Funeral Customs
Learn about funeral traditions around the world. Find out how ancient Greek, Roman, and Mexican civilizations viewed death. Learn how today many traditions are kept by various cultures and their religions. Includes lesson plans and photographs.
Grades
- 3,
- 4,
- 5,
- 6,
- 7,
- 8
Links
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National Museum of Funeral History
Learn about the history of this museum and understand differences between cultures and religions. Several interesting topics and photographs can be viewed under the "Exhibitions" heading.
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Prezi: Deaths and Funerals in Colonial America
This student-created Prezi presentation tells a reader about old funeral customs in colonial America. NOTE: The site includes a discussion board and links to social networking sites.
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Military Funeral Customs
Learn about U.S. military funeral traditions and customs. Scroll down the page and click on the "Images" to view photographs of a funeral ceremony. NOTE: The site has a link to a guestbook. NOTE: The reading level is for older students.
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Religious Customs
Click on links with names of different religions to learn about funeral traditions of chosen religion. NOTE: The site has a link to a guestbook.
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Native American Funeral Customs
Read more about mortuary customs for Native Americans. Click on the links to know how different customs play a part in the funeral ceremony. NOTE: This site includes ads.
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Lesson Plan: Rituals and Rites of Passage
This lesson plan is designed for fifth and sixth grader students. Its goal is to explain how life is divided in different stages celebrated by different rites. The lesson plan is concentrating on Southwestern Indian funeral customs.
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Mexican Tradition: Day of the Dead, All Saints Day
This page has historical overview over roots of funeral customs and describes how death is celebrated in Mexico during the Day of the Dead. NOTE: The site has a link to forums. NOTE: The site includes ads.
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Welcome to the Day of the Dead in Mexico
This site is dedicated to celebration of dead in Mexico. Explore the site and view photographs, read poems, and learn how to prepare Fruit Atole, a traditional hot drink.
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Japanese Funeral Customs
Learn about Japanese Buddhist funeral customs and traditions.
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Chinese Customs: Funeral Customs and the Wake
Learn about Chinese funeral traditions, including the wake. NOTE: The reading level is for older students.
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Death, Funeral, Requiem: Orthodox Christian Traditions
Find out how people of Orthodox Christian religion bury their dead. NOTE: The reading level is for older students.
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Ancient Egypt
This is a lesson plan for sixth - eighth graders. Students can learn about burial traditions of Ancient Egypt and compare them with traditions of other cultures.
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Life and Death in Ancient Mexico
This site tells the legend believed in by Maya, Olmec, and Aztecs about birth of human kind as a result of a god's sacrifice. It explains the ancient belief that for something to be born, something else has to die first.
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The Ancient Greek World
Learn funeral customs of Ancient Greece and find out how archeologists learn about them while discovering ancient cemeteries. Scroll down the page and click on the right arrow to learn about Greeks burials.
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ThinkQuest: Symbols
Here are some symbols that represented death in different cultures throughout centuries. NOTE: The site has a link to discussion boards.
Education Standards
