Primary
Other

Canadiana: Cabot Discoverer of North America

For Students 9th - 10th
The full text chapter of the book "JOHN CABOT, THE DISCOVERER OF NORTH AMERICA AND HIS SON SEBASTIAN," published in 1896. A page by page reproduction.
Website
Other

The Conquest of North America by Hernando De Soto, Coronado and Cabeza De Vaca

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the conquest of North America in the 1500s by the explorers Hernando de Soto, Vasquez de Coronado, and Cabeza de Vaca. The text has many embedded links to maps showing the routes they traveled as well as to additional information.
Graphic
University of Calgary

Arctic Institute of North America: Photographic Database

For Students 9th - 10th
This page takes you to a database of over 8000 photographs of the Arctic from the late 1800s through the 20th century. The photos are from scientific expeditions, military and police patrols, explorers, etc. The largest set is from the...
Website
Enchanted Learning

Enchanted Learning: Explorers of North and Central America

For Students 4th - 6th
This is a comprehensive guide to all the people who explored Central and North America. They are alphabetically listed with brief biographies. Some entries have links for further information or activities.
Graphic
Other

American Journeys: Map of the Spanish Entrada Into North America [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Map showing the routes taken by fourteen Spanish explorers in the Americas between 1509 and 1543.
Lesson Plan
Better Lesson

Better Lesson: Points of Informational Text Main Idea and Details

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
This lesson uses the book Explorers of North America - A True Book by Brendan January to teach students how to identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph informational text and specific paragraphs within the text. Students are guided...
Website
British Library

British Library: The Search for the Northwest Passage

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Detailed third grade lessons help students understand what skills and knowledge were required in order to become an explorer. Includes specific lessons on John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, and Henry Hudson.
Website
Mariners' Museum and Park

Mariners' Museum: The Ages of Exploration: Age of Discovery

For Students 4th - 8th
This Age of Discovery page presents naval artifacts and explorers of the 15th century to the early 17th century. It looks at European explorers who journeyed to North and South America, the search for the Northwest Passage, and...
Whiteboard
SMART Technologies

Smart: Exploring Explorers

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
This is a lesson activity which is written to engage visual and kinesthetic learners in their study on explorers: Leif Eriksson, Christopher Columbus, Erik the Red, Vasco Da Gama, John Cabot, Marco Polo, and Ferdinand Magellan.
Graphic
University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas: Exploration and Settlement Before 1675

For Students 9th - 10th
A great map showing the explorations of Spanish, French, and English explorers in North America between 1530 and 1675. A detailed key identifies each explorer and route. From the Perry-Castaneda Collection
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Portuguese in the u.s.: Celebrating the Portuguese Communities in America

For Students 9th - 10th
Information about the role Portuguese-born and sponsored explorers played in the exploration and colonization of North America.
Interactive
PBS

Nova: America's Stone Age Explorers: Before Clovis

For Students 9th - 10th
A terrific map from NOVA showing pre-Clovis sites in North America. The key tells where the site is, what was found there, and when Paleoindians inhabited the site.
Website
PBS

Nova: America's Stone Age Explorers: End of the Big Beasts

For Students 9th - 10th
Three opposing views about the disappearance of the "megafauna" in North America. What really happened to the wooly mammoth, mastadon, saber-toothed tiger, among other animals?
eBook
Sacred Text Archive

The Norse Discovery of America

For Students 9th - 10th
Collections of bits and pieces of lore and fact relating to the exploration of Nova Scotia and North America. Author promises "Bone-chilling stories," of Vikings!
Graphic
Curated OER

Etc: Early Explorers of the Atlantic Coast, 1492 1620

For Students 9th - 10th
A map of the Atlantic coast of North America from the Labrador Peninsula and Gulf of St. Lawrence south to the Santee River in the Carolinas, showing the European explorations and settlements in the region between 1492 and 1620. The map...
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The First Europeans

For Students 9th - 10th
The first Europeans to arrive in North America -- at least the first for whom there is solid evidence -- were Norse, traveling west from Greenland, where Erik the Red had founded a settlement around the year 985. In 1001 his son Leif is...
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: The French, American Beginnings: 1492 1690

For Students 9th - 10th
Three maps reflecting French exploration along rivers in North America and three French explorers' accounts of the astonishing hardships they endured and the possibilities for trade with natives they opened.
Unit Plan
Wisconsin Historical Society

American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts Early American Exploration/settlement

For Students 9th - 10th
A collaborative project of the Wisconsin Historical Society and National History Day, this site contains over 18,000 pages of primary source, eyewitness accounts of North American exploration starting with the Vikings.
Unit Plan
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Jamestown, Quebec, Santa Fe: Three North American Beginnings

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore the origins of Canada and the United States as Jamestown, Quebec, and Santa Fe celebrate their 400th anniversary.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: 1492: An Ongoing Voyage

For Students 9th - 10th
An exhibit by the Library of Congress supplies diverse facts on the famous 1492 voyage. The exhibition first examines the encounter between the European explorers and the native people. They explore five geographical areas: The Caribbean...
Article
Other

Brown Quarterly: Hernando De Soto Expedition

For Students 9th - 10th
An overview of the career of Spanish conquistador Hernando De Soto including a brief analysis of the effects his explorations in the southern portions of North America had on the natives of that region.
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Explorers for Kids: Henry Hudson

For Students 1st - 9th
The biography and life of explorer Henry Hudson can be found on this website. Read about how he explored North America searching for the Northwest Passage.
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Contact: First Impressions

For Teachers 9th - 10th
English, Spanish, and Portuguese maps and letters of about the voyages of Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, and Portuguese explorer, Gaspar Corte Real, which describe impressions of the lands explored.
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Indians' Accounts, American Beginnings: 1492 1690

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Four accounts by Native Americans of their complex responses to and reactions toward European explorers near present-day Canada and Mexico.