| Taos Pueblo, Elfreth's Alley, Hancock Shaker Village, Harrisville Historic District, and Little Tokyo Historic District |
- All the sites listed above reflect the way America's diverse people lived and worked in the past. Ask a local historian to share pictures or actual items used in and around homes during an earlier period in your local community's history. Provide clues and let the children guess what the item is and how it works. [2-6+: history, social studies]
- Discuss the term community. What made each of the landmark communities unique? Which ones still exist? Compare the landmark communities with communities today. Ask the students whether their own communities are associated with any particular kind of work? Do people still live close to where they work and shop? Why have any of these changes occurred? What are the consequences of these changes? [3-8+: social studies, history]
- Create a video about living in your community today and share with pen pals in another country. [4-9+: art, geography, music, social studies]
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| Michter's (Bomberger's) Distillery, U.S. Capital, Octagon House, Eastern State Penitentiary, Baltimore (Phoenix) Shot Tower, Berea College (Lincoln Hall), and Little Tokyo |
- Explain that National Historic Landmarks are a record of human events and behaviors. As a result, they reflect both positive and negative aspects of our past. With this in mind, probe the positive, neutral, and negative facets of the sites noted above. Identify local landmarks that symbolize a negative historical event or behavior. Have students explore why we preserve the nation's unhappy memories. What would happen if we deleted controversial or negative events? Debate whether we have learned from our past. [4-8+: history, social studies]
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| Michter's (Bomberger's) Distillery
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- Invite an expert (e.g. health care worker, social worker, police official) to visit and discuss the positive and negative aspects of alcohol and drugs in homes and communities. Why have most cultures used at least one form of these substances? When is drinking alcohol bad? Is the use of prescribed drugs always good? [K-12: health, social studies]
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| Eastern State Penitentiary
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- Ask a representative of the criminal justice system (i.e., lawyer, judge, parole officer) to discuss what happens to convicted lawbreakers today. How has punishment changed over time in our nation? Is treatment more or less humane? Examine alternatives to jail such as capital punishment, electronically monitored home detention programs, work release, and boot camps? [4-9+: government, history, social studies]
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| Berea College (Lincoln Hall)
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- Visit a senior citizen center in your community and discuss the seniors' experiences attending school. Explore how factors such as age, race, gender, geography, financial resources and values influenced their education. Who attended school and for how long? How did students get to school? What did they learn? [2-6+: history, geography, social studies]
- Create a time capsule that presents the student's present day educational experiences and donate it to a local museum. [K-8+: art, history, social studies, writing]
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