All Grades
Mr. Dowling's Electronic
Passport
Mr. Dowling is a middle school geography teacher in Florida. He provides extensive
information about subjects such as Prehistory, Ancient Egypt, Colonial Africa,
China, Canada, Conflicts in the Middle East, Modern Europe and the World Wars.
Links to other sites and quizzes are included. The downside is that there are
pop-under ads. Sixth and seventh grade - Start Here!!
Lives, the Biography Resource
Links to thousands of biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, diaries, letters,
narratives, oral histories and more. *Individual lives of the famous, the infamous,
and the not so famous. *Group biographies about people who share a common profession,
historical era or geography. *Also general collections, resources on biographical
criticism and special collections.
EyeWitness:
History through the eyes of those who lived it
This site uses primary sources of eyewitness accounts to tell stories throughout
history. Included is the ancient world, middle ages, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th
centuries, the Civil War, the old west, and the World Wars.
Hyper
History
HyperHistory is an expanding scientific project presenting 3,000 years of world
history with an interactive combination of synchronoptic lifelines, timelines,
and maps. There are over 2000 files on this site presented in a way that gives
the viewer an overview of history on all continents.
National
Geographic GeoBee Challenge
Each day five new questions from the National Geographic Bee are posted. This
would be a quick way to reinforce geography to the class.
Sixth Grade - Early Civilization
A
Timeline of Costume History
This site is a pictorial history of costume from Ancient Egypt to the 1980's.
Nova
Online - Pyramids
The PBS show Nova takes you on a virtual tour of the pyramids.
The
Seven Wonders of the World
The Ancient
Egypt Site
Everything you ever wanted to know!
Mr. Donn's Ancient Civilization page
Everything there is can be found here.
Cave
of Lascaux
Take a virtual tour of the
Lascaux Cave and see the paintings of prehistoric people. Learn about the location
of the cave and its discovery on Thursday, September 12, 1940 by four teenagers.
Site was established by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication
Cave
Art: A follow up project to Maroo and the Winter Caves by Ann Turnbull
You are a clan of four Early Humans holed up in your cave during a storm. The
eldest of your clan, a storyteller, is near death. He/she has asked you to depict
the history of your clan on the walls of the cave to help preserve it for future
generations of the clan. Since the cave is small and space is limited, your
clan must decide what important aspects of early human life should be included.
The problem is that each member of the clan is a different person with different
opinions about what is important in clan life.
Mesas
and Mammoths
Work like a detective alongside the discoverers of 12,000 year old artifacts.
Piece together the tale of America's first settlers through articles and classroom
activities. A number of suggested classroom activities for teachers accompany
the articles.
Write
like a Babylonian
Proverbs
of Ancient Sumeria
Here is a list of 17 proverbs from Ancient Sumer. What do they tells us about
the culture of that time and place? How do they compare with ancient Chinese
and African proverbs? These proverbs from the Ancient World Sourcebook at Fordham
University would be great fun to illustrate and make into posters.
Sumerian
and Babylonian Numerals
Here are examples from the
number system used by Sumerians and Babylonians. How does it compare with ours?
also Egyptian and Hindu-Arabic. Compare these numbers to those of other ancient
peoples.
Mesopotamia
Explore the geography, trade, writing, government, architecture, farming, science,
warfare, and religion of the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations of Sumer, Babylon
and Assyria. There are separate "chapters" for each with stories (many
illustrated), maps and activities.
Ancient
Near East: Odyssey Online
Have you ever heard the ancient Near East called "The Cradle of Civilization?"
What does that mean? Let's begin by defining a "civilization." What
practices or characteristics define a civilization? Explore this site to find
out what scholars think. (includes Egypt, Rome, Greece)
Akbar's
Dilemma: Religion of Ancient Mesopotamia
Students will identify the role religion played in the everyday lives of ordinary
Mesopotamians. They will recognize that Mesopotamian religion stressed ritual
for the here and now as opposed to any concern for the afterlife.
Ancient
Tablets, Ancient Graves: Assessing Women's Lives in Mesopotamia
Using excerpts from ancient cuneiform tablets Lynn Reese, Director of the Women
in World History Project, asks students to evaluate the quality and the characteristics
of women's lives in Ancient Mesopotamia. The information literacy skills taught
in this lesson are interpreting and evaluating primary source documents.
Create
Your Own Sumerian City-State - A Problem-based Activity
This is your Mesopotamia City Designing Supervisor. I have invited you all here
to design a Sumerian city state. It is 3,500 B.C. and I think it is about time
we all find a location to settle down and build ourselves a little community.
The incentive you ask? The designers that bring me the best city plans will
get their plan approved and a city will be built and named after them! The winning
plan must include a very detailed description with visuals of the following:
geography, occupations, farming, and government. Each group will be given time
to show and convince me and my panel members (the class) that its city-state
is the best and fits the criteria of a successful community!
A
New Look at Ancient Egypt
What are hieroglyphs? what was the role of a pharaoh? who were the gods and
goddesses the ancient egyptians worshipped? what was life like for the average
Egyptian citizen? See Egypt through new eyes!
Ancient
Egypt Online
This site by the Royal Ontario Museum provides clear information about mummies
and tombs, and descriptions of Egyptian writing with visuals explaining phonograms,
ideograms and combinations of both. Also included is a list of Egyptian phonograms
closest to English so that students can create and translate messages.This virtual
museum site is organized for easy classroom use and has activities in hieroglyphic
writing and mummy making to accompany the information.
University
of Memphis Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology
Become the next Indiana Jones as you learn to walk like an Egyptian. From this
site you can examine ancient Egyptian artifacts located within the University
as well as tour over a dozen ancient sites located in and around the Nile River.
This is definitely a trip worth taking, and once there, you will undoubtedly
find it hard to leave. This site is by the University of Memphis Institute of
Egyptian Art and Archaeology.
Cyber
Journey to Egypt
Have you always wanted to go to Egypt? Here's your chance to visit Giza, Saqqara,
Dahshur, Meidum, Abu Sir, Abu Ghurab and much more without leaving your computer!!
Through this web site you can explore Egypt through clear digital pictures from
the ongoing CyberJourney. Join inongoing conversations about ancient Egypt through
Guardian's Ancient Egypt Bulletin Board. The site was developed by Andrew Guardian,
an Egyptologist but an amateur webmaster. There are technical glitches but the
information is great. This site was featured on CNN.
Ancient
Egypt - Geography
Here is a geographic sketch of Ancient Egypt, through 1886 (Pre-Aswan Dam).
It links to material on human interaction with the Nile to create the Egyptian
culture. National Geography Standard 17: Understands how geography is used to
interpret the past.
Master
Tomb Builder
Ramses II has made a call for workmen to build his eternal resting place along
the Nile. It is to be the grandest pyramid complex of them all. You have been
chosen as a designer of part of this complex. Your task is to create and present
your plan for one part of the complex. Good luck in having your plan chosen.
Ancient
Egypt Webquest
You must locate the burial mask of the Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen
(King Tut.) On the inside of the mask is written a message that if successfully
decoded could solve our earth's environmental crisis. Your quest is to decode
the Ancient Egyptian message and return to our time. To be successful, you must
utilize all your available resources (books, experts, and your computer.) Your
quest will be completed when each mission is finished successfully.
Ancient
Egypt for Students
How different were the Ancient Egyptians from how we are today? Find out for
yourself by comparing the Great Pyramid with the Empire State and the Transamerica
buildings, the Sphinx with the Statue of Liberty and Mt. Rushmore, mummifications
with cryonics, and papermaking then and now.
Ancient
Greece
Based on the Museum's permanent exhibit by the same name, this virtual exhibit
uses artifacts to provide a vivid picture of all aspects of life in ancient
Greece, including life in the home, warfare, religion and trade.
The
Corinth Computer Project
A first-of-its-kind educational website that digitally reveals the ancient Roman
city of Corinth, Greece. Incorporating historical, literary and archaeological
data, it features a 3D fly-through of Corinth , a Quicktime movie of the Roman
forum, interactive stone for stone archaeological plans, digital maps, 3D models,
site photographs, satellite images, interactive GIS data and literary texts.
The
Real Story of the Ancient Olympic Games
Were the ancient games better than ours? More fair and square? More about sports
and less about money? Are modern games more sexist? More political? Have we
strayed from the ancient Olympic ideal? Read on and decide for yourself. Take
the Q/A surveys and tell us where you stand on the issues.
Aesop's
Fables
Here is an online collection of over 600 Aesop Fables indexed in a table by
title and moral. Included are Real Audio narrations for many of the fables.
The site links to some teacher resources as well. You will need to download
Real Audio to enjoy the narrations. These short pieces would make wonderful
text for student illustrated books or web pages.
Ancient
Greece: Odyssey Online
Why is there so much fascination with ancient Greece? It's nothing new...Greek
culture with its rich myths, theater, architecture, and sports has influenced
and inspired people for centuries. In this section of Odyssey Online we'll explore
Greek objects to learn more about the ancient Greeks and their rich cultural
legacy. This site was developed by the Michael Carlos Museum at Emory University.
Daily
Life in Ancient Greece
How would you have behaved if you had lived in ancient Sparta? Or in ancient
Athens? Or in Corinth, Argos, or Megara? Meet the Greeks! They were a riot!
Choose your city-state! This awesome website was developed by Mrs. Donn's 5th
grade class. It is a great teaching resource but should not be considered authoritative.
A
Walk Through Time
This is an interesting page about calendars and how they differ from civilization
to civilization. There are also links to clocks, and time zones. There are nice
black and white graphics included.
Creative
Impulses: China
This site has links to information on China's history, people, and culture organized
for easy research. There is a good description of each linkso that students
can focus their research.
Mr.
Dowling's Electronic Passport to Chinese History
This selection from Mr. Dowlings's description of Chinese history is a student-friendly
set of pages that is part of his larger Electronic Passport project. It includes
a dicussion of the following: Chinese dynasties, Confucius, Legalists, the Great
Wall, the Mongols, Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan, the Silk Road, and Marco Polo.
The site's developer, Rick Dowling, is a middle school teacher in Florida so
the site is pitched to that level of students but it is not necessarily authoritative.
Architecture
of India
One definition of a great civilization is the magnificence of its architectural
legacy, and India is surely among the foremost. This weel-organized and award
winning site has a full discussion and pictures of archiecture in india begiing
with the Indus Valley Civilation, through the evolution of the temple, rock
cut sculpture and discriptions of some of the most famous sites in India. India
Nest was rated the best website on Indian Architecture by Encyclopedia Britannica.
Stories
from India
In this "Kids Corner" section of the INDOlink site, there are stories
from Indian mythology, Jataka tales, and other literature about festivals and
famous people. This is difficult-to-find information in a student-friendly format.
Ancient
Indian Mathematics
This site describes the history of Indian mathematics in the following articles:
An overview of Indian mathematics, Indian numerals, the Indian Sulbasutras,
Jaina mathematics, the Bakhshali manuscript, a history of zero, a history of
Pi, and a chronology of Pi. Then biographies of 30 Indian mathematiciains who
lived between 800 B.C.E. and the 17th century C.E. are provided. This site was
developed and is maintained by the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University
of St. Andrews, Scotland.
Daily
Life in India
What did the ancient Indians wear? What did they eat? Did kids play with toys?
Did they go to school? This site shares daily life in three major time periods
of ancient India history. Come explore with us. This is an awesome student created
page from Mrs. Donn's 6th grade class. Remember student created pages should
not be used as a single authentic source but part of broader research with scholarly
sites.
Ancient
Rome: Odyssey Online
Monuments built by Romans are found throughout the Mediterranean and beyond.
They were a physical connection between the lands controlled by Rome and Rome
herself - "caput mundi" - the capital of the civilized world. Throughout
the Empire these structures symbolized the power of Rome. Look at objects that
were made in the city of Rome and in the provinces that formed the Roman Empire.
All of these materials will help us discover more about this fascinating civilization.
This site was developed by the Michael Carlos Museum at Emory University.
From
a City-State Ruled by Petty Kings to a World Empire
Throughout its 1100 year history, the Roman government had features much like
our own. Learn about the kings of early Rome, the Roman Senate, the evolution
of the Roman government during the Early Republic and the government and bureaucracy
in the Late Roman Empire. This site by a CSU San Jose professor of history but
it is designed with middle school students in mind.
Ancient
Roman Technology Site
This is a great site for information about how the Romans did things to survive
and the clever inventions they made to improve the quality of life. Great for
comparisons to today's world of technology.
Daily
Life in Ancient Rome
If you had lived in ancient times, would you have chosen to become a Roman citizen?
You might have! They had a lot of fun. The ancient Romans invented more games
than any other culture. Come join the Empire! Find out what the ancient Romans
did. This is an awesome student-created website from Mrs. Donn's 6th grade class.
It should not be consered authoritative, however.
Seventh Grade - Physical and Cultural World Geography
National
Geographic GeoSpy
A flash game about geography. For example - a student has 180 seconds to find
53 countries on the continent of Africa.
Mission Europe
Hostilities - ThinkQuest
This site explores the impact of World War II on European countries. A letter
to the student asking them to accept the secret mission to learn about the countries
involved begins the activity. Students may take online quizzes at the end.
Today's Front
Pages
Daily pictures of the front pages from 26 countries around the world.
World
Travel Guide
This site is primarily aimed at travelers, but gives an overview of every country
in the world.
East
German Propaganda Archive
Search through posters, speeches translated into English, and pamphlets issued
by the former German Democratic Republic to find excellent examples of German
communist propaganda. Use this site to teach about the former GDR or use as
a lesson in propaganda.
7th Grade Islam
Project
... a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features
of ... respond
to historically or culturally significant works of world literature. ...
The
Atlas of Canada - Provincial and Territorial Course Listing
... a Global Perspective - Through Cultural Understanding
7th
Grade links from Jack London MS, D21
What
Happened to Whom? and
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/07/index.html
This lesson asks students to consider the natural disasters that might occur near their homes and to determine where it would be best to build a house in order to avoid damage from a natural disaster or storm. They will do the Stormy Stories online activity, research natural disasters and storms, and write reports pretending their families have sought their advice on the safest places to build a new home.
Cultural
Symbols and the Characteristics of Place and
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/hall/index.html?node=27
Monuments, fortresses, and other public structures form part of the cultural
landscapes of local, state, national, and world regions. They offer a wealth
of opportunities for analyzing and explaining the distribution of peoples and
their values, activities, and available resources. This lesson explores the
cultures of ancient and modern people as reflected in their cultural symbols.
Rich
Poor or Somewhere in the middle and
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/hall/index.html?node=45
This lesson offers students an opportunity to use economic and social indicators
to identify the connection between a country's access to resources and its economic
development.
Where
do your possessions come from? and
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/16/questgold.html
It's important for geography students to learn about the Earth's natural resources
and the ways that people use these resources. It's also important for students
to recognize that there are always environmental and human impacts related to
the resource extraction process. By learning about the activities involved in
producing their own belongings, students will gain an understanding of and appreciation
for the Earth's natural resources. In the process, they may become more conscious
consumers.
As students conduct their research, emphasize that they're learning about examples
of environmental and human impacts. Thus, if a student reads about the impact
of gold mining on a specific population of Native Americans or South American
mine workers, they cannot conclude that the gold in their own earrings was produced
by the same people, in the same manner, or with the same impacts. In fact, it's
very difficult to tell where the materials in their specific possessions were
produced and extracted.
Oil
and water in the middle east region and
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/01/g68/mapmaking.html
and
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/01/crackcode.html
In this lesson, students will explore the roles of oil and water in the Middle
East, especially in Iraq . Students will use maps to look at the distribution
of oil in the Middle East and discuss what it means for the different countries
in the region. They will also examine how water has influenced the region historically
(in the "fertile crescent" region between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers) and politically (for example, how Iraq's access to water is limited
to one small part of its border). Finally, they will study specific aspects
of Iraq's struggles with water, using satellite imagery to understand and illustrate
the problem.
This lesson requires students to review the concepts of latitude and longitude
and to use these concepts to create maps of different countries on the computer.
They'll conclude by discussing the reasons why it's important to understand
latitude and longitude and by creating quizzes in which other students can locate
"mystery" places that they map on the computer.
Where
would you like to live? and
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/03/russianlights.html
As students may already know, they can learn a lot about the world by comparing
maps with various themes, such as population density and climate features. This
lesson asks them to compare thematic maps of the continents and the world as
a whole to determine where they would like to live (besides their own home region).
They'll view several online thematic maps and will conclude by writing paragraphs
describing the three places in the world they think they'd most like to live,
assuming they'd been asked to move far away from home.
Explore
the spatial patterns of your home town and
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/hall/index.html?node=22
Spatial patterns are all around us, from the arrangement of plants in our yards
to the positions of desks in our classrooms. The ability to recognize and describe
patterns within the distribution of physical and human features on Earth is
essential to developing a geographic perspective. In this lesson, students analyze
the distribution of businesses and residences within their own communities in
order to develop a more sophisticated understanding of already familiar places.
Eighth Grade
- U.S. Civil War to the Present
History
Wired
HistoryWired: A few of our favorite things is an experimental program through
which you can take a virtual tour of selected objects from the vast collections
of the National Museum of American History. Here you'll have an opportunity
to look at hundreds of museum artifacts, most of which are not currently on
exhibit.
Ben's Guide
to U.S. Government for Kids
This site presents information on our government at age appropriate levels.
Includes information on the Constitution.
American Memory
Library of Congress Washington, DC
The National Digital Library, a project of the Library of Congress, established
American Memory as the official repository of America digital resources. America
Memory is the most extensive collection of social studies related digital resources
available. Their holdings include more the 3 million documents in over 70 collections.
LOC Lesson Plans for the Constitution:
In Congress Assembled
The Constitution: Counter Revolution or National Salvation?And from the National Archives Digital Classroom
Observing Constitution Day
The
Biography of America
This site divides the history of America into sections, lists the main events
of the period, provides transcripts of the time and includes Web resources for
each period.
The
Time of the Lincolns
This PBS site is a companion to the movie "Abraham and Mary Lincoln: a
House Divided". There is much information about the time and the Civil
War, as well as the Lincolns.
The
Underground Railroad - National Geographic
This wonderful interactive site puts the viewer in the shoes of a slave. What
would you do?
EyeWitness Snapshots
This site has taken four pictures from the 1900's in America and provided information
about that time in history. For example, the snapshot of immigrants on the deck
of a ship heading to New York has stories about immigration, city life at the
turn of the century, and a fire in a shirtwaist factory where many immigrants
worked.
The New Americans
- the Immigration Story
This PBS site tells the story of ordinary people who come to America to seek
a better life.
American
Cultural History - the Twentieth Century
This site provides an overview of each decade of the 20th century in America.
Tour of Arlington
Heights
This ELF developed site includes many pictures of historical Arlington Heights.
This could be incorporated into the study of the time period around the turn
of the century.
Illinois
Constitution WebQuest
This WebQuest consists of ten lessons for the students to print out and complete.
The creators wrote this site with the Illinois Constitution test in mind.
U.S.
Government & Civics Lesson Plans & Activities including all of the
following:
Modern Local Government: Town Meeting Simulation
In Congress Assembled (Continuity and Change, lessons)
Congress Link
PBS Kids Democracy Project (How does the government affect me?)
Constitution & Bill of Rights
The Documents
The U.S.Constitution
Amendments 1-27 (Bill of Rights) - list
Lesson Plans & Activities
Creating Classroom Constitutions - Opening Lesson Plan
Constitution (Trinity)
The Constitution: Principles & Structures of American Democracy
The United States Constitution
Constitution and Economy Lesson Plan
The Constitution in American History Lesson Plans
The Constitution: Debate on Ratification (lesson activity)
Creating a Bill of Rights - Opening lesson plan
Bill of Rights UNIT
Bill of Rights Day Mini-Unit
Freedom of the Press Lesson Plan (Freedom of Speech)
School Violence and the Second Amendment
4th Amendment: Search & Seizure Lesson Plan
4th Amendment - Do I have a right to privacy?
Reworking the Bill of Rights Lesson Plan
Students' Rights (Role Play)
14th Amendment UNIT (6th)
Winning the Right to Vote (19th)
Ballots, Bloomers, Boycotts
Women's Rights in the 1800's (lesson plans)
Constitutional Community (35 lesson plans)
Lesson Ideas
Rewrite the Declaration of Independence . After the kids try to do this, ask them: Is it difficult? What are you missing? What flexibility did you leave for future leaders? Could someone misunderstand your meaning? Justify your answer!
Write an amendment to the Constitution about which you feel strongly today. Use the language of the existing Constitution.
Give examples of what you can do today in your everyday life that are protected by the Bill of Rights.
Civil Liberties & Security
Police misconduct and reform
Laws & Policies
Analyzing Civil Liberties (Lesson Plan)
Civil Liberties & Security (Awesome Library)
Politics of Rage - Terrorism (Lesson Plans & Links)
Law Units & Lesson Plans
Laws & Policies
Law UNITS (middle school)
A Child's Rights in the Eyes of the Law UNIT (6th)
How a Bill Becomes a Law (Civil Rights Act 1964)
The Civic Mind (lesson plans about the legal system)
Kids Privacy Act - Teachers Guide
The Fifth Freedom
The
Illinois History Resource Page
Description: A webliography of links to topics including the state's symbol
and song, government information, genealogy...
Eighth
Grade Virtual Resource Lessons and Constitution
WebQuest
Social Studies Grade 8.... Constitution WebQuest. Illinois Learning Standards
| WebQuests | Teacher Resources