Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs: Empire of the Bay: Paths of the Explorers

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Follow Hudson, Champlain and McKenzie as they explore Canada and what will ultimately become the land of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Handout
Other

National Maritime Museum: Ships and Seas: Christopher Columbus

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about Christopher Columbus's reason for sailing west instead of east. Also, discover what he found on his voyages and his return journeys.
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
CommonLit

Common Lit: Themes: Honor & Courage: What Makes a Hero?

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of Grade-Leveled texts (3-12) to address the question, "What makes a hero?" Select a grade level and a collection of on grade-level reading passages on the topic comes up. [Free account registration required for...
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.
Handout
Other

Slippery Rock University: The Treaty of Tordesillas

For Students 9th - 10th
Some very basic information on the Treaty of Tordesillas and geographic information related to South America.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Native Cultures vs. Explorers in World Court

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
This lesson represents the end result of a project-based, hands-on unit in which children represent a culture they've researched in a World Court Hearing against the explorers they encountered.
Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Activity: An Age of Adventure

For Students 9th - 10th
A website detailing the biographies of Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo, and Zheng Hehis. Learn about their inspiration for their voyages here.
Activity
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Activity: Explorers Mini Project

For Students 9th - 10th
A mini research project where students will pick an explorer who connected two world zones and answer questions about the journey of that explorer.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Exploring Explorers

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students will create a video in talk-show format about explorers from the 15th-17th centuries. They will utilize books, the Alabama Virtual Library, and the Internet for reference. Groups of students will answer who, what, when, where,...
Lesson Plan
Louisiana Department of Education

Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: English Language Arts: Grade 5: The Birchbark House

For Teachers 5th Standards
Emphasizing the connections between English language arts and social studies, this unit teaches students how we learn about our past. Students explore various texts (literary and informational) to come to understand how Native Americans...
Handout
Internet History Sourcebooks Project

Fordham University: Modern History Sourcebook: John Cabot: Voyage to North America, 1497

For Students 9th - 10th
Letters from Cabot to different people in his life that explain his exploration and his discoveries.
Website
NASA

Nasa: Detailed Chronology of Events Surrounding the Apollo

For Students 9th - 10th
How would you like to experience what was actually said during the Apollo 13 accident? At this site read recorded NASA information from 2.5 minutes before the accident to about 5 minutes after.
Handout
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools

Loon Lake Elementary: Explorers: Sir Richard Grenville

For Students 3rd - 7th
Find out about the life of an explorer in this brief biography regarding an English naval commander, Sir Richard Grenville.
Handout
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools

Loon Lake Elementary: Explorers: Sir John Hawkins

For Students 3rd - 7th
A brief snapshot of the life and work of sixteenth century explorer and English mariner, Sir John Hawkins.
Handout
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools

Loon Lake Elementary School: Gaspar Corte Real

For Students 3rd - 5th
A biography of Gaspar Corte Real (1450-1501) who was born in Angra do Heroismo, on the Island of Terceira in the Azores. He was a Portuguese explorer who explored Greenland and the coast of Newfoundland. This site has a Google widget...
Unknown Type
Soft Schools

Soft Schools: Christopher Columbus Quiz

For Students 3rd - 5th
Take this quiz to see how much you know about Christopher Columbus.
Website
Curated OER

National Park Service: Sir Humphrey Gilbert

For Students 9th - 10th
Although Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1539-1578) was not involved directly in the Roanoke voyages, both he and members of his family such as his half-brother Sir Walter Ralegh participated in the colonization of Virginia.
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Australia's Explorers

For Students 3rd - 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart resource provides a framework in which students can explore and research some of Australia's early explorers.
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Exploration of the New World

For Students 3rd - 5th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart explores the impact and progress of different nations as they explored the Americas. It also presents the links between that exploration, and that of West Africa. The students click and...
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Explorers Templates

For Students Pre-K - 1st
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart contains empty sample template pages that can be used as ideas to create interactive lessons about explorers.
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: The Explorers

For Teachers 6th - 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Using video content and assessment integration, students will learn about the early explorers to the New World.
Unknown Type
EL Education

El Education: A Buccaneer's Guide to the Age of Exploration

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A Buccaneer's Guide to the Age of Exploration depicts European world-wide exploration and exploitation through a collage-style book of text, hand-drawn and water-colored illustrations, maps, timelines, and diagrams. The book chronicles...
Unknown Type
Curated OER

Macmillan/mc Graw Hill: The World, Vol. 1: Changing Ideas: Lesson 2 Quiz

For Students 5th - 7th
Choose the correct answer for each of the ten multiple choice questions to evaluate your comprehension of exploration during the Enlightenment.