This lesson plan focuses on the changes in technology used in agriculture between 1950 and 1980 on North Carolina farms and a look at what technological advances affect agriculture today. It asks students to use primary source photographs and videos from farm operations during these time periods to examine how farming techniques changed due to mechanization.

In this lesson, students examine how various government policies, such as rationing and limited wage increases,impacted Americans’ daily lives during World War II. By examining various government agencies and their war time policies, students will gain insight into how and why the government encroached upon people’s daily lives during the War. Students will apply what they have learned throughout the lesson by creating their own World War II advertising campaign informing Americans how they can contribute to the war effort.

In this series of three lessons, the students examine transportation and its impact on our nation (and vice versa) since the United States declared its independence in 1776. Lesson 1 focuses on improvements in transportation during the 19th century, particularly the development of a national rail system, to show how invention, innovation and infrastructure encouraged western expansion and economic growth. Lesson 2 moves on to the 20th century focusing on the development of auto transport and aviation. The impact on communities and world trade, for both good and bad, is examined. Lesson 3 calls upon the students to create a class time line of transportation milestones; the time line will help the students more clearly understand the factors, especially the economic incentives, that have played a key role in what has been called the 'Transportation Revolution.'

In this lesson, students learn about nationalism in the U.S. including the improvements in transportation and the westward movement that resulted.

In this activity, students use a story map to follow the historic route of the Buncombe Turnpike and learn more about its economic and cultural impact on western North Carolina. Students will also see how the landscape has transformed in the nearly 200 years since the creation of the Turnpike.

Much of the fighting during World War I was done from the trenches, a grueling and horrific experience for soldiers. In this lesson, students will participate in an experiential activity based ontrench warfare and have their interest peaked regarding this period of history with the macabre yet realistic details of war life. Students will further learn about World War I though examination of the poem “The Rear‐Guard” by Siegfried Sassoon.

Students will simulate the experiences of an immigrant's passage to and arrival in America during the turn of the century, relating these experiences to Emma Lazarus's poem The New Colossus. Students will also explore the process to become a naturalized citizen and learn about the
different ethnic groups immigrating to America.

The nation continued to grow in size and wealth, each region experiencing its own different kind of economic growth which caused them to develop differently. Citizens differed across regions in their ideas of political, economic, and social progress. For the success of the growing nation, Americans throughout the country tried to compromise on their disagreements. Unfortunately, no amount of compromise could minimize the harsh growing pains the nation was about to experience.

Take a virtual field trip to Wright Brothers National Memorial! Visit the camp buildings, the first flight boulder, and the Wright Brothers Monument as you learn more about Wilbur and Orville's journey to the first successful flight in human history.

See the following links for virtual field trip handouts:

3-5th grade: https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/learn/education/upload/201007_Virtual-Field-Trip-Worksheet_Grades-3-5.docx

6-8th grade: https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/learn/education/upload/201007_Virtual-Field-Trip-WorkSheet_Grades-6-8.docx

This inquiry prompts students to investigate the factors, conditions, and conflicts related to westward expansion in the United States before the Civil War. In the inquiry, students wrestle with various economic, geographic, and social ideas as they consider the value of the push westward.

This interactive timeline highlights the stories of the women of Vance Birthplace in the mountains of North Carolina. From prehistory to the twentieth century, students can explore each woman's experience of life in the Reems Creek Valley through videos, primary and secondary sources, and graphics.

In this lesson, students examine primary sources from Wilson Library’s online exhibit, “Sour Stomachs and Galloping Headaches,” to form new understandings and theories about the common ailments and epidemics our ancestors faced, as well as the medical “cures” they used to treat their illnesses. Students will analyze and evaluate the various primary sources in the exhibit via a Historical Scene Investigation (“HSI”) activity, which leads students through an investigative process of similar to what crime scene investigators do when they examine evidence from a crime scene and formulate theories about what happened. In this HIS, students will first examine the evidence by filling out case reports that ask them to evaluate the primary resources from the website. Then, they will attempt to diagnose different patient illnesses and prescribe different cures to treat these patients based on what they uncovered in their case reports.