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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Early Explorers

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discover why explorers left their homes to explore and how they played an important part in the discovery of the New World. Students create PowerPoint presentations of a specific explorer's journey and discoveries and the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Early European Explorers Map

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders create an explorer's map. In this explorers lesson students use a map of the world as reference to draw their own map of Europe, North America, Central America, and the Caribbean Islands. The students use their maps to show...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Explorers (Early European)

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Young scholars research and explore the past and its historical roots involving the economic motivations of early European explorers. They assess connections between the current technological advances in transportation and that of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Those Who Have Come Before Me

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Class members are transformed into explorers as they work in groups to locate hidden items and map their journey along the way. They then leave clues for other groups of students to follow, and ultimately discover how past explorations...
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Activity
Curated OER

European Explorers: Research Project

For Students 5th - 7th Standards
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, flag,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Early Settlements

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students embark on a journey through colonial times.  For this early settlement lesson, students come to understand what life was like for the settlers in the early colonies. Students research and create projects illustrating their new...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pangaea Puzzle: Exploring the Tectonic Forces That Shape the Earth

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders follow in the footsteps of early scientists as they put the pieces of Pangaea back together and discovered the forces that create the variety of landforms and sea-floor features of our Earth.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plotting A Hurricane Using latitude and Longitude

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore map and plotting skills by tracing the movement s of hurricanes through the Earth's systems. a hurricane map is developed from daily media reports.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Charting Neptune's Realm: Profiles

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students identify and describe the importance of nautical profiles in early navigation. They draw a profile of a street or mall and explore the effectiveness of different types of directions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Settlement Exploration: Then and Now

For Teachers 6th - 8th
NASA has crafted an imaginative and memorable series of lessons, "NASA and Jamestown Education Module." This instructional activity is one of the five components. In it, middle schoolers connect history and science by comparing the...
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Workbook
Student Handouts

Christopher Columbus Workbook

For Students 2nd - 4th Standards
Youngsters gain ample reading comprehension practice while studying the history of Christopher Columbus with this great workbook! It includes word puzzles and comprehension checks of multiple assessment styles, including multiple choice,...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Social Media Toolbox

Ethical Decision Making

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
When faced with a dilemma, how do journalists decide how much news to use? Social media scholars explore the philosophies of ethical resolution in the first of a 16-part Social Media Toolbox series. Partnered pupils use a Potter Box to...
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Lesson Plan
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University of California

Containing Communism Abroad

For Teachers 11th Standards
Learn more about the policy of the United States to contain communism during the Cold War. The fifth installment of an eight-part series looks at primary and secondary materials about a challenging time in history. After analyzing the...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

A Growing Global Power

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
How does a nation turn into a global superpower? The 16th installment of the 22-part series on American history investigates the rise of the United States to global importance in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Groups...
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Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

The Physical Sciences at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The history of science instruction at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is the focus of a lesson plan that explores the early challenges these institutions faced in accessing equipment for their labs and instructors...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

The Oregon Trail

For Students 4th - 5th
In this Oregon Trail worksheet, students practice their map skills while they explore the states of Oregon, Missouri, Idaho, Nebraska, and Wyoming. Students us a map of the US to plot six points on the map that show the Oregon Trail.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

BACK IN TIME

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students explain what is involved in exploration and settlement of new areas. They become explorers and discover their surroundings through various activities.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Explorations in American Environmental History

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders explore the historical perspective of nature and the environment.  In this American History lesson, 9th graders examine materials in a variety of formats to understand the contexts of America's concern for the environment.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Where Did Foods Originate? (Foods of the New World and Old World)

For Teachers K - 12th
What do papayas, peanuts, pineapples, and potatoes have in common? Why, they are foods explorers brought back to the Old World. Young researchers use the Internet to investigate how New World explorers helped change the Old World's diet....
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

King Philip's War

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
King Philip's War was the crescendo of a violent period between the Pequot and English colonists. Using documents from English settlers, including a contemporary report on the conflict, learners explore the little-known period. They then...
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PPT
Curated OER

The European Conquest of the Americas

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Witness the birth of the Americas in this presentation, which details the European Explorers who contributed to adding vital details on our modern-day maps. Viewers' worlds will literally expand after seeing the results of Cortes and the...
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PPT
Curated OER

The 13 Originals: Exploring the Who, When, Where, and Why Behind the 13 Original Colonies of Early America

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Discover the stories behind each of the thirteen stripes on the American flag with this straightforward presentation. Complete with learning objectives, discussion questions, and solid information about each of the original thirteen...
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Lesson Plan
California Academy of Science

A Day in the Life of a San Francisco Native Animal

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
Before Google, before Sillicon Valley, before the Gold Rush, the San Francisco landscape was a biome filled with grizzly bears, mule deer, tule elk, coyotes, gray fox, gophers, and moles. To explore the early days of yesteryear, kids...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

de Soto's Expedition: An Alternate Route

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Exploration Age lesson, 8th graders compare historical maps with new maps focusing on the route of Hernado de Soto.