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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Arizona!! How the Heck Did I End Up Here???

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Learners research the historical background of the potato. In this potato research lesson, students cut out the important dates in potato history. Learners make a timeline for the events.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rollin' Down the River

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students examine the contributions of Lewis and Clark. In this Louisiana Purchase lesson, students research Internet and print sources regarding the Lewis and Clark expedition.
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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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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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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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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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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
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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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Exploring Borderlands:christopher Columbus

For Students 9th - 10th
This passage features explorer Christopher Columbus as an author documenting his travels and experiences through letters and such. Click on "Christopher Columbus Activities" for related artifacts and activities.
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Website
Mariners' Museum and Park

Mariners' Museum: The Ages of Exploration: Age of Discovery

For Students 4th - 8th
This Age of Discovery page presents naval artifacts and explorers of the 15th century to the early 17th century. It looks at European explorers who journeyed to North and South America, the search for the Northwest Passage, and...
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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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Graphic
Curated OER

Etc: Routes of Spanish Explorers, 1513 1565

For Students 9th - 10th
A map of southern North America, Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico east the Mississippi Delta showing the routes of the early Spanish explorers Ponce de Leon (1513), De Narvaez (1528), and Hernando de Soto (1535-1542).
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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
Soft Schools

Soft Schools: Amerigo Vespucci Timeline

For Students 9th - 10th
A timeline illustrating the significant events of Amerigo Vespucci's life and legacy. Amerigo Vespucci is credited for being the first explorer to "discover" America by stating that it was a new country, not the West Indies.
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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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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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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
University of Calgary

European Voyages of Exploration: 15th & 16th Centuries

For Students 9th - 10th
This award-winning website from the University of Calgary's History Department is both impressive and extensive. It focuses on Portuguese and Spanish expeditions of the 15th and 16th centuries (the sitemap provides a good outline of...