Curated OER
Early Explorers
Fifth graders research European explorers. In this world history lesson, 5th graders will compare eight European explorers and identify important factual information about each. Students will be engaged through game-play and...
Curated OER
Breaking the Ice: Who Controls the Northwest Passage?
Learners consider the global climate issue. In this Northwest Passage lesson plan, students examine who has sovereignty of the passage and discuss the importance of the Law of the Seas and its impact on the global climate issue. Learners...
Curated OER
Beyond Louisiana
Eleventh graders examine the challenges that faced United States as a new nation. In this American History lesson, 11th graders study the chronology of events leading up to the expedition of Lewis and Clark. Students organize...
Curated OER
Cbc,ca: Frobisher's First Voyage
Frobisher undertook three voyages to the Northwest in order to find a route to the Orient. Follow along via entries from the right hand menu: his second and third voyage plus his biography.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: The First Europeans
The first Europeans to arrive in North America -- at least the first for whom there is solid evidence -- were Norse, traveling west from Greenland, where Erik the Red had founded a settlement around the year 985. In 1001 his son Leif is...
Other
The Franklin Trail
The Franklin Trail is the web site for a group of archaeologists and adventurers who made numerous trips to the Arctic to investigate what happened to the Franklin Expedition. Historical information about the Franklin Expedition can be...
Other
Toronto Public Library: Frozen Ocean: Hudson Bay and the Hudson's Bay Company
Presents historical images and maps of the area that the Hudson's Bay Company controlled.
Royal Canadian Geographical Society
An Ill Fated Journey
A fascinating look at the Franklin Expedition of the Northwest Passage.
Other
Adriaen Block, the Discovery of Long Island Sound and the New Netherlands Colony
An interesting and comprehensive essay on Adriaen Block, the development of New Netherlands, Dutch trade, and the impact of the Little Ice Age in Europe on fur trade in North America.
OpenStax
Open Stax: Lewis and Clark
By reading this section of a chapter on "Westward Expansion," students will be able to explain the significance of the Louisiana Purchase and describe the terms of the Adams-Onis Treaty and the role played by the filibuster in American...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Henry Hudson and His Crew
A retelling of Henry Hudson's historic voyage to New York in 1609, and up the river that would eventually bear his name.
Mariners' Museum and Park
Mariners' Museum: Henry Hudson
This resource presents an account of the life and voyages of explorer and navigator, Henry Hudson, who sailed and discovered for both the Dutch and English.
British Library
British Library:northwest Passage: Early Approaches, a Historical Account
Read about the early attempts to find a way through the Northwest Passage. Included are portraits and early maps of the explorers.
British Library
British Library: The Search for the Northwest Passage
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.
British Library
British Library: The Search for a Northwest Passage
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,...
The Newberry Library
Newberry Library: Art and Exploration of the Poles
Resource with lesson and primary source documents examines the connections between exploration of the North and South Poles and their visual representation.
Curated OER
Adventurers and Mystics: Richard Hakluyt
This resource provides a brief biography of Richard Hakluyt.
Curated OER
Cbc: Adventurers and Mystics: Europe and the New World
From the CBC television series about Canadian history comes this summary of the English and French search for a Northwest Passage. Find out how these explorations laid the basis for their claims in the New World.
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Europe's North South Conflicts Reach the Americas
An essay detailing early English and French exploration and settlement in the New World to challenge Spanish control.
University of Houston
University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 932: Martin Frobisher
An audio commentary and transcript discussing the life of British explorer, Martin Frobisher. Focuses on Frobisher's search for gold and how this search led him to the discovery of the Northwest Passage through the Arctic.
Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company: Dr. John Rae
John Rae was one of the last explorers sent out by the Hudson's Bay Company to chart the unknown north. This is a brief account of his accomplishments that included determining the facts about the ill-fated Franklin expedition.
Canadian Museum of History
Cmc: Voyages of Martin Frobisher: Ships of the Third Voyage
A description of the ships used by Martin Frobisher during his third voyage: the Aid, the Thomas Allen, and the Gabriel. The description includes drawn images of the exteriors and the drawn images of the skeletons of the ships' interiors.
Other
American Journeys: Background on the Journey of Jean Nicolet, 1634
A summary of Jean Nicolet's expedition to the western Great Lakes. The information is from an account written by a Jesuit priest who was a friend of Nicolet. Read the primary source by clicking on "Read this Document."
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Gallery: Earth From Space
These satellite images of Earth shows some astonishing things about our planet and our relationship with it.