Film is a wonderful way to communicate any concept or idea. Fifth graders will use IMovie and GarageBand software to create a IMovie about one of eight European explorers. They will chose an explorer, research his travels and life, then...

Delve into the Age of Exploration with a multiple-intelligences research project. Learners generate a rubric and worksheet to guide their studies and research one explorer. There is emphasis on research skills, citing sources,...

To compare how the Spanish, French, and English approached the exploration of North America, class groups examine primary source documents and become experts on one of four explorers: Francisco Coronado, Robert LaSalle, Samuel de...

What's life like aboard an ocean exploration vessel? Junior oceanographers examine the important role of communication in ocean research in lesson two of a five-part series from NOAA. The materials introduce the class to life on...

Third graders listen to read-alouds and participate in extension activities about European Explorers—Christopher Columbus, Juan Ponce de León, Hernando de Soto, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, John Cabot, Henry Hudson, and Samuel de...

Let's get moving! The second installment of a 2-part series of six adventures helps learners take part in individual explorations by sea and by land. After navigating the waters in an informative WebQuest, groups create and hide their...

If it's on the Internet, it must be true ... right? Introduce young Internet explorers to the importance of fact-checking through a fun web-based activity. Pairs work together to read and analyze biographies about world explorers, then...

After watching Treasure in the Sea, a documentary about Channel Islands National Park and the video First Contact, about the voyage of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo to the Channel islands, groups research and then compare the...

See the underwater world through a different pair of eyes! Middle school marine biologists identify deep-sea organisms by examining images taken by an ROV from the Okeanos Explorer. After determining what creatures lie beneath the...

Young explorers, all aboard the shallop to discover how early European explorers would navigate the American coastline to find resources, map terrain, and trade with Native American tribes.

Sail with Christopher Columbus on a biographical reading adventure. Young explorers learn about the life of Sir Columbus as they hone their comprehension skills through guiding questions, shared reading, and fluency practice. Included in...

Class members are transformed into explorers as they work in groups to locate hidden items and map their journey along the way. They then leave clues for other groups of students to follow, and ultimately discover how past explorations...

Florida's state quarter has an image of a space shuttle and a Spanish Galleon on its reverse side. Pupils will examine the state quarter and think about how the Spanish explorers and Space explorers are the same and different. The class...

Partners examine the family tree of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, a Spanish admiral and explorer who founded St. Augustine, Florida, and answer several questions about the text using a worksheet. After they've explored the family tree,...

How do robots assist ocean explorers in collecting data and images? The final installment in a five-part series has science scholars examine underwater images collected by robots and identify the organisms shown. Groups then calculate...

What makes an issue or event newsworthy? Scholars complete a K-W-H-L chart based on a recent news event. As they complete the chart, small groups collaborate to analyze coverage of the story or event.

Make sure the measurement is right. The interactive provides right triangles with a missing side measurement. Pupils use the given sides and the Pythagorean Theorem to calculate the length of the missing side. After entering the length,...

Historians have proven that as early as 1497 skilled navigators were using a kamal to sail across oceans. Scholars learn about navigation tools and astronomy before building their own kamals. They then learn how to use it to determine...

The Age of Exploration is the theme of a unit designed to boost third-grade ELA skills. Scholars practice spelling patterns, examine words with prefixes and suffixes, build sentences with linking words, and use comparative and...

The Le Moyne brothers, Jean-Baptiste and Pierre, were among the first explorers of the Gulf Coast. Class members read biographical information and journal entries about these men, study maps showing where the settlements they established...

What do we do when a dive is too dangerous for humans to accomplish? Send in the robots! Middle school scientists get acquainted with several different models of submersible robots in the second lesson of six from NOAA. Lab groups then...

When we think of ocean exploration, many of us have visions of sunken pirate ships full of treasure or mysterious creatures of the deep. What really motivates deep-sea investigation? The first in a series of diverse six-part lessons...

Walk in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark as they discover the wonders, beauty, and dangers of the American frontier. After gaining background knowledge about Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, young explorers use primary...

Young explorers study the scarcity and importance of a continuous supply of fresh water in Cape Verde. They research the five main ways that fresh water is obtained in these countries. Each research group prepares a presentation, and...