Smithsonian Institution
The Sounds of an Island: Jamaican Music for the Classroom
Introduce young explorers to the music and history of Jamaican culture through game songs and dances. As a bonus, class members get to play simple songs transcribed for the recorder.
Curated OER
Columbian Contexts
High schoolers explore geo-political and economic contexts for the European Renaissance journeys of exploration, including those of Columbus, create cartographic symbols, and add those symbols to a print-out of Ptolemy's map.
Curated OER
Discovery of America
Students examine the European conquest of North America. They participate in activities which allow them to discover the indigenous peoples of the region. They also place events in chrongological order.
Curated OER
Exploring Indiana's Natural Resources
Fourth graders complete a variety of activities as they study the European exploration of the Midwest, focusing on Indiana. They map the path explorers took, comparing the British with the French. They research why the explorers stopped...
California Academy of Science
A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal
Before Google, before Sillicon Valley, before the Gold Rush, the San Francisco landscape was a biome filled with grizzly bears, mule deer, tule elk, coyotes, gray fox, gophers, and moles. To explore the early days of yesteryear, kids...
Curated OER
Marco Polo Takes A Trip
Young scholars identify Marco Polo and discuss why he took his trip, indicate on map routes Marco Polo took to China and back, describe challenges of traveling along Silk Road, list several interesting aspects of 13th Century Chinese...
Curated OER
Yo-ho, Yo-ho a Viking's Life for Me
Students complete a unit of lessons on the Vikings. They analyze maps, read and discuss myths, summarize the main ideas from resource materials, watch videos, sing a song, draw a picture to illustrate Norse mythology, and define key...
Curated OER
There Is No Place Like Home! U. S. Immigration in the 1800's.
Pupils explore immigration in the late 1800's. They identify and describe the settlement patterns of European immigrants to the U.S. Students work in groups to research immigration from specified countries.
Curated OER
Colonization
High schoolers explore why the Americas attracted Europeans, why they brought enslaved Africans to their colonies, and how Europeans struggled for control of North American and the Caribbean.
Curated OER
Powerful Potato
Students are introduced to the growth process of a potato. As a class, they place a potato on a plate and observe how long it takes for the eyes to appear. In groups, they follow a recipe to make potato soup that is shared with the...
Curated OER
Water Features of Virginia
Students locate and identify water features important to the early history of Virginia. Thye recognize where most cities developed and locate and label the rivers on a Virginia wall map.
Curated OER
Conquering North America
Students create a study guide on colonization of North America. In this American Colonization lesson plan, students complete a chart of explorers and their conquests. Students complete a crossword puzzle using explorer facts. Students...
Curated OER
Be a Viking!
Students research the history and culture of the Vikings. Students complete a variety of lessons in which they use maps, discussion, lecture, vocabulary lists, worksheets and quizzes to investigate the culture and traditions of the Vikings.
Curated OER
Who are the Women of the Pacific North West: 1830-1870?
Students view a picture from the Vancouver National Historic Reserve and discuss the people in the picture. They locate Cromwell's Map and discuss the villages located close to Fort Vancouver. Students read information regarding the role...
Curated OER
Great North
Students use maps to locate the Arctic Circle, the North Pole and Northern Europe. They draw and label countries within the Arctic Cirlce and identify the groups of people who live there. They also watch and answer questions about the...
Curated OER
Globe Skills Lesson 2: Paving the Way for Columbus
Students explore the expedition of Christopher Columbus. In this geography skills lesson, students consider the technological advances that made Columbus's expedition possible as they complete a latitude and longitude activity.
Curated OER
Columbus' Perception of the New World
students investigate readings relating to the voyage of Columbus in 1492 and to make historical connections based on those readings. They form pairs to share insights and answer specific questions, and share information in a final class...
Curated OER
Worksheet #13 Questions - Columbus in the New World
In this Columbus in the New World worksheet, students test their knowledge on various terms relating to the aforementioned topic in ten fill in the blank questions.
Curated OER
The Search for the Northwest Passage
Third graders listen to lectures and research the motivations and history of the Spanish, French and English explorers searching for the Northwest Passage to India. They trace routes on maps and consider how these explorers helped shaped...
Curated OER
Trade Route By Sea To Asia
Eighth graders study a map and identify the countries of Spain, Portugal, India, China and Thailand. After a class discussion, 8th graders explain the advantages of trading over land and by sea and they explore the men who journeyed to...
Curated OER
Pre-Columbian Cultures in the Americas
Native American studies is fun, educational, and highly motivating. Fifth graders will gain a deeper understanding of the six major pre-Columbian culture areas on the North American continent. They will choose one group and conduct...
Curated OER
The Search for the Lost City of El Dorado
Ninth graders research the reasons to why people want to find the city of El Dorado. In this Spanish exploration lesson, 9th graders read an article and answer guided reading questions. Students present their findings to the class on...
Curated OER
Utah: State History
In this Utah state history worksheet, students read two and a half pages of information about Utah and complete 10 true and false questions.
K12 Reader
Conflict Over North American Lands
Readers are introduced to some of the conflicts that arose over land and resources in the Americas in a two-part cross-curricular comprehension worksheet that asks kids to study the article and then to use information provided to respond...