PEABODY LESSONS

Hominin Cranial Evolution

Can you tell the difference between the skulls of an ape, Neanderthal, and Homo sapiens? This interactive lab gives students the opportunity to explore, handle, compare, and contrast 14 skull casts from apes and hominids spanning the famous, 3.2-million-year-old “Lucy” to modern humans. Students learn about cranial capacity, the evolution of the human body and brain, sexual dimorphism, and which features of each skull are unique to its particular species.

BETWEEN GENOCIDE AND ASSIMILATION: U.S. INDIGENOUS RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS

In 2021, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced a Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, to be a comprehensive review of the troubled history and legacy of Indigenous boarding schools in the United States. This lesson explores the history of Indigenous boarding and residential schools in Canada and the US, with a writing activity focused on exploration of “before and after” photographs, student files, and other materials related to Tom Torlino, a Diné student who attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School in the 1880s. Students will investigate the origins of the boarding schools, intent on assimilation of Native American youth and the eradication of Indigenous culture, language, and lifeways, as well as the resistance and resilience of those who attended the schools.