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Teaching History Through MysteriesLoch Ness, Roswell, and Dracula Can All be Used to Engage Students
Historical mysteries bring history alive in the social studies classroom. Learning about the unknown in our past helps make learning fun and engaging.
Historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. said, “History is full of surprises.” Even though history is in the past, it can still change and we can still question it. As technology improves, as new evidence is uncovered, history becomes a living thing. An effective way of breathing life into history is by studying mysteries in history. The History Channel believes so strongly in the high interest of mysteries that it has devoted countless hours into developing and show mystery based shows. Studying mysteries in history can be used as an independent unit at the start of the school year. It can be used to introduce basic concepts integral in the study of history. Critical thinking skills, primary and secondary sources, bias, and basic research skills can all be incorporated into the unit. This lesson can be adapted to almost any grade level, but this article is geared towards a middle school or high school audience. Setting Up the LessonBegin by having students brainstorm historical mysteries. Use this brainstorming session to transition into a class discussion on how even though history is old, it can still change. Introducing this unit can take as long as an entire class period, or as little as fifteen minutes. Primary ActivityThe primary activity for this lesson is to have students choose a mystery that interests them, research it, and present or display what they have found. A good way to ensure that they choose a researchable mystery is to provide them with a list of mysteries. This list can be modified according to the maturity of your audience. A list of suggested mysteries is included at the end of this article. Once students have selected a mystery they should research it using web sites that you have chosen for them. Some reputable sites include Court TV's Crime library, the BBC, the History Channel, and the eMints National Center. Students should research their mystery according to criteria that you set for them. Suggested criteria include having them detail the events surrounding the mystery, who the key players are in the mystery, what the mystery is, when it took place, where it took place, why it’s a mystery, and how it came to be a mystery. Students can also include five to ten interesting things they discovered about their mystery. They can also present several theories that attempt to solve their mystery. Finally, they can evaluate what theory they think is the most probable, or come up with their own theory that attempts to solve for the mystery. They should of course give credit to the sources they used. You can also require them to use at least one primary source in their end product. A good way for students to display their research is by creating a power point. They can also create a poster, draw a cartoon, write a story, write a report, write a journal or diary entry, write a newspaper feature article or editorial. Two days is a sufficient amount of time for them to gather their research. One to two additional days is enough time for them to use their research to create their end product. Finally, one to two days for them to present their end product. In sum, this unit should take no more than a week. The assessment for this unit is the end project that is displayed and/or presented. Using historical mysteries is an effective way to engage students in the classroom and give them basic skills and tools in the study of historical inquiry. These mysteries can also be referred back to throughout the school year. Most importantly, it shows students that history is never permanent, in fact, it's constantly changing and surprising us, which is part of what makes history fun and interesting. Suggested mysteries:
*Mysteries inappropriate for a younger audience.
The copyright of the article Teaching History Through Mysteries in Lesson Plans & Materials is owned by Miranda Zinnel. Permission to republish Teaching History Through Mysteries in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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