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Mariners' Museum and Park

Mariners' Museum: The Ages of Exploration: Age of Discovery

For Students 4th - 8th
This Age of Discovery page presents naval artifacts and explorers of the 15th century to the early 17th century. It looks at European explorers who journeyed to North and South America, the search for the Northwest Passage, and...
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University of Calgary

European Voyages of Exploration: 15th & 16th Centuries

For Students 9th - 10th
This award-winning website from the University of Calgary's History Department is both impressive and extensive. It focuses on Portuguese and Spanish expeditions of the 15th and 16th centuries (the sitemap provides a good outline of...
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Teachnology

Teachnology: Explorers Teaching Theme

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Enhance teaching about explorers with this collection of resources including lesson plans, activities, interactive websites and more.
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Other

Radford University: Prelude to European Settlement of Virginia

For Students 9th - 10th
This site traces the early voyages of explorers from Portugal and Spain who were trying to find new resources.
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University of Calgary

European Voyages of Exploration: Geography and Cartography

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This site provides information on mapmaking and cartograohy of the early explorers. Includes pictures of maps.
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British Library

British Library: The Search for the Northwest Passage

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Detailed third grade lessons help students understand what skills and knowledge were required in order to become an explorer. Includes specific lessons on John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, and Henry Hudson.
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Mariners' Museum and Park

Mariners' Museum: Vasco Da Gama

For Students 9th - 10th
A biography of Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, highlighting his accomplishments to European exploration. Readers will find an accompanying accounts of his voyages and a collection of the tools he and his crews used for navigating the...
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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...
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University of Calgary

European Voyages of Exploration: Henry the Navigator

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides a well-written account of Prince Henry's adventurous personality that led him to become one of Portugal's most famous explorers. Discusses the economic benefits of Portugal's exploration and trade. Note: This tutorial...
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British Library

British Library: The Search for a Northwest Passage

For Students 9th - 10th
Historical overviews and associated images that document the search, by European explorers, for the elusive Northwest Passage through the North American continent to the Pacific. Discusses, among others, the explorations of Cabot,...
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Other

California Historical Society: California History Online

For Students 9th - 10th
With over four hundred original images, this site covers periods in California's history from 1600 to the 1930s. Topics covered include the geography and climate of California, early aboriginal groups, the first European explorers, the...
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British Library

British Library:northwest Passage: Early Approaches, a Historical Account

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the early attempts to find a way through the Northwest Passage. Included are portraits and early maps of the explorers.
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Enchanted Learning

Enchanted Learning: Explorers of North and Central America

For Students 4th - 6th
This is a comprehensive guide to all the people who explored Central and North America. They are alphabetically listed with brief biographies. Some entries have links for further information or activities.
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Library of Congress

Loc: Mediterranean World on the Eve of Conquest

For Students 9th - 10th
The Library of Congress provides an essay on the reasons for exploration during the 15th century.
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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Bartolomeu Dias

For Students 4th - 8th
Bartolomeu Dias, Dias also spelled Diaz (born c. 1450-died May 29, 1500, at sea, near Cape of Good Hope), Portuguese navigator and explorer who led the first European expedition to round the Cape of Good Hope (1488), opening the sea...
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Other

Historical Museum of Southern Florida : The Spanish Colonization of Florida

For Students 3rd - 8th
Follow the early colonization of Florida. From explorers to settlers to trades between England and Spain, and finally to the emergence of the American territory of Florida.
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A&E Television

History.com: Columbus Day

For Students 9th - 10th
This collection includes a description of the life and work of Christopher Columbus, along with a discussion of why Columbus Day is a controversial holiday. Includes video.
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Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company: Radisson and Des Groseilliers

For Students 9th - 10th
French adventurers Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Medard Chouart, Sieur des Groseilliers were the first Europeans to explore the forests of the north, negotiate treaties with the Cree, explore the Mississippi and Missouri and establish...
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Other

Trail Tribes: Traditional and Contemporary Native Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
An excellent resource on the tribal groups located along the trails followed by explorers Lewis and Clark. Each group has a section devoted to its modern and historical cultures, as well as the tribe's relationship with the United States...
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Curated OER

National Park Service: Cabrillo National Monument

For Students 9th - 10th
This website contains a wealth of information concerning the life of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the National Monument that was built in his memory, and his discovery of California.
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PBS

Pbs: Conquistadors: Franciso Pizarro

For Students 9th - 10th
Use the navigation at the left to click into more information on the Incas and the Spanish conquest by Francisco Pizarro.
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Princeton University

Princeton University Library: Exhibition: Of Maps and Men: Samuel Hearne

For Students 9th - 10th
Entry about eighteenth-century explorer Samuel Hearne, from a larger exhibition about the search for a passage to the Orient through Canada. Hearne is credited with surveying the Coppermine River and with being the first European to view...
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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.
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Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Native American Relations in Texas: Introduction

For Students 9th - 10th
How did a Spanish explorer become a "medicine man and the first European trader in Texas"? Who authored the "first ever written description of Texas Indians"? Read this brief article to begin learning about the early relations between...

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