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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Influence of Physical Geography

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the limits and demands of their physical world and how it relates to the survival and well-being of people.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nutrition and Health

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers explore the conditions faced while sailing on the ocean regarding health and physical fitness. They experience the importance of Vitamin C. Students analyze the cause of many diseases and sicknesses on the ships.
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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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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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Handout
Tennessee History For Kids

Tennessee History for Kids: Part Two, Explorers and Long Hunters

For Students 3rd - 8th
This website provides information about two early explorers in Tennessee, Hernando de Soto and Daniel Boone.
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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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Lesson Plan
Success Link

Success Link: Explorer Poetry Booklet

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
After a study of explorers in the Americas, students write poetry to show what they know about individual explorers. This lesson plan gives guidelines, ways to adapt the lesson, a graphic organizer, and scoring guide.
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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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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
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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Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: 1562 Map of America by Diego Gutierrez

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the life and work of Spanish cartographer Diego Gutierrez, who mapped the Americas in 1562. Also view his map, which was the largest and most detailed map of the region for a century.
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Handout
Other

Texas Bob: The First Europeans in Texas: 1528 1536

For Students 9th - 10th
One of the first Europeans to penetrate the interior of Texas, read Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca's account of his shipwreck and eventual return to the Spanish Court.
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Website
British Library

British Library: The Search for the Northwest Passage

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
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.
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Handout
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools

Loon Lake Elementary School: Cabeza De Vaca

For Students 3rd - 5th
A biography of Cabeza de Vaca (1490-1557), a Spanish explorer in both North and South America. This site has a Google widget that will translate the page into many languages.
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Graphic
University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas: Exploration and Settlement Before 1675

For Students 9th - 10th
A great map showing the explorations of Spanish, French, and English explorers in North America between 1530 and 1675. A detailed key identifies each explorer and route. From the Perry-Castaneda Collection
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Article
A&E Television

History.com: Hispanic History Milestones: Timeline

For Students 9th - 10th
The American Hispanic/Latinx history is a rich, diverse and long one, with immigrants, refugees and Spanish-speaking or Indigenous people living in the United States since long before the nation was established. America's Hispanic...
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Website
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: Europe's North South Conflicts Reach the Americas

For Students 9th - 10th
An essay detailing early English and French exploration and settlement in the New World to challenge Spanish control.
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Interactive
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: The Columbian Exchange

For Students 3rd - 8th
In this interactive lesson supporting literacy skills, students watch video dramatizations that tell the story of the Spanish explorers who arrived in the Americas with Columbus and introduced European, African, and Asian plants and...
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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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Website
Soylent Communications

Notable Names Database|nndb: Francisco Pizarro

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Known for conquering Peru for Spain in the sixteenth century, Francisco Pizarro moved north along the coast to discover Central America. He is highlighted in this biography.
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Article
Bullock Texas State History Museum

Bullock Museum: American Indians

For Students 9th - 10th
Immerse in the campfire stories of the people who defined Texas. Find out about how the two Americas: the Europeans' version, and the American Indians' version, started changing forever.
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Website
Curated OER

National Park Service: Cabrillo National Monument

For Students 9th - 10th
This website contains a wealth of information concerning the life of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the National Monument that was built in his memory, and his discovery of California.
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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...
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Handout
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools

Loon Lake Elementary School: Hernando De Soto

For Students 3rd - 5th
A biography of Hernando De Soto (1500?-1542), a Spanish explorer who led the first European expedition to reach the Mississippi River. His group arrived at the river in 1541 during a search for gold. De Soto also took part in the Spanish...