MONUMENTAL MASS MARKETING
LESSON B
LEARNING FROM
HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS
Subject: Social Studies, US History 1850-Present
Grade Level: Secondary School
Duration: 2 hours
Alignments: Pennsylvania Standards Aligned System
8.2. Pennsylvania History
8.2.U.B. – Historical Documents, Artifacts, and Places (PA)
8.2.U.C. – Impact of Continuity and Change on PA History
Objective: Students will recognize popular motifs and symbols, identify continuity and change, evaluate historic documents and places, and analyze artifacts.
Essential Question: How does continuity and change within Pennsylvania history influence your community today?
Big Idea
The history of the Commonwealth continues to influence Pennsylvanians today, and has impacted the United States and the rest of the world.
Concepts
Textual evidence, material artifacts, the built environment, and historic sites are central to understanding the history of Pennsylvania.
Long-term continuities and discontinuities in the structures of Pennsylvania society provide vital contributions to contemporary issues. Belief systems and religion, commerce and industry, innovations, settlement patters, social organizations, transportation and trade, and equality are examples of continuity and change.
Vocabulary
Artifact – an object produced or shaped by human craft
Historic site – a place with cultural heritage value
Continuity – the continuation of a cycle over time
Innovation – a new method, idea, or device
Competencies
Analyze a primary source for accuracy and bias and connect it to a time and place in Pennsylvania.
Apply the theme of continuity and change in Pennsylvania history and relate the benefits and drawbacks of your example.
Suggested Instructional Procedure
Begin by showing students an image of a Vermont Marble Company memorial. Ask students to describe the appearance of the memorial (such as its shape, size, symbols, or inscriptions) and what they think could be learned about an individual person from the appearance of their memorial.
Instruct students to read the “Visual Glossary” and “Branch Offices” sections of the “Monumental Mass Marketing” website. Take students to a nearby cemetery and have them complete Worksheet B.
Conclude with a discussion about the students’ impression of the cemetery. Ask them to share the expectations they had before the activity and if those expectations matched their experience at the site.