University of Texas at Austin 
College of Liberal Arts Teacher's Guide to Texas Beyond History
Teaching about Texas Indians? Early Explorers? European settlers? African American freedmen? Here's a handy list of lessons and interactive student activities on Texas Beyond History that correspond to these topics. And for geography, look below for links to virtual field trips and galleries of natural resources on TBH. The guide provides guidance for level (elementary and secondary) but many lessons can be adapted to work for both.
E = Elementary grade level, S = Secondary grade level
Texas Geography
All exhibits on Texas Beyond History have numerous color photos showing landscapes and environmental contexts across the state. In addition, see these specific resources:
| Texas’ Natural Resources: Galleries of Plants, Animals, and Rocks and Minerals | |
|---|---|
| South Texas | South Texas Plains: Nature's Harvest |
| Central and Southwest Texas | Plateaus and Canyonlands: Nature's Harvest |
| Trans Pecos Mountains and Basins | Trans Pecos Mountains and Basins: Nature's Harvest |
| Coastal Prairies and Marshlands | Coastal Prairies and Marshlands: Nature's Harvest |
| Take a Virtual Field Trip to See Texas Landscapes and Rivers | |
|---|---|
| South Texas Plains | Lay of the Land |
| Central and Southwest Texas Plateaus and Canyonlands | Lay of the Land |
| Trans Pecos Mountains and Basins | Lay of the Land |
| Coastal Prairies and Marshlands | Lay of the Land |
| Pineywoods (East Texas) | Aldridge Sawmill: The Forests of East Texas |
| Lower Pecos Canyonlands (Southwest Texas) |
Hinds Cave: Natural Setting
Lower Pecos Canyonlands: Natural World |
| Central Texas |
Kincaid Shelter: The Site and its Natural Setting
Richard Beene: Natural Setting |
| Central North Texas | Camp Bowie: The Environment, Past and Present |
| Learn about How Rivers Change Landscapes over Time | |
|---|---|
| Stratification in Action | Richard Beene: Digging Through Layers of Time |
Texas Indians (prehistoric)
| Lesson Plan | Elementary or Secondary | Subject & Skills | Related Interactive | Related Exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porch Talk: A Conversation About Archaeology in the Texas Panhandle | S | social studies | Hanks' House Coloring Sheet | Plains Villagers of the Texas Panhandle |
| Comparing Two Cultures | E S | science, writing | Detectives Into the Past: Ancient Diet | Hinds Cave |
| What's Cookin' at Honey Creek | E | geography, sequencing | Honey Creek | |
| Stratigraphy: Layers of Time | S | earth science, sequencing | Digging Through Layers of Time | Richard Beene |
| Slow Rot or Not | E S | scientific method, environment | Stepping Back in Time | Granado Cave |
| Kincaid Creatures | E S | earth science, math | Time Travel to an Ancient Rockshelter | Kincaid Shelter |
| Making a Caddo Circle Book | E S | writing, drawing, math | World of the Caddo | Tejas: Life and Times of the Caddo |
Texas Indians (historic)
| Lesson Plan | Elementary or Secondary | Subject & Skills | Related Interactive | Related Exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drawing Our Lives: Plains Indian Ledger Art | E | writing, drawing | The Schild Ledger Book | |
| Whose Buffalo? | S | writing, drawing, geographpy | How Many Ways Can You Use A Buffalo? | Red River War |
Early Spanish
| Lesson Plan | Elementary or Secondary | Subject & Skills | Related Interactive | Related Exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immigration to Texas in the 18th Century: Canary Islanders | S | Texas, American, or World History, writing | John William and María Jesusa Curbelo-Delgado Smith House | |
| Digging Deeper: Mission San Saba | S | writing, drawing, charts | Mission San Saba | |
| Cabeza de Vaca Meets the Coahuiltecans | E S | mapping, writing, drawing | Through the Eyes of an Explorer | Learning from Cabeza de Vaca |
| El Paso and the Oldest Mission in Texas | S | geography, research | Mapping the Past in the El Paso Valley | El Paso Missions |
Early French
| Lesson Plan | Elementary or Secondary | Subject & Skills | Related Interactive | Related Exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Death on Board La Belle | E S | science, math | Clues From the Bones | La Belle Shipwreck |
| The French in Texas | E | research, writing | La Belle Shipwreck | |
| Ft. St. Louis: Grading a Settlement and an Explorer | S | research, writing | Ft. St. Louis: La Salle in South Texas |
African Americans
| Lesson Plan | Elementary or Secondary | Subject & Skills | Related Interactive | Related Exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piecing Together History | S | mapping, writing | Rubin Hancock Farmstead | |
| Life on an African American Farm | E | art, charts, drawing, drama | Life After Slavery | Ransom & Sarah Williams Farmstead |
| Life in Texas Freedom Colonies | S | geography, charts, primary research | Ransom & Sarah Williams Farmstead | |
| Citizenship After Slavery | S | government, primary research | Ransom & Sarah Williams Farmstead | |
| Bottles, Pins, and Horseshoes: Analyzing Artifacts From the Ransom Williams Farmstead Using Bloom’s Taxonomy | S | Bloom's Taxonomy | Ransom & Sarah Williams Farmstead |
Mexican-Americans
| Lesson Plan | Elementary or Secondary | Subject & Skills | Related Interactive | Related Exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immigration to Texas in the 18th Century: Canary Islanders | S | Texas, American, or World History, writing | John William and María Jesusa Curbelo-Delgado Smith House | |
| Living on A Cotton Farm | E S | geography, economics | Osborne Farm |
Civil War & Reconstruction
| Lesson Plan | Elementary or Secondary | Subject & Skills | Related Interactive | Related Exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writing Protest Songs | S | research, writing, music | Ransom & Sarah Williams Farmstead | |
| Life on an African American Farm | X | art, charts, drawing, drama | Life After Slavery | Ransom & Sarah Williams Farmstead |
| Life in Texas Freedom Colonies | S | geography, charts, research | Ransom & Sarah Williams Farmstead | |
| After Slavery: Exercising the Rights of Citizenship in 19th-Century Texas | S | government, research | Ransom & Sarah Williams Farmstead |
Texas Frontier
| Lesson Plan | Elementary or Secondary | Subject & Skills | Related Interactive | Related Exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Day in the Life | E | research, writing | Ft. Griffin and the Flat | Texas Frontier Forts |
| Whose Business? | E | geography, economics | Ft. Griffin and the Flat | Ft. Griffin |
| Moving West With the Forts | S | geography, mapping | U.S. Army on the Texas Frontier | |
| Timeline for the Western Texas Frontier | E S | sequencing, drawing | Texas Frontier Timeline | |
| Two Ways of Life | sequencing, cause and effect | Passing of the Indian Era | ||
| Whose Buffalo? | S | writing, drawing | Red River War |
20th Century
| Lesson Plan | Elementary or Secondary | Subject & Skills | Related Interactive | Related Exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teaching about Logging & Sawmills | S | geography, math, economics | Aldridge Sawmill | |
| Living on a Cotton Farm | E S | geography, economics | Osborne Farm |