about these extinct animals, like from the fossils they left behind!
This crossword is all about John Glenn’s space travels. Once you complete it, check the Answer Key.
Learn the captivating story of John Parker. Parker, a former enslaved person, bought his freedom and settled in Ripley, Ohio, where he was a business owner, as well as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Join Mr. Parker as he shares stories of his time in slavery as well as his clandestine adventures.
Make connections between Ohio’s industrialization and World War I, including immigration and the role of corporations in the war effort!
This lesson plan was written by Paul LaRue. A retired thirty-year high school social studies teacher, Paul has received numerous state and national teaching awards. He serves as a member of the Ohio World War I Centennial Committee.
Ohio Village Virtual Field Trip is an interactive online experience that explores life during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Through this virtual field trip students help different Ohio Village characters achieve their mission. Characters in the experience represent people of different backgrounds and lived experiences of the time.
New resources and ideas are added monthly
Special thanks to our guest contributors at the Ohio Holocaust and Genocide Memorial and Education Commission (OHGMEC) for writing this month's blog on teaching Genocide Awareness Month. Genocide Awareness Month is observed annually in April to raise awareness about genocide, honor victims, and promote prevention efforts. Throughout this month, various organizations, educational institutions, and communities […]
PBL gives students the opportunity to “gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge.”[1] What truly makes PBL special is that it taps into student inquiry and sparks genuine interest and discovery in the topics we cover […]
The 2024 theme of Black History Month in the United States is “African Americans and the Arts,” and, in that spirit, this month’s Resource Roundup discusses the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center’s (NAAMCC) influence on the art world. Be sure to read on for resources on teaching art in the classroom and a list […]
One of the biggest goals in elementary classrooms is to teach students to read. Encompassed in this one goal are so many important skills (phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, phonics, decoding, vocabulary, background knowledge, language acquisition, comprehension skills) that each take time to teach. It is easy to feel like there is not enough time in […]
“I long to hear that you have declared an independency—and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors.” This oft quoted text comes from a […]
This writer was traveling in Iceland last week and stopped by Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. When I chatted with their staff and told them I worked as a historian in Ohio, they immediately responded “Oh, you just got a new World Heritage site last month! Congratulations!” News travels fast if, even […]