Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Exploring Borderlands:christopher Columbus

For Students 9th - 10th
This passage features explorer Christopher Columbus as an author documenting his travels and experiences through letters and such. Click on "Christopher Columbus Activities" for related artifacts and activities.
Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Sheg: Document Based History: Reading Like a Historian: Spanish American War

For Teachers 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students use primary source documents to investigate central historical questions. In this investigation students study the Spanish-American War by watching a documentary video, reading a telegram...
Website
Mariners' Museum and Park

Mariners' Museum: Juan Ponce De Leon

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover details of Ponce de Leon's expeditions in search of land for Spain in the new world. Follow the Spanish explorer's trips to present day Puerto Rico, St. Augustine, and Dry Tortugas, see a map of his journey, images featuring...
Website
Mariners' Museum and Park

Mariners' Museum: Francisco Pizarro

For Students 5th - 8th
A not-so-nice, yet successful Spanish explorer, Francisco Pizarro is featured in a biography for conquering Peru and working his way up the Pacific coast to discover land in Central America. Check out his route and details of his...
Primary
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source: American Imperialism: Spanish American War

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of primary sources that explores the Spanish-American War.
Primary
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: Spanish Missions in California

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection that uses primary sources to explore the history of Spanish missions in California.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Juan De Onate and the Founding of New Mexico

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief description of Onate's life and work with links to related stories and many good sites about the Spanish exploration in the U.S.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Parallel Histories: Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief description of de Vaca's accomplishments with links to information, original illustration and documents, and timeline on Spanish exploration.
Lesson Plan
Texas State Historical Association

Texas State Historical Association: European Exploration [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th - 8th
An activity guide where learners refer to the Texas Almanac, which is free to download, for information needed to complete assigned tasks. In this lesson, students are asked to research Spanish and French explorers and create a 'living...
Website
Curated OER

National Park Service: The Forts of Old San Juan: Guardians of the Caribbean

For Students 9th - 10th
Visit such Spanish sites in Puerto Rico as El Morro, the fort that provided the keystone to protection of the Spanish Empire that spread across the Caribbean. Many photographs and drawings.
Website
PBS

Pbs the West: Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca

For Students 9th - 10th
A biography of this Spanish explorer who was born in 1490. Click on "route" for a map of his travels, and click on "account" for a translation of his published account of his experiences.
Handout
NASA

Nasa: La Historia De Hoy: Today's History (Spanish)

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore the depths of space and science comprehensive information about the meteor showers in 2004, the transit of Venus, virtual reality, and other interesting science history.
Graphic
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Collections: Spanish Paintings

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore fifteenth- to twentieth-century Spanish paintings, including major works by Zurbaran, Goya, Velazquez, and Picasso. Click on 'View All Works' to access the collection.
Website
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...
Website
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: Francisco Vasquez De Coronado

For Students 9th - 10th
Brief biography of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. Discusses his exploration into the current U.S. in search of gold. Includes a link to a translation of his chronicle of the journeys.
Website
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.
Handout
Mariners' Museum and Park

Age of Exploration: Christopher Columbus: The Second Voyage

For Students 9th - 10th
A report of Christopher Columbus' second voyage to the New World. Find out what islands he visited in the Caribbean, and discover how successful he was in finding riches.
Handout
A&E Television

History.com: Ferdinand Magellan

For Students 9th - 10th
A biography of Ferdinand Magellan, a 16th century Portuguese explorer who travelled with a Spanish fleet, and an account of his voyage around the world, from which he did not return.
Primary
Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: American Imperialism: The Spanish American War

For Students 9th - 10th
This primary set uses photographs, letters, posters, and publications to explore the Spanish-American War. Review the sources in this set to gain insight into the motivations for US engagement. Includes teaching guide.
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The Literature of Exploration

For Students 9th - 10th
Had history taken a different turn, the United States easily could have been a part of the great Spanish or French overseas empires. Its present inhabitants might speak Spanish and form one nation with Mexico, or speak French and be...
Handout
State of Florida

Florida Historical Resources: Florida History: Exploration and Colonization

For Students 3rd - 8th
In the mid-1700s, the control of Florida moved back and forth between the Spanish and English. Learn about the historic events which contributed to this through this resource.
Interactive
Mariners' Museum and Park

Mariners Museum: Exploration Through the Ages

For Students 9th - 10th
This website focuses on exploration and offers links to Ancient Exploration, Medieval Exploration, The "Age of Discovery" and Modern Exploration. It also provides pictured links to four explorers: currently they are Christopher Columbus,...
Handout
Texas State Historical Association

Texas State Historical Association: Early European Exploration and Development

For Students 9th - 10th
A chronological timeline of early European exploration and development in Texas spanning from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: The Southeast Exploring the "Land of the Flowers"

For Teachers 6th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the Spanish explorers who discovered Florida, the land of flowers. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

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