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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Values and Beliefs of Manifest Destiny

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders examine the beliefs of Manifest Destiny and its role in the California Gold Rush. They analyze a painting to gather information about Manifest Destiny.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

A Study of Panama

For Students 4th - 5th
In this worksheet on Panama, students read an introduction about Panama, then read about its history, The Panama Canal, the Kuna Indians and the Endangered Species of Panama. After each selection, students answer a set of related questions.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Chapters 14 & 15 – Age of Exploration

For Students 9th - 12th
In this U.S. history worksheet, students read assigned textbook pages regarding the Age of Exploration and respond to 49 short answer questions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Battle of Glorieta Pass: A Shattered Dream

For Teachers 7th - 12th
This lesson can be used in American history, social studies, and geography courses in units on westward expansion and the Civil War.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Review

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders review and assess their knowledge on the big picture of exploration and the origins of early America. They piece together all the pieces of the puzzle from the past two weeks of study on trade, technology, exploration and...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Why did the Aztec and Inca civilizations disappear?

For Students 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers can analyze primary source documents to answer the question, "Why did the Aztec and Inca civilizations disappear?" They will read the provided excerpts then answer 11 different questions to uncover the ultimate answer.
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Inca Artifacts and Civilization Lesson Plans

For Teachers 5th - 6th
By learning about Inca artifacts and this ancient civilization students can delve into history, geography, and much more.
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Lesson Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Teaching With Primary Sources: Hispanic Exploration in America [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This is a great lesson plan from the Library of Congress that shows how to use primary sources in the examination of the Spanish Conquistadors in America. The lesson offers many possible activities for students to use with the primary...
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: Spain's Territorial Conquest in the Americas

For Students 9th - 10th
The history of Spanish territorial conquest in the New World is the history of the succession of conquistadors who often overwhelmed native empires, but were sometimes overwhelmed themselves. Read about the conquistadors who came to the...
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Unknown Type
Other

Spain's Empire in the Americas [Ppt]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A brief slideshow that presents key ideas about the Spanish Empire in the Americas. Students must then answer four questions in an assessment.
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Graphic
Other

American Journeys: Map of the Spanish Entrada Into North America [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Map showing the routes taken by fourteen Spanish explorers in the Americas between 1509 and 1543.
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Website
Other

The Conquest of North America by Hernando De Soto, Coronado and Cabeza De Vaca

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the conquest of North America in the 1500s by the explorers Hernando de Soto, Vasquez de Coronado, and Cabeza de Vaca. The text has many embedded links to maps showing the routes they traveled as well as to additional information.
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eBook
Other

Eldritch Press: Cabeza De Vaca's Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America

For Students 9th - 10th
Read this fascinating account by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, one of four survivors who traversed Florida and the Southwest for eight years, from 1529-1537.Read the preface which gives a background to this narrative before delving into...
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Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The First Europeans

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
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Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: The Spanish, American Beginnings: 1492 1690

For Students 9th - 10th
Two maps and four accounts of the Spanish exploration of North America that reflect the goals of the conquistadors and fascination with the land they examined-and the brutality of their treatment of native peoples.
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Handout
Mariners' Museum and Park

Exploration Through the Ages: Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo

For Students 9th - 10th
Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo is known for exploring the California coast and claiming the land for Spain, but he did so many other things prior to that.See why Cabrillo wa so important to the Spanish in the New World.Be sure to click on...
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Handout
Other

San Diego History Center: Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (? 1543)

For Students 9th - 10th
After a description of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo's activities in Mexico and Guatemala, there is a day by day description of his sailing expedition up the coast of California.
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Unit Plan
Library of Congress

Loc: Parallel Histories: Coronado

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief description of Coronado's life and adventures with links to original and related documents, including illustrations and explorer notes.
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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...
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Website
Soylent Communications

Notable Names Database|nndb: Vasco Nunez De Balboa

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief biography of one of the successful Spanish conquistadors, Vasco Nunez de Balboa. He is recognized for his discovery of the Pacific Ocean and land in the Americas.
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Article
Other

Brown Quarterly: Hernando De Soto Expedition

For Students 9th - 10th
An overview of the career of Spanish conquistador Hernando De Soto including a brief analysis of the effects his explorations in the southern portions of North America had on the natives of that region.
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Website
Curated OER

National Park Service: De Soto National Memorial

For Students Pre-K - 1st
A description of Hernando De Soto's involvement in expeditions in the New World, hinting at but not fully describing his exploration of La Florida and much of the rest of southern North America prior to his deat.
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Website
McGraw Hill

Mc Graw Hill Higher Education: Old World, New Worlds

For Students 9th - 10th
This article from McGraw-Hill Higher Education discusses European exploration in the late 1400s and 1500s and its impact on English colonization hundreds of years later.
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Handout
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools

Loon Lake Elementary School: Hernando Cortes

For Students 3rd - 5th
A biography of Hernando Cortes (or Cortez) (1485 -1547), a Spanish adventurer who conquered what is now central and southern Mexico. His seizure of land, power, and wealth made him the greatest Spanish conqueror in the Americas. His...