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Unit Plans

These Unit Plans correlate with TEKS social studies knowledge and skills for 4th- and 7th-grade Texas History. Lessons incorporate primary source materials based on archeological and historical investigations around the state. All were written by Education Consultant Dr. Mary S. Black (except where noted), former classroom teacher and Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education at The University of Texas at Austin.


black and white illustration of person and dog running in front of a brush shelter with a woman working and a bunch of pots
An artist's depiction of a prehistoric campsite in east-central Texas, some 600 to 800 years ago. Drawing by Ellen Atha, courtesy of Prewitt and Associates.

Prehistoric Life in the Oak Woodlands

This unit plan for 4th- and 7th-grade students contains lessons and activities about the prehistoric people who lived in East-Central Texas about 600 to 800 years ago. Lessons focus on their economy, including pottery, weaponry, and how they adapted to and modified their environment. Other lessons incorporate archeological and geographical techniques, including making a topographic map and understanding environmental regions and landforms. The unit includes five lessons and is provided courtesy of Prewitt and Associates, Inc., and Northwestern Resources Co.


black and white photo of a young man in a brimmed hat holding a long tool in a cotton field
Weeding rows of cotton near El Paso along U.S. 80. Photo courtesy of TxDOT and the Institute of Texan Cultures, University of Texas at San Antonio.

Living on a Cotton Farm: Mexican American Life in Texas

This five-day unit plan contains bilingual lessons about twentieth century Mexican-American cotton farming experiences in Texas, based on the Osborn Tenant Farm. Topics cover immigration, the twentieth century economy, sharecropping, farm houses, and children's activities. Among the several skills covered are map making and graphing. Teachers have the permission of TBH also to print out any of the images from the main Osborn exhibit for classroom use (note: if printing the entire page, set paper orientation to landscape). This unit plan was sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation.

black and white photograph of a couple, a formal portrait
Rubin and Elizabeth Hancock were among the first generation of freed slaves to purchase and farm their own land in Travis County. Photograph courtesy of Lillian Robinson.



Piecing Together History: A Turn of the Century African-American Farmstead

This unit plan contains seven lessons, four transparencies, a culminating project, and grading rubrics. Students use primary sources to learn about historical archeology and African American life at the turn of the twentieth century in Texas. The unit is suitable for 7th-grade Texas history. Teachers also may print out the main TBH exhibit of the Rubin Hancock farmstead to use in the classroom. This unit plan was sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation.


Dr. Dirt's Archeology Lab

Below are a set of lesson plans that simulate some of the analysis techniques archeologists use in the laboratory. These hands-on lessons use multiple intelligences and let kids practice critical thinking skills.


painting, aerial oblique angle, of a log cabin with people sitting on the porch and working in the yard
The Ransom and Sarah Williams farmstead was home to one African American family from 1871 to 1905, during the tumultuous years of Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era. Painting by Frank Weir.

Ransom and Sarah Williams Farmstead

The Ransom and Sarah Williams Farmstead is an excellent springboard for teaching about life for African-Americans after Emancipation. The multi-part units below cover a variety of issues ranging from making a living as freedmen to becoming legally identifiable citizens. Each unit can also be taught individually. Read about each lesson plan here. These lessons were written by Carol Schlenk and Laine Liebick.