Curated OER
Arizona!! How the Heck Did I End Up Here???
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.
Curated OER
Rollin' Down the River
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.
Curated OER
Nutrition and Health
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.
Library of Congress
Loc: Teaching With Primary Sources: Hispanic Exploration in America [Pdf]
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...
Other
American Journeys: Map of the Spanish Entrada Into North America [Pdf]
Map showing the routes taken by fourteen Spanish explorers in the Americas between 1509 and 1543.
Mariners' Museum and Park
Mariners' Museum: Francisco Pizarro
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...
Other
Eldritch Press: Cabeza De Vaca's Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America
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...
Success Link
Success Link: Explorer Poetry Booklet
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.
Other
The Conquest of North America by Hernando De Soto, Coronado and Cabeza De Vaca
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.
Library of Congress
Loc: 1562 Map of America by Diego Gutierrez
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.
Tennessee History For Kids
Tennessee History for Kids: Part Two, Explorers and Long Hunters
This website provides information about two early explorers in Tennessee, Hernando de Soto and Daniel Boone.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Exploring Borderlands:christopher Columbus
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.
Mariners' Museum and Park
Mariners' Museum: The Ages of Exploration: Age of Discovery
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...
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.
Curated OER
Etc: Routes of Spanish Explorers, 1513 1565
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).
A&E Television
History.com: Hispanic History Milestones: Timeline
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...
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.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: The Columbian Exchange
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...
Soft Schools
Soft Schools: Amerigo Vespucci Timeline
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.
Soylent Communications
Notable Names Database|nndb: Vasco Nunez De Balboa
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.
Soylent Communications
Notable Names Database|nndb: Francisco Pizarro
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.
Library of Congress
Loc: Parallel Histories: Coronado
A brief description of Coronado's life and adventures with links to original and related documents, including illustrations and explorer notes.
Bullock Texas State History Museum
Bullock Museum: American Indians
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.
University of Calgary
European Voyages of Exploration: 15th & 16th Centuries
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...