Office of Secondary Social Studies
World Culture and History Curricular Resource Links
 

Regions and Countries [top]
Student Resources
Site Description
Cyber School Bus http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/ This United Nations database is a resource on nations around the world. Teaching activities on global issues are included in the site.
Electronic Embassy http://www.embassy.org/embassies/ This web resource provides information on all of the embassies in Washington D.C. There are links to on-line embassies.
Library of Congress: Country Studies http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html The Library of Congress Federal Research Division provides a wealth of historical and cultural information for over 90 countries.
Newseum: Today’s Front Pages www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/ This site for a Washington D.C. based non profit institution provides links to the front pages of more than 400 newspapers from 47 different countries.
Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.html This site includes links regional maps. It is also updated often to contain maps that relate to current events.
World Fact Book http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.htm This site provides information on the geography, population, economy, and culture of any country in the world.
YouThink! http://youthink.worldbank.org/4kids/ This World Bank site contains issue papers for kids on global topics such as conflict, education, trade, development, and natural disasters.
The Ancient World [top]

Teacher Resources

Site Description
Exploring Ancient World Cultures http://eawc.evansville.edu/index.htm A site including information, visual sources, and primary sources about The Ancient Near East, Ancient India, Ancient China, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Early Islam, and Medieval Europe.

Latin America [top]

Teacher Resources

Site Description
The Caribbean Community

http://www.caricom.org/ This is a regional organization that addresses the issues facing the Caribbean economic, socially, and politically.
Student Resources
Site Description
Latin American Network Information Center http://www.lanic.utexas.edu/ A site that has a wide range of information on the countries of Latin America. Topics covered include economy, government, arts, education, and development.
Pre-Columbian Societies Web Quest by BCPS

http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/ancindian/ This web quest provides a task for students to address: How can they apply criteria used to define a civilization to the Pre-Columbian societies?
The Conquistadors<

http://www.pbs.org/opb/conquistadors/home.htm This PBS site explores the impact of European exploration on the Americas.
Rainforest Action Network http://www.ran.org/kids_action/
Explore how the rainforest is used to meet economic wants and other environmental issues related to the rainforest.
Amazon Interactive http://www.eduweb.com/amazon.html
Explore the Amazon through online games and activities. This site contains information about the people and the land. Students can try to run a community based ecotourism project in Ecuador with the information they have gathered.

South & East Asia [top]

Teacher Resources

Site

Description

Asia for Educators http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ Columbia University’s comprehensive site on China and Japan for teachers. The site includes timelines, primary sources, and lesson plans. There are also teaching resources listed by art, philosophy, language, population, inventions, and many other topics.
A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization

http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/ A reference for the indicators involving China’s geography, history, and culture.

 

Student Resources

Site Description
Ask Asia

http://www.askasia.org/ This site is sponsored by the Asia Society to create an understanding of the peoples of Asia. Elements of this site include news, information, adult-free zone, and resource educators.
Journey to Japan Online Research Model by BCPS http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/Japan
/index.html This online research model asks students to explore the role that traditional values, beliefs, and institutions play in today's Japan?
Land of Genghis Khan

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/
97/genghis /index.html In this site the browser can meet the infamous Genghis Khan and explore the land he conquered and his impact today.
The Legacy of Ancient China Online Research Model by BCPS http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models
/chinahist /index.html This online research model asks students to identify important contributions from Ancient Chinese dynasties and explain how these contributions influenced European and Asian culture?
China the Beautiful http://www.chinapage.com/china.html The answer to almost every imaginable question about China can be found in this fun and exciting website.

Africa [top]

Teacher Resources

Site

Description

Africa: South of the Sahara http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/guide.html This site provides a great deal of information on the countries of Africa and the issues facing them.
 

Student Resources

Site Description
Africa http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/ At this site students can learn about the daily life of students in four African nations, play a virtual thumb piano, or figure out how the hero of a Swahili folktale can accomplish his mission. “Teacher Tools” also has lesson plans.
Ancient Egypt -- The British Museum http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html This website deals with many areas of study of Ancient Egypt. Explore Egyptian Life, Geography, Pyramids, and Time.
The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/
mandela/ This site chronicles Mandela’s life and provides access to a wide variety of primary sources.
African Voices http://www.mnh.si.edu/africanvoices/ In this site students explore Africa's past and the history of the land and people. The topics to explore are the various forms of the wealth, working and living in Africa, the Mali, the slave trade, and colonialism.

The Middle East [top]

Student Resources

Site Description
ArabNet http://www.arab.net/ An online resource about the Middle East and North Africa. This site includes information on each country and current events. There is also a link to an overview of events in Palestine from the Canaanites to the Wye Accord.

Europe [top]

Teacher Resources

Site

Description

Internet Medieval Source Book

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html This site offers a wealth of information about Medieval times, including access to primary sources. Areas featured are Byzantium, Islam, Crusades, daily life, culture, Renaissance, Reformation, and Exploration.

W.W.I- Document Archive

http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/ This is a collection of primary source documents from W.W.I. It presents a global perspective to the war from the volunteers of the W.W.I Military History List.

LOC Russian Archives

http://www.ibiblio.org/pjones/russian/outline.html This site provides a directory to specific documents from Russia in the Library of Congress. Topics of interest include Stalin; the Soviet System; WWII; Chernobyl, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Holocaust- Remember

http://remember.org/ First-person accounts of Jews and non-Jews persecuted by the Nazis during the Holocaust. There is a link to a virtual tour of Auschwitz.

A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust

http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/gallery/
gallery.htm A site that contains images of the Holocaust defined by events that occurred.

Anne Frank Online

http://www.annefrank.com/This site provides information and diary entries from Anne Frank's life and times, exhibits, and resources for the classroom.
 

Student Resources

Site Description
The Middle Ages http://www.learner.org/exhibits/middleages/feudal.html A place where a web user can find out about all cultural and historical aspects of the Middle Ages. This site also contains a list of related links.
Changing World Views: Middle Ages to Renaissance Online Research Model by BCPS http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/midrenn/
index.html This online research model asks students to explore how developments during the Renaissance shifted perspectives about personal identity?
European Imperialism and Regional Responses Online Research Model by BCPS http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/imperial/
index.html This online research model addresses the ways in which five different countries responded to European Imperialism.
The Face of Russia http://www.pbs.org/weta/faceofrussia/intro.html The Face of Russia is a site that explores the Russian people and the government. It contains an interactive timeline.
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/ The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, find out about it on this site
Biographies of WW2 http://www.eduscapes.com/42explore/ww2bios.htm Personal accounts of people involved in World War II. Includes accounts from soldiers, statesmen, and those on the home front.
Anne Frank House http://www.annefrank.nl/ned/default2.html Meet Anne Frank at this site. Explore the house were she was hidden and read her diary entries about her existence in hiding during World War II. The site appears in Dutch, but you can choose to change the language to English in the upper right hand corner.
National Holocaust Museum for Students http://www.ushmm.org/education/forstudents/ A resource for information about the museum. It also provides teachers with methods and activities for teaching about the Holocaust.