Social-Studies

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 **Westward Expansion** [|Establishing Borders: The Expansion of the United States 1846-48] offers geography and history activities showing how two years in history had an indelible impact on American politics and culture. Students interpret historical maps, identify territories acquired by the U.S., identify states later formed from these territories, examine the territorial status of Texas, and identify political, social, and economic issues related to the expansion of the U.S. in the 1840s. (Smithsonian Institution) [|The Homestead Act of 1862] recounts efforts to improve homesteading laws and make land ownership possible for more settlers. The distribution of government lands had been an issue since the Revolutionary War. "Preemption" -- settling the land first and paying for it later -- became national policy; however, supporting legislation was stymied until the secession of Southern states. See one of the first applications for land under this law. Teaching activities are included. (National Archives and Records Administration) [|The Donner Party] provides a transcript, map, and essays for a TV program that tells the harrowing tale of what tragically became one of the most famous of wagon trains. The Donner party set out from Springfield, Illinois, for California in the spring of 1846. In July, following advice from a guide book, they split off from the main body of the wagon train to take an untried shortcut. Read excerpts from the diary of a Donner party survivor. (WGBH, National Endowment for the Humanities) [|California as I saw It: First Person Narratives of California's Early Years 1849-1900] [|Lewis and Clark Trail Map] [|Lewis & Clark Traveling Exhibit] [|Discovering Lewis and Clark] [|American Journeys] Eyewitness accounts of early American exploration and settlement: A digital library and learning center [|Lewis and Clark Exhibit] [|Lewis and Clark Virtual Tour and Animations] Library of Congress [|Zoom into Maps] Library of Congress, Exploration, migration, settlement, military, pictoral, etc [|Lewis and Clark: Mapping the West] [|The Lewis and Clark Expidition: Documenting the Uncharted Northwest] National Park Service, Maps, reading, images, and activities [|NPS Lewis and Clark] [|Teaching with Documents: The Lewis and Clark Expedition] Government Archives **Maps** [|Nationalatlas.gov] is a primary source of U.S. maps and geographic information. Zoom in on your state and make your own map by selecting features to display: cities and counties, roads and rivers, population and 109th congressional districts, crops and livestock, amphibians and butterflies, air and water quality, earthquakes and land cover, forest types, and more. Print a U.S. map (with or without names of states and capitals). Find an aerial photo of your neighborhood. (Department of the Interior) [|Land Use History of North America] examines how we have used land since the 1700s and how the land has changed. Topics include population settlement and farmland, urban sprawl and soil resources, flora species, urbanization in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, landcover changes in the Great Lakes region, vegetation along the upper Mississippi River, biodiversity in the Yellowstone ecosystem, and landscape changes in the Southwest. (U.S. Geological Survey) [|Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms] offers lesson plans built around historically important maps on 18 topics: Columbus's world (1482), an Indian map of the Southeast (1721), Captain Cook and Hawaii (1778), "Nouvelle Orleans" and nearby French settlements (1723), the road from Missouri to Oregon (1843), turnpikes, canals, and railroads (1835), the transcontinental rail network (1878), a British plan of Boston (1775), World War II (1944), a farm in Illinois (1874), and Los Angeles (1979), and more. (Newberry Library, National Endowment for the Humanities) [| Geography: U.S. Geological Survey] provides online maps and map tools. Find maps that are popular with teachers, tools for teaching students how to read maps (and make them), resources on land use (changing landscapes), satellite images related to the journey of Lewis and Clark. Design your own map to display boundaries, geographic names, transportation systems, water, land cover, climate, and geology. (U.S. Geological Survey) [|Map Collections: 1544-1996] offers thousands of digitized online maps. The collections are broken into seven categories, cities and towns, conservation and environment, discovery and exploration, immigration and settlement, military battles and campaigns, transportation and communication, and general maps. (Library of Congress) [|U.S. Geological Survey: Education] is an earth science education resource offering information on plants and animals, land, water, and maps. The site features a list of U.S. Geological Survey educational materials, activities and lessons for the classroom, and information about careers in the natural sciences. (U.S. Geological Survey) [|Railroad Maps of North America] offers progress report surveys for individual railroad lines, official government surveys, promotional maps, maps showing land grants and rights-of-way, and route guides published by commercial firms illustrate the growth of travel and settlement as well as the development of industry and agriculture in the United States. (Library of Congress) [|Water Resources Education Resources] is a collection of classroom activities that teach students about the properties of water. There is an interactive center where students can give opinions and test their water knowledge, "FrogWeb," which focuses on amphibian declines and deformities, free education posters on wetlands and water use, and more. (U.S. Geological Survey) [|Panoramic Maps, 1847-1929] is a digitalized collection of this once popular cartographic form used to depict U.S. and Canadian cities and towns during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Known also as bird's-eye views, perspective maps, and aero views, panoramic maps are non-photographic representations of cities portrayed as if viewed from above at an oblique angle. Although not generally drawn to scale, they show street patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape features in perspective. (Library of Congress) [|George Washington] [|Benjamin Franklin] [|Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words] Library of Congress, Exhibition [|America's Founding Fathers] [|The Presidents] Official White House Website [|First Ladies] [|Early American Leaders] [|American Leaders Speak] Library of Congress, Recordings from WWI and the 1920 Election [|Frederick Douglass] Virtual Tour of National Historic Site [|Martin Luther King, Jr] National Historic Site  **U.S. Government and Law** [|Our Government] Official White House Website [|The Constitution] [|The Constitution] From Government Archives [|Declaration of Independence] [|Interactive Constitution] [|Teaching with Documents: U.S. Constitution Workshop] [|Constitution Toolkit] Library of Congress, News articles, maps, pictures, diary entries, etc [|Teaching with Documents: Celebrating Constitution Day] Government Archives [|When the Work is Done] is a lesson plan that uses photographs as primary sources and that can help students develop historical analysis skills. After completing the introductory lesson using photographs as primary sources, students compile their own albums based on a thesis statement about life in the 20th century. (Library of Congress)  **U.S. History** [|Understanding Slavery] [|Veterans History Project] Written and oral histories of war veterans [|Picturing Modern America] helps students learn about modern America (1880-1920) by analyzing primary sources. Topics include immigration, the city, women and suffrage, industrialization, the West, children's lives, leisure time, progressive reform, and World War I. Three kinds of exercises are offered: analyzing a single document, exploring a theme (prairie settlement, for instance), and creating an online exhibit. (Education Development Center, National Endowment for the Humanities) [|The Price of Freedom: Americans at War] [|On the Homefront] features posters and images illustrating some of the ways American's at home contributed to war efforts overseas during World Wars I and II. The images are presented in 5 categories: volunteer work, civil defense, conservation, economic initiatives, and patriotic support. (Library of Congress) [|Color Photographs of America between the Great Depression and WWII] [|From Slavery to Civil Rights] is a timeline of African-American history. Photos, broadsides, maps, and other items are organized around time periods: slavery, abolition, antebellum, Civil War, reconstruction, progressive era, World War I, between the wars, World War II, and civil rights. (Library of Congress)  **Civil War** [|The Gettysburg Address] Library of Congress [|Selected Civil War Photographs] Library of Congress [|Gettysburg National Military Park] [|Portraits of Named Civil War Enlisted Men] [|The Civil War Through a Child's Eye] [|Teaching With Documents: Letters, Telegrams, and Photographs Illustrating Factors that Affected the Civil War] allows students to analyze a variety of documents to identify events, actions, and individuals who contributed to the Civil War's outcome. This lesson correlates to the National History Standards and the National Standards for Civics and Government. It also has cross-curricular connections with your history, government, and American literature. (National Archives and Records Administration) [|What do you see?] Using photographs to understand the Civil War and Industrialization [|Civil War Maps]  **World War I (The Great War)** [|Teaching with Documents: The Zimmerman Telegram] is lesson plan aims to help students understand the causes of World War I and why the U.S. intervened. [|The Great War: PBS Documentary] [|A Guide to WWI Resources] Library of Congress [|What are we fighting for over there? Perspectives of the Great War]  **World War II** [|The Battle of Midway] [|Teaching About the Holocaust] [|Women Come to the Front: Journalists, Photographers, and Broadcasters during WWII] [|Remembering Pearl Harbor: The USS Arizona Memorial] [|Teaching with Documents: "A Date Which Will Live in Infamy"] [|Pearl Harbor Raid] U.S. Navy [|United States Holocaust Museum] Online Student Activities [|Pictures of World War II] [|After the Day of Infamy: Man-on-the-Street-Interviews] [|Holocaust Encyclopedia] [|World War II Military Situation Maps] [|Teaching with Documents: Powers of Persuasion--Poster Art of World War II]
 * Links**
 * Famous People **

[|Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco]

[|Have Fun with History] Videos, activities, and other resources for students and teachers.