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.
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Rivalry Ii, American Beginnings: 1492 1690

For Students 9th - 10th
Two eighteenth-century maps and four accounts of the mutual perceptions, suspicions, and observations between Spanish and French explorers on the Gulf Coast.
Handout
Chicago Zoological Society

Chicago Zoological Society: Zoo Explorer: Alligator Snapping Turtle

For Students 9th - 10th
Get acquainted with the alligator snapping turtle while browsing this animal guide from the Brookfield Zoo. Content includes quick facts and highlights on the appearance, habitat, social behaviors, and mating habits of the largest...
Handout
Siteseen

Siteseen: Land of the Brave: John Cabot Facts

For Students 9th - 10th
Overview and biographical facts on the life of John Cabot, the second European to find North America (after Christopher Columbus).
Website
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Harcourt: Biographies: Matthew Henson 1866 1955

For Students 3rd - 8th
Find out about the exciting life of African American explorer Matthew Henson, who helped to discover the North Pole along with Robert Peary. Click on a camera to view some great photos.
Handout
Gabriel Dumont Institute

The Hudson's Bay Company Trading System [Pdf]

For Students 3rd - 8th
A 42 page learning module presenting a detailed history of the Hudson's Bay Company and the development of their fur trading routes. This document, published in PDF format, contains maps of the trading system, historical timelines and...
Graphic
Curated OER

Etc: Maps Etc: Westward March of the Great Pioneers and Explorers, 1911

For Students 9th - 10th
A map of the United States showing the historic sea and land routes taken by famous explorers across North America, from the coastal explorations of Cabot and Corte Real in the Northeast, Ponce de Leon and Alvarez in Florida and the Gulf...
Handout
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools

Loon Lake Elementary School: John Cabot

For Students 3rd - 5th
A biography of John Cabot (1450-1499), an explorer who made the first English voyage to North America. His voyage in 1497 gave England a claim to the mainland of North America and led to the founding of the English colonies in America....
Handout
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools

Loon Lake Elementary School: Jacques Marquette

For Students 3rd - 5th
A biography of Jacques Marquette (1637-1675), a French explorer and Roman Catholic missionary who was one of the earliest European explorers in North America. He joined the French explorer Louis Jolliet on a trip down the Mississippi...
Graphic
Other

Grand Canyon Explorer: Continental Drift

For Students 9th - 10th
Maps and detailed descriptions of the breakup of Pangea due to a great rift opening.
Graphic
Curated OER

Etc: Routes of Spanish Explorers, 1513 1565

For Students 9th - 10th
A map of southern North America, Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico east the Mississippi Delta showing the routes of the early Spanish explorers Ponce de Leon (1513), De Narvaez (1528), and Hernando de Soto (1535-1542).
Graphic
Curated OER

Etc: Dev of Colonies and Early Western Explorations, 1700 1775

For Students 9th - 10th
A map of eastern North America showing the early development of the European colonies and westward exploration to the Mississippi River. The map shows the routes of several early explorers with dates of exploration, including La Salle,...
Graphic
Curated OER

Etc: Early Voyages of Spaniards in the West Indies, 1512 1580

For Students 9th - 10th
A map of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean showing the voyage routes of the early European explorers in the region between 1512 and 1580. The map shows the routes of Alonzo de Ojeda to Darien Colombia, Balboa to the Pacific, Juan Ponce de...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Extra, Extra!! Mary Rowlandson's Captivity Newscast

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson will be an interdisciplinary lesson that involves both English Language Arts and Social Studies (History). The lesson will be primarily technology-based and also project-based that will have the students performing historical...
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Giovanni Da Verrazzano

For Students 9th - 10th
A short biography of Giovanni da Verrazzano and his explorations under the French flag to the Americas.
Graphic
Curated OER

Map Showing the Land Bridge That Joined North America and Asia

For Students 3rd - 8th
This page, and the one after it, have a collection of the earliest maps of Canada by all the best known explorers.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: French and Dutch Exploration in the New World

For Students 9th - 10th
An overview of the French, Dutch, and English explorers in the late 1500's and early 1600's.
Website
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: Europe's North South Conflicts Reach the Americas

For Students 9th - 10th
An essay detailing early English and French exploration and settlement in the New World to challenge Spanish control.
Graphic
Curated OER

Route Which the Spanish Take to Come to the Bay of St. Louis

For Students 9th - 10th
Two eighteenth-century maps and four accounts of the mutual perceptions, suspicions, and observations between Spanish and French explorers on the Gulf Coast.