Although this is a commercial site (they tend to tout their CD
series), it does have rich online content - World Timelines,
America's Wars, Statistical information and maps on world nations,
over 400 primary US History documents, and biographies of the 500
most important people of the 20th century. Very worthwhile.
The Columbus Navigation
Homepage - everything you ever wanted to know about Columbus and his voyages.
http://www1.minn.net/~keithp/
Discoverers
Web - All kinds of information found on the web about voyages of discovery
and exploration - with timelines and maps. It also has an alphabetical list
of explorers
Explorers
of the World
This is a comprehensive site from Bellingham, Washington
that asks "What kinds of people chose a life of exploration?". Nice
links to biographical data. A good source if you are requiring a biography of
a person who has pushed the human boundaries of land, ideas, the sky and the
arts.
http://www.bham.wednet.edu/explore.htm
Explorers
This is a primary/intermediate site for from the Mountain
City Elementary School in Tennessee. It's very basic but will provide information
and activities that younger students can do on their own.
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/explorers/explorers_start.htm
Conquistadors
From a PBS series, this site features Cortes, Pizarro, Orellana
and Cabeza de Vaca and the devastating results of their quests. This is an ...
"innovative educational resource for middle and high school classrooms
to learn about the Spanish Conquistadors in the New World – and the legacy
of their contact with Native Americans. There are extensive lesson plans for
teachers and in-depth online content for students available in both English
and Spanish."
http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/
InfoNation
An
incredible, current database of countries of the world from the United Nation's
Cyber-schoolbus. You can click on up to 7 countries and 4 different variables
(area, temperature etc) and get an easy to read chart to use with country comparisons.
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/infonation/e_infonation.htm
National
Geographic Map Machine
This is a dynamic, interactive online atlas
that will zoom into a map of any part of the world and return a printable version
of the search.
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/
A terrific resource from the Geography and Map Division of
the Library of Congress. These digital maps include "General Maps",
"Cities and Towns", "Conservation and Environment", "Discovery
and Exploration", "Cultural Landscapes", "Military Battles
and Campaigns" and "Transportation and Communication" You can
Search by Keyword | Browse the Subject Index | Creator Index | Geographic Location
Index | Title Index.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html
Great material for the teacher who wants to dig deeper into the
history and culture of the land that gives us this enduring racing
tradition - a depth of material here. If you're looking to implement
an Alaska unit in which the Iditarod is one component, this is a
great place to start.
The Annual Iditarod Dogsled Race
This is the official website for the yearly Iditarod Race - great for following
the action each year and a great reference for mapping and math lessons.
Neal Brown hosts this site, which includes a nice segment on the
Aurora Borealis and a good presentation of remote mapping. There are
links for further study and an interesting section on rockets.
This is an excellent resource for state reports. Site contains
the 2000 census population figures, climate details, state symbols,
and many facts of interest. Perfect for comparing and contrasting
other states with our own.
Be patient as a fantastic NASA image downloads showing the entire
world at night. It can help to identify industrial and urban areas on
all the continents. Great starting point for discussions about
urbanization and use of energy as well as the cause and effect
relationship of physical features of the planet. The photograph is a
composite of hundreds of pictures taken from Defense Meteorological
Satellites.
"Follow in Darwin's footsteps, courtesy of Passport to Knowledge,
to the heart of our planet's largest rainforest, guided by some of
the world's leading biologists." The Geosystem maps and graphics set
rainforests in a planetary perspective. The Ecosystem link provides a
gallery of images and information on the trees, plants, birds,
animals and insects of the rainforest. It's a wonderful virtual
expedition to find out about the organisms and issues of the world's
rainforests. NSF (the National Science Foundation) and other public
and private collaborators support passport to Knowledge, in
part.
CIA Kids
Page - Don't be intimidated! This site has great links to the World Facts
Book, a history page of famous people and a super world geography section.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/ciakids/index.shtml
Geographia - Just in
time for Multicultural Month. The description of this site says that "...users
will find immense amounts of information on a number of countries and places.
This is a great smorgasbord of information for history, political science, culture
and area studies, and geography teachers and students. The site brims with content!"
http://www.geographia.com/
Flags and Maps
of the World - Easy to navigate site to get national flags and maps of countries
of the world. Search by continent or alphabetical list of countries. Great resource
for graphics to use with multicultural activities and reports.
By the publishers of Time Magazine - a great current events site
updated weekly. Site offers 2 reading levels - Gr. 2-3 and Gr.
4-6.
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