Alabama Department of Archives and History
La Mobile: A Case Study of Exploration and Settlement
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...
Curated OER
The Age of Exploration
Young scholars apply computer skills to gain further insight into early exploration. They analyze the role of each explorer and evaluate their importance. Students comprehend the Chronology of Discovery and Trade of early explorers. ...
Curated OER
Settlement Exploration: Then and Now
NASA has crafted an imaginative and memorable series of lessons, "NASA and Jamestown Education Module." This lesson is one of the five components. In it, middle schoolers connect history and science by comparing the settlement of...
Curated OER
Then and Now: Life in Early America, 1740 - 1840
Students complete a unit of lessons that examine life in early America from 1740-1840. They compare items with similar objects we use today, explore various websites, create a paper doll, try and guess the function of various objects,...
Curated OER
The Portuguese and Spanish in the Americas
Test the class on what they know with a thirty-two question multiple-choice quiz. It tests basic facts regarding the Portuguese and Spanish explorers in the Americas from the time of Christopher Columbus.
Curated OER
The Age of Early European Explorations & Conquests
Your students' world will literally take shape in this presentation, which chronicles the growing edges of the (flat) earth during European Exploration of New Worlds. Dias, da Gama, Magellean, and Columbus are key players in this game of...
Curated OER
What They Left Behind: Early Multi-National Influences in the United States
Students examine how the European voyages of discovery influence American culture even today. They map eighteenth century Europe's impact on the United States.
Curated OER
America: The Land We Live In: Landmarks
Students explore the concept of landmarks. In this landmark instructional activity, students brainstorm different landmarks around their community and nationally. Students then identify the patterns in Georgia O'Keeffe's...
Curated OER
European Explorer IMovie
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...
Curated OER
Lesson: Skin Fruit: Propaganda of the Deed
Art can express acts of injustice and move society to action. Upper graders analyze contemporary art relating to specific moments in history. They discuss propaganda, anarchy, sociology, and violence as activism. After researching and...
Library of Congress
George Washington: First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen
Does the lens of history portray George Washington as a good leader? A three-lesson unit looks at Washington's early military career as the commander of the Virginia Regiment, his role in the fight for independence...
Curated OER
The Early History of Haiti
Seventh graders make list of places Columbus explored on his first journey to Americas, locate island of Hispaniola on map, examine groups of people who have inhabited island, complete blank map and key of Hispaniola, and research early...
Curated OER
The Exploration and Settlement of North America
Young scholars locate place in Canada and explore highlights of early of early American exploration and settlement. In this North American history lesson, students locate provinces, major cities, and physical features of...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
European Explorers
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...
Curated OER
Early Explorers of America
Fifth graders examine a time line of early American explorers from England, Spain, and France. They trace exploration routes on maps and write reports about early explorers. Students view a laser disc presentation, Land of Opportunity...
Curated OER
Early Explorers
Fifth graders investigate the routes taken by the early explorers. In this explorers instructional activity, 5th graders use interactive notebooks, discussion and maps to discover the routes taken. Students get into pairs and label maps,...
National Wildlife Federation
Branching Out – Exploring Dendrochronology
Tree rings from North America give a continuous history of El Nino intensity over the last 1,100 years. Scholars learn how scientists use tree rings to create timelines demonstrating variations in weather patterns. The cumulative...
Annenberg Foundation
America's History in the Making: Classroom Applications Three
How can primary sources bring history to life? Scholars create detailed lesson plans on the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in American history. The 17th installment of a 22-part program exploring American history examines...
Curated OER
Conflict in the Frontier town of Deerfield
Students use primary sources to investigate, explore and represent varying perspectives on the 1704 Deerfield Raid. They consider the reasons Deerfield was at the center of English, French and Native American conflicts in the early 18th...
Curated OER
European Exploration, Trade and Colonization
Students complete many activities including mapping, reading books, and Internet research to learn about European exploration. In this European lesson plan, students study geographical mapping, trade, and colonization.
Curated OER
Jamestown in Context: The Colonization of North America
Pupils analyze the significance of Jamestown in the broader picture of colonization and analyze a historical document to determine the effects of previous explorations on the expectations of the Jamestown colonizers
Library of Virginia
Antebellum Freedom
From indentured servitude to involuntary race-based servitude, slavery has taken many forms in American history. Class members examine three manumission petitions that reveal how the rights of African Americans and African American...
University of California
Containing Communism Abroad
Learn more about the policy of the United States to contain communism during the Cold War. The fifth installment of an eight-part series looks at primary and secondary materials about a challenging time in history. After analyzing the...
Curated OER
Explorers & Early America: Columbus' Journey to Find a Western Sea Route to Asia
Third graders study Columbus and the route he took when he was exploring. In this social science, 3rd graders examine maps, analyze them, compare them to each other, and understand where Columbus wanted to go versus where he actually...