Social Studies Web Sites

Diane E. Newby, Ed.D
Central Michigan University

Here is a hotlist of social studies Web sites for K-8 learners. The links are organized around the perspectives in the Michigan Framework for Social Studies. Teachers are encouraged to develop lesson ideas to help students interpret and analyze the information found at these sites.
SCoPE Social Studies Lesson Plans and Units (MDE)
K-2 Grade Level Expectations
K-3 Grade Level Expectations
Children's Literature
Social Studies Basic Concepts
Click here for lesson plans.
Civics

Middle Level Social Studies

 Famous Biographies
Geography Resources		 The Environment & The Earth
Online Maps
Economics
History
 Riverdeep Social Studies Xcursions
Electronic Zoo
About Michigan
Tools for Teachers
  • Michigan Framework for the Social Studies:  8th Grade Expectations
  • Center for Michigan History:  Michigan Epic
  • MDE Social Studies
  • Michigan Department of Education
  • National Social Studies Standards
  • National Council for the Social Studies
  • The United Nations Cyberschool Bus The United Nations Cyberschoolbus was created in 1996 as the online education component of the Global Teaching and Learning Project, whose mission is to promote education about international issues and the United Nations. The Global Teaching and Learning Project produces high quality teaching materials and activities designed for educational use (at primary, intermediate and secondary school levels).
  • Lesson Plans for K-8 teachers

    • Saving the Earth

  • Environmental Protection Agency for Kids (ages 5-12) Students explore their environment and find out about the neat things they can do to protect it. There are games pictures and stories.
  • Recycling Program - Earthdog's Adventure Earth Dog was once just a junk-yard dog and, like many humans, he didn't pay much attention to the environment. (Grades 1-3)
  • Water (Ages 5-12) Students learn about water pollution and its effects on the environment

    • The Electronic Zoo whas all kinds of information on animals. Click here for activities and information about dairy farming.

    Resources for Geography

  • Landforms  Photos
  • Landforms and Waterbodies
  • Online Atlas This online World Atlas includes maps and geographical information for the following entities: Alphabetical Listing of Countries and Continents, Blank Outline Maps of Each Country Countries Listed by Continent & Region U.S. States and Territories Cities of the World Oceans Territories and Dependencies - The CIA World Factbook
  • Plan your own trip using Fedor's Travel Guide.
  • National Geographic Online Magazine
  • National Geographic (Printable Maps) You've got the whole world in your hands and nearly 600 National Geographic maps at your fingertips.
  • National Parks by State Plan your trip state by state.
  • Longitude and Latitude
  • Rand McNally Travel Authority
  • Xerox PARC Map Viewer Maps of the 50 states and Washington, D.C.
  • Colorful Landform Atlas of the United States
  • U.S. National Wildlife Refuges A listing and detailed description of wildlife refuges and parks for each state.
  • MapQuest directions finder for country, state, city
  • Images for Teaching Geography excellent pictures of landforms and waterways
  • Treasure Hunt on China - Very similar to a WebQuest
  • World Surfari: Grades 3-5 Take a world safari to places such as Kenya, Japan, Jamaica.

    • Economics and Consumer Education

     
  • An Entreduction  Entrepreneurs are people who recognize

    • opportunities to develop new products and start new businesses. (3-5)
  • A Penny Saved is a Penny at 4.7% Earned 6-8
  • Beanie Baby Prices Soar 6-8 - Supply and Demand
  • Delivering the Goods K-2
  • Dog on Job  K-2
  • Hey, Mom! What's for Breakfast? (3-5)
  • History of Money
  • Old Business, New Business (3-5)
  • Woof, Woof, at Your Service K-2
  • U.S. Savings Bonds for Kids Includes a poster contest for kids in Grades 4-6 (with winning posters from past years), word puzzles for the kids, & a glossary of savings bond terms
  • The Mint The Mint is an economics and finance site for youth, their teachers, and parents. This very interactive site teaches the ins and outs of personal finance and basic economics.
  • Concepts of Investing Investing is a way to make money with your money. Graphs and step-by-step instructions for investing.
  • Investing for Kids


    • Graphs, Maps and Time Lines
    My Facts Page - Atlas and Maps

    wMichigan Indian Reservation Maps
  • Michigan Counties Maps
  • Michigan Historical Maps
  • Michigan Census Map
  • Michigan Census Database
  • Outline Maps
  • Create a Map Online You may create maps interactively at this site. Fill out the form,
    • submit your entries and a page with the desired map will be returned to your browser.
  • The maps are actually created by the "Generic Mapping Tools" (GMT).
  • Color Landform Maps of the US
  • Map Collection, State, City, County
  • Maps on Us
  • Mapathon
  • Mapblast
  • Using Timelines
  • Cultural Maps
  • City Maps
  • The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection (A List of Maps on Various Web Sites)

    • Explorers through The Civil War
    Indigenous Americans

  • Native Americans
  • First Nations Histories
  • Indians Discover Columbus
  • Indigenous Peoples Literature
  • Spanish Exploration and Conquest of Native America

    • Christopher Columbus
  • Why We Do Not Celebrate Columbus Day
  • Columbus Navigation Homage
  • Several Sites on the History of Columbus
  • What Came to be America
  • The Caribbean
  • Christopher Columbus: The Man and the Myth
  • Inventing America
  • Europe Claims America

    • Early Settlers

  • Mayflower Web
  • Girls on the Mayflower
  • Jamestown
  • Jamestown Historic Briefs
  • The Pilgrim Life Adventure:  A WebQuest
  • Founding of the Thirteen Colonies:  A WebQuest
  • A Brief History of Jamestown
  • Colonial Williamsburg
  • Colonial African Americans
  • Colonial Life Styles (Great Site for StoryPath)
  • Founding the 13 Colonies
  • The Original 13 Colonies
  • The Original 13 Colonies On-line Resources
  • Women of the 13 Colonies
  • Salem Witchcraft Trials
  • Pocahontas
  • To Live Like a Slave
  • Colonial Children
  • Colonial Toys
  • The Gunston Hall Plantation
  • Aboard a slave Ship:  1829


    • Historical Documents that Shaped America, 1776 - 1882
    The Revolutionary War

    Virtural Marching Tour of the American Revolution

    wNative Americans and African Americans
    Revolutionary War Museum
    Lexington Green
    Timeline of the Revolutionary War (Middle Students)
    Battle of Lexington and Concord
    Revolutionary War Web site created by middle school students

  • American Revolution Navigation Tools (an excellent collection of maps, brief biographies, timelines and essays by students)
  • Documents from the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789
  • More sites describing the events of The Revolutionary War.
  • The Revolutionary War- History Place
  • American Revolution Timeline
  • American Revolution: Events, People and Places
  • American Revolutionary War
  • Revolutionary War by PBS
  • Black Revolutionary Seamen
  • Free Black Patriots
  • African Americans in the Amercan Revolution
  • Yorktown: The Last Battle of the Revolutionary War
  • Outline of American History to 1990
  • The American Constitution
    • Betsy Ross Home Page

    The Election of 1800
    wJefferson, Third President 1801-1809  Wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson wJohn Adams  (1797-1801) and  Wife - Abigail Smith Adams
      Westward Expansion
    wAfrican American Soldiers in the West "Buffalo Soldiers"
    African American Early Settlers in Tuscon and Pioneers Oral Histories
  • Crossing the Frontier
  • The Donner Party
  • Klondike Gold Rush Stories (Canadian Trails)
  • California Gold Rush
  • Pony Express
  • Pony Express History
  • The Road West
  • A graphic of the journey by land
  • US Mexican War
  • US Mexican War - (PBS)
  • The American West
    • wAll About the Oregon Trail
  • The Trail of Tears
  • About the Trail of Tears
  • More on the Trail of Tears
  • A History of the Trail of Tears
  • Trail of Tears
    • Women's Suffrage
    Not for Ourselves Alone:   (Ken Burns:  Streaming Video) Susan B. Anthony and Cady Stanton
    Literary Woman
    Antebellum Women's Rights
    African American Women
    The Civil War
  • Life During the War Between the States:  A 5th Grade WebQuest
  • Valley of the Shadow- Letters, Diaries and Maps
  • Civil War Flags
  • Civil War Index - Grade  5 (Use for StoryPath photos.)
  • Index Civil War - Grade 8
  • American Civil War Homepage
  • Civil War in Maps
  • Photograph Album with brief biography
  • Blue and Gray Trail
  • The Blue and Gray
  • U.S. Civil Photographs
  • site 1
  • site 2
  • site 3
  • The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony
  • United States Colored Troops in the Civil War
  • Poems and Songs of the Civil War
  • Children
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Music
  • How much do you know? - Civil War Quizzes
  • The American Civil War - Great Site to assist in developing biographies
  • Camplife during the Civil War (housing)
  • Civil War Clothing (StoryPath)
  • Civil War Music
  • Music and Poetry of the War Between the States
  • Civil War Recipes
  • Civil War Slang - Create a poster about it.
  • Civil War Slang - by Middle School Students
    • wCivil War Women Primary Sources on the Internet
  • Women in the Civil War
  • Letters from an Iowa Soldier during the Civil War
  • African American Women: wSlave letters
  • Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
  • Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
  • Biography of Harriet Jacobs
  • John Brown
  • Nat Turner's Rebellion
  • Frederick Douglass
  • The Capture of Anthony Burns
  • Dred Scott Decision
  • Dred Scott's Fight for Freedom

    •  
  • African American Slavery: The History of Juneteenth This is the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery. When you get to this site, click on "History of Juneteenth."
  • Underground Railroad Story
    • wLincoln's Home: A Picture Tour
    Abraham Lincoln: Time lines and Photos
    Abraham Lincoln Activities created by a 1st grade class
    Gettysburg Address
    Abraham Lincoln Online includes many of his most famous speeches and letters, sculptures and photographs, and a monthly quiz
    Speech:  A House Divided
  • History Buffs' Presidential Library  From Washington to Clinton
  • History Buff's Listening Library - Famous Speeches
  • Photographs of the Civil War
    • Reconstruction
    Civil Rights
    Fiftheenth Amendment
    Civil Rights Laws
    Timelines of the Civil War

    Eastern and Western  Hemispheres Michigan
    Michigan Communities
  • Celebrating Festivals:  Click on Michigan
  • Scrapbook of Maple Syrup
  • Michigan Cities
  • Michigan Map
  • Michigan 1895 Map
  • MIKids
  • Great Lakes/ Great Sites Award
  • Great Lakes/Family Travel Destination
  • Lighthouses in Michigan and Map of Lighthouses in Michigan
  • Michigan Lighthouses
  • Michigan State Capitol
  • Michigan State Capitol Virtual Tour
  • Detroit Historical Museum?
  • First People of Michigan Tour
  • Michgian Farm and Factory 1860 - 1900
  • Log Marks
  • Logging in Michigan
  • Civil War in Michigan
  • Capturing a Confederate
  • Michigan Underground Railroad
  • Michigan and the Civil War
  • Michigan Civil War Resources
  • Michigan History Photographs
  • The Underground Railroad
  • Underground Railroad

    •  
  • Michigan Legislature
  • Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm
  • Michigan Electronic Library
  • Michigan Index of Cities, Counties, and Regional Areas
  • Michigan Communities
  • A Michigan Auto Tour
  • Michigan Historical Center - Activities for Kids
  • Native Americans in Michigan
  • Native American Research in Michigan
  • Native American Schools in Michigan
  • Stuff About Michigan
  • Sleeping Bear Dunes
    • Biographies

    w

  • American History Biographies (short entries)
  • American Inventors
  • Asian Americans of Pacific Island Heritage
  • Biography Center
  • Biographies for Kids
  • Chicana & Latina Profiles
  • Distinguished Women Past and Present
  • Famous Hispanics in the World
  • First Ladies of the White House
  • Hall of Presidents
  • Michigan Governor John Engler and Family
  • Native American Biographies
  • Notable Women Ancestors
  • Presidents of the United States and First Ladies
  • The HistoryNet


    • Government and Civics
  • The Core Democratic Values Page

  • Public Citizen: Protecting Safety, Health and Democracy
  • So you want to buy a president interviews on campaign financing
    • wThe White House
  • The White House for KidsRead Mrs. Bush's letters to young Americans about September 11, 2001.  Meet Spot, Barney, India, and Ofelia.
  • The United Nations Cyberschool Bus The United Nations Cyberschoolbus was created in 1996 as the online education component of the Global Teaching and Learning Project, whose mission is to promote education about international issues and the United Nations. The Global Teaching and Learning Project produces high quality teaching materials and activities designed for educational use (at primary, intermediate and secondary school levels).
  • The Embassy Page Digital Diplomacy for Students US State Department
  • U.S. House of Representatives Homepage
  • US Senate - Alphabetical Listing of Each Senator  Biographies and the legislative process for kids are also listed on the senators' Web sites.
  • How a Bill Becomes a Law
  • Congressional Leadership
  • Supreme Court of the United States

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