European Explorers

Explore the inventions of the past with a project on ancient tools. After reading an article about hunting during the Archaic period, the Late Prehistoric period, and the Historic period, kids fill in a cause-and-effect chart about the...

What will your students choose to include in their explorer's treasure chest? Youngsters research an early European explorer and gather items to reflect their research, such as a detailed map of the explorer's voyages, portrait,...

All of the people in your class would agree that life would be different without the invention of the telephone! Study Alexander Graham Bell's most famous and influential invention through the primary source document of his...

Designing a travel brochure is a classic project that will help your class members develop a variety of skills, such as researching informational texts, designing creative visual products, and communicating what you have learned.

If you've just covered the Tudor kings and queens, you'll love this presentation describing Tudor exploration. It covers the Tudor navy, ships, explorers, and reasons for exploration. The slide show also includes rich images,...

Sandwich: a delicious meal stacked with meats, cheeses, and veggies, or a parish in England? How about both! The sandwich was invented in—yes, you got it—Sandwich, by John Montagu. Watch this creative and inventive video that gives a...

From play pumps that provide clean water to shoes made from trash, innovators change the world one invention at a time. After researching various inventions, young entrepreneurs develop their own. Extension opportunities include prompts...

Sitting in a soda parlor, Joseph Freedman notices the difficulty his young daughter has trying to drink from the paper straw in her milkshake. This sparks the invention of a bendy straw. Watch to learn more about this small but widely...

One day, Earle Dixon decided to cut a piece of a sterile gauze and tape it to his wife's finger. Hence, the Band-Aid® we know today. Learn more about the ubiquitous invention with an informative video and accompanying discussion...

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...