Free lesson plans

Lesson plans
for your classroom.

A free library of K–12 history, language arts, and culture lesson plans — with tour connections, curriculum standards, and companion worksheets. Use them whether you travel with Passports or not.

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  • Aligned to Common Core, C3, NHS standards
  • Tour-site callouts ready for field trips
  • Every lesson ships with a PDF handout
GermanyhistoryGrade 11-12

Protest Reformation: Thirty Years War and the Treaty of Westphalia (1648)

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the basic story behind the Thirty Years War, why the war broke out and how the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) for…

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FranceHistoryGrade 11-12

Protestant Reformation: French Huguenots

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, including excerpts from the Edict of Nantes (1598) and the Edict of Fontainebleau (1685), students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain who the French Hugu…

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SwitzerlandHistoryGrade 11-12

Protestant Reformation: John Calvin and Predestination

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, including excerpts from John Calvin's famous book, Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536), students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Calvin's basi…

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GermanyHistoryGrade 11-12

Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther and the 95 Theses

Through an in-depth analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the basic outlines of Martin Luther's 95 Theses, his views on salvation and the Roman Catholic Church's …

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EnglandhistoryGrade 11-12

Reformation Britain - Anne of Cleves: Henry VIII's Beloved Sister

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story of Anne of Cleves, how she and Henry VIII came to marry, why their marriage was quickl…

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EnglandhistoryGrade 11-12

Reformation Britain - Sir Thomas More: Lord Chancellor of the Realm

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story of Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More and how his position on King Henry VIII's break wit…

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EnglandhistoryGrade 11-12

Reformation England - Anne Boleyn: Henry VIII's Second Wife

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story of Anne Boleyn, how she and Henry VIII came to marry, how their apparently happy marri…

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EnglandhistoryGrade 11-12

Reformation England - Lady Jane Grey: the Nine Day Queen

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story of Lady Jane Grey, how and why she assumed the throne of England after the death of Ed…

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EnglandhistoryGrade 11-12

Reformation England - Mary I Tudor: Bloody Mary

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story of Queen Mary I (Tudor), what religious changes she sought to bring to England after s…

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EnglandHistoryGrade 11-12

Reformation England: The Church of England

Through an in-depth analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the split between London and Rome, how Henry VIII and his children each changed both the church and the …

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EnglandHistoryGrade 11-12

Reformation England: The Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-37)

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to compare and contrast the goals of the participants in the Pilgrimage of Grace and those who opposed the …

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FranceartGrade 11-12

Renaissance Europe: Leonardo da Vinci: Mona Lisa

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story behind Leonardo's most famous oil painting the Mona Lisa, how and why the painting was created, how…

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ItalyArtGrade 11-12

Renaissance Florence: Botticelli: The Birth of Venus

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Botticelli's place in early Renaissance Florentine society, how and why he created his masterpiece The Birth …

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ItalyArtGrade 11-12

Renaissance Florence: Brunelleschi's Dome on the Duomo

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain why building the dome on Florence's Duomo presented such a daunting task and Filippo Brunelleschi's mathemati…

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ItalyArtGrade 11-12

Renaissance Florence: Donatello

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Donatello's place in early Renaissance Florentine society, both in terms of the importance of his own artisti…

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ItalyArtGrade 11-12

Renaissance Florence: Giotto: Father of Renaissance Art

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Giotto's role in revolutionizing artistic techniques in the late medieval period, how he used linear perspect…

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ItalyhistoryGrade 11-12

Renaissance Florence: Leonardo: An Overview

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Leonardo's place in Renaissance Florentine society, his major scientific and artistic works, and how da Vinci…

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ItalyHistoryGrade 11-12

Renaissance Florence: Machiavelli's Prince

In this full analysis of Machiavelli's literary masterpiece, The Prince, and through the use of various other primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Machiavelli's theories beh…

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ItalyArtGrade 11-12

Renaissance Florence: Michelangelo's David

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Michelangelo's place in Florentine society, how his most famous sculpture, David, was created, and why the st…

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ItalyHistoryGrade 11-12

Renaissance Florence: Powerbrokers and Patrons: The Medici Family

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how the Medici family was able to come to power in Florence, how the family's patronage of different artists …

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ItalyHistoryGrade 11-12

Renaissance Florence: Verrocchio: Leonardo da Vinci's Master and Teacher

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Verrocchio's place in Renaissance Florentine society, both in terms of the importance of his own artistic cre…

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ItalyArtGrade 11-12

Renaissance Italy: Leonardo da Vinci: The Last Supper

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Leonardo's place in Renaissance Italian society, the techniques he used to produce his masterpiece The Last S…

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ItalyArtGrade 11-12

Renaissance Rome: Michelangelo: Last Judgement

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story behind the painting of the Last Judgment by Michelangelo, the techniques used by the artist to pa…

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ItalyArtGrade 11-12

Renaissance Rome: Michelangelo: Pieta

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Michelangelo's place in Renaissance art, how his famous sculpture, Pieta, was created, and why the statue is …

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