San Diego Museum of Man - Education - Free Lesson Plans for Teachers

	Lesson Plans

Looking for Information? Try this Guide to the Museum's Web Site

Free Lesson Plans from the
San Diego Museum of Man

The Museum of Man has developed the following lesson plans to assist in the teaching of anthropology. Recommended grade levels are shown next to individual lesson plans. Most can be readily adapted for younger or older students.

To view and print the San Diego Museum of Man Lesson Plans, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. This is a free program you can download from the Adobe Website if needed. To download Adobe Acrobat Reader and for complete installation instructions, click on the link below.

Download Acrobat Reader now for free!

The following lesson plans are available free to teachers for classroom use.

NEW! THE ANTHROPOLOGIST'S JOURNAL SERIES
We are pleased to announce Language Arts and Anthropology: A Program for Enhancing English Literacy, featuring a new series of Anthropologist's Journals available here for free download. The content and educational activities included in Language Arts and Anthropology were developed by the Education Department of the San Diego Museum of Man and funded with a grant from the De Falco Family Foundation, Gig Harbor, Washington, with additional support from the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and the County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program. The Anthropologist's Journal series includes the following titles:

     Mummification and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt.

     Walk This Way: Why Humans Walk on Two Legs

     Shawee: A Kumeyaay Meal

     Maya Kings and Queens: Rituals and Responsibilities

HUMAN EVOLUTION
Lesson plans on human evolution are available at www.abouthumanevolution.net, the Museum's education web site for the Footsteps Through Time: Four Million Years of Human Evolution exhibit.

     Bipedal Locomotion – Grades 5-8

     You Can't Stop Progress – Grades 7-9

ARCHAEOLOGY
The first in our series of lesson plans for Archaeology introduces the concepts of archaeological mapping. In two new lessons, students learn about the importance of Mortuary Archaeology and the information that graves and human remains can provide to archaeologists, and they study the scientific technique of radiocarbon dating and its use in archaeology.

     The Importance of Site Maps in Archaeology – Grades 5-7

     Mortuary Archaeology – Grades 6 and above

     Radiocarbon Dating and the Copper Age – Grades 8-12

ANCIENT EGYPT
A new lesson plan for students interested in Egypt

     Learn how to play the ancient Egyptian game of Senet

THE ANCIENT MAYA
Lesson plans on Ancient Mayan Civilization explore factors contributing to the collapse of Classic Maya civilization, mathematical concepts of the Maya, and Maya counting and calendars.

     Collapse of the Maya Civilization – Grades 6-8

     Maya Math: From Zero to Nineteen – Grades 6-8

     Maya Math: Addition and Subtraction – Grades 6-8

ANCIENT SOUTH AMERICA
In these lesson plans, students learn about the art of three Peruvian cultures: the Moche, the Nazca, and the Inca, and what art can tell us about culture, or they can learn about the Inca government and the methods they used to manage their empire.

     The Art of Ancient Peru – Grades 3-6

     The Inca: Creation of an Empire – Grades 7 and above

INUIT
Developed in conjunction with the Museum exhibit Inuit: People of the Midnight Sun (September 2003 – September 2004), the following lesson plans explore the culture and history of the Inuit, and the environmental conditions of the Arctic.

     Geography and Ecology of the Inuit – Grades 3-6

CONTACT US
Teachers, the Museum of Man Education Department is interested in your feedback. If you have questions or comments about any of the above lesson plans, or suggestions for new lesson plan topics to add to this website, please email the Education Department.