58 Lesson Plans from Archives and Museums for Ontario Educators
Archives and museums not only preserve knowledge — they support learning.
For example, Digital Archive Ontario — our database of 170,000+ historical items from Toronto Public Library — has sets of primary sources for educators (e.g. The War of 1812, Prohibition in Ontario, Canadian WWI Posters, Canadian WWII Posters).
Below are online lesson plans and educational activities from institutions across Ontario.
The resources cover a variety of subjects for K to 12. Many focus on social studies, with primary sources (firsthand accounts) of the history of Ontario and Canada. Other subjects include science, visual arts and music.
All free. No sign ins or library card needed.
Archives of Ontario
The province's archive offers lesson plans and more opened-ended "lesson resource kits" on topics related to Ontario, with introductions about the role of archives. (Learn more.)
Elementary school
Middle school
- French Ontario in the 17th and 18th Centuries [PDF] (Grade 7)
- Fur Trade and Exploration [PDF] (Grade 7)
- Travels with Elizabeth Simcoe [PDF] (Grade 7)
- The War of 1812 [PDF] (Grade 7)
- The War of 1812: Interpreting Evidence [PDF] (Grade 7)
- The War of 1812: Should I Stay or Should I Go? [PDF] (Grade 7)
- The War of 1812: Who Has the Advantage? [PDF] (Grade 7)
- Tweeting the War of 1812 [PDF] (Grade 7)
- Anne Langton: Gentlewoman, Pioneer Settler and Artist [PDF] (Grade 7)
- Enslaved Africans in Upper Canada [PDF] (Grade 8)
- Black Canadian Migration Experiences [PDF] (Grade 8)
- Family Ties: Ontario at the Time of Confederation [PDF] (Grade 8)
- The American Civil War and Fenian Raids of the 1860s [PDF] (Grade 8)
- Five Women and Their Diaries [PDF] (Grade 8)
- The Great Toronto Fire [PDF] (Grade 8)
- Ontario Farm Life [PDF] (Grade 8)
- Health Living in Ontario [PDF] (Grade 8)
High school
- Youth & Ethnic Conflict in 1960s Toronto [PDF] (Grade 10)
- Centennial Ontario: Conflict, Change & Identity (1967) [PDF] (Grade 10)
- Post-War Life: Girls, Boys, and Their Toys [PDF] (Grade 10)
- Evaluating Wartime Posters: Were They Good Propaganda? [PDF] (Grade 10)
- Letters from the Depression [PDF] (Grade 10)
- Working Women on the Home Front: World War II [PDF] (Grade 10)
- The Spanish Flu in Ontario [PDF] (Grade 10 to 12)
- Political Cartoons and Foreign Pressures [PDF] (Grade 12)
- The War of 1812: Loyalty & Treason in Upper Canada [PDF] (Grade 12)
Art Gallery of Ontario
This art museum offers a few online resources for teachers. Some resources refer to in-person visits but are still valuable for remote use. (Learn more.)
Middle to high school
- Gothic Boxwood Miniatures (Lesson Plan 1) [PDF] (Grade 4 to 6)
- Gothic Boxwood Miniatures (Lesson Plan 2) [PDF] (Grade 4 to 6)
- Early Rubens [PDF] (Grade 6 to 12)
- Becoming Käthe Kollwitz [PDF] (Grade 7 to 12)
- The Lodz Ghetto Photographs of Henryk Ross: A Collection of Holocaust Photographs (Grade 12)
Canadian War Museum
This Ottawa museum features multiple lesson plans and document packages. Below are its lesson plans that include primary source images. (Learn more.)
Middle to high school
- Photographs as History: Photo Analysis [PDF] (Grade 7 to 12)
- Analyzing Propaganda Posters [PDF] (Grade 7 to 12)
- The Conscription Debate [PDF] (Grade 10 to 12)
Ingenium Museum
The Ingenium brand encompasses three museums. Its online resources includes lesson plans, activities and experiments based on food, flight, science and technology. (Learn more.)
Elementary school
- Pumpkins [PDF] (JK to Grade 1)
- Meet the Farm Animals [PDF] (K)
- Buddy Rabbit [PDF] (K to Grade 1)
- Busy Bees [PDF] (K to Grade 3)
- Energy [PDF] (Grade 1)
- Meet the Farm Animals [PDF] (Grade 1 to 2)
- From Sheep to Sweater [PDF] (Grade 1 to 2)
- Apples [PDF] (Grade 3)
- Food Chains [PDF] (Grade 4)
- Properties of and Changes in Matter: Bread [PDF] (Grade 5)
- Chew Wisely [PDF] (Grade 5)
Middle to high school
- Agriculture and the Environment [PDF] (Grade 7 to 9; 11 to 12)
High school
- Genetics and Biotechnology [PDF] (Grade 11 to 12)
Library and Archives Canada
Canada's largest "memory institution" features many databases and virtual exhibits for educators. Below are two of its lesson plans. (Learn more.)
Middle school
- Canadian Historical Sound Recordings [PDF] (Grade 6 to 8)
High school
- Lest We Forget: Cenotaph Research (Grade 10 to 12)
Royal Ontario Museum
This world-renowned museum has educational activities in addition to lesson plans made with Biodiversity Education and Awareness Network. (Learn more.)
Elementary to middle school
- Write Your Name in Egyptian Hieroglyphs (Grade 3 and up)
- Make an Imperial Court Hat (Grade 1 to 6)
Also explore lesson plans from Infusing Indigenous Perspectives in K-12 Teaching, compiled by University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
[Edit: corrected link to Lest We Forget resource, April 17, 2020]
[Edit: added link at end of post to highlight Indigenous-focused lesson plans, April 20, 2020]
[Edit: removed broken links to six lesson plans, September 9, 2020]
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