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| United States
The United States has long been a sought-after home. It is a nation of immigrants--of families who left their homelands seeking a new or different way of life in America. Prehistorically, Native American Indians crossed a land bridge from Asia to North America. Original American colonizers were English and French and Dutch and Spanish. In the first one hundred years of the United States, there was a steady movement of immigrants into the new nation. Some of them came involuntarily as slaves. Then beginning in the late 1800s and lasting until about the 1950s, there began an enormous outpouring of families looking for a new life in America. From 1892 to 1954, more than 15 million people passed through Ellis Island into the United States. This represented the largest migration of human beings in modern history. Almost half of the citizens living in the United States today are descended from the families who came through Ellis Island. Additional families came through the Angel Island immigration station in California. Most of these hopeful families came to America because they were poor and without a future. They came because they were unwanted and unrewarded. They came to be able to think and say what they believed without fear of repression or punishment. Some came for adventure. But mostly they came for opportunity. Sample some of the following activities to learn more about our home, the United States. Places To Go | People To See | Things To Do | Teacher Resources | Bibliography The following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out about the United States. Experience Ellis Island and Angel Island , historic gateways into the United States. Take a virtual tour of our national symbols. Visit Roadside America. It explains how to get to those terrific vacation destinations like the world's largest ball of twine in Cawker City Kansas or the Jello Museum in Le Roy, New York or the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk in Riverside, Iowa or the birthplace of Kool-Aid in Hastings, Nebraska. Click on the electric map to see the interesting sidetrips in Utah.
National Scenic Byways Online is a collection of drives in the United States that offer breathtaking natural or historical scenery. Select "Scenic Byways By State" to see the best drives in Utah.
Visit America's Roof and find out the highest elevations in the United States. You can also visit America's Basement. If you're learning about the United States, you have GOT to visit the Smithsonian Institute. James Smithson was a wealthy man who lived in England. When he died in 1829, he bequeathed all of his money to the United States government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." With this money, the Smithsonian Institute was created. It is not just one big museum. The Smithsonian is a series of museums containing more than 80 million objects. A person looking at one object per second would need years to view all of the holdings of the Smithsonian. James Smithson lived, died, and gave all of his money to the United States without ever having visited the U.S.
Visit Valley Forge and learn about George Washington's six month encampment there. This site has a fun kids' page with games and activities. Visit The Valley of the Shadow : Two Communities in the America Civil War. This project takes two communities, one northern and one southern, through the experience of the Civil War. The project is a hypermedia archive of thousands of sources for the period before, during, and after the Civil War for Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania. These sources include newspapers, letters, diaries, photographs, maps, church records, population census, agricultural census, and military records. Stroll over to the United States Mint to find out all about US currency. Check out the designs for the new quarters--each state has its own design for these. See the new one dollar coin that features Sacagawea. It will be available in March of 2000.
Visit the Library of Congress. It is the main library for the entire United States. It has an incredible section called American Memory which is America's story in words, sound, and pictures. Paris is famous for the Louvre. Spain is famous for the Prado. Which museums is the United States most famous for? The Guggenheim? The Metropolitan Museum of Art? The Museum of Modern Art? Travel along the Oregon Trail and take part in this great western journey.
People To See Chat with Uncle Sam about how he came to be a political symbol. Visit with American civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Interview great American women: Tap your toes with Woody Guthrie. He wrote the folk song, This Land is Your Land, creating a portrait of the diversity of the United States and its people. Then check out the new picture book, This Land Is Your Land, illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen which illustrates the lyrics to this classic folk song.
Talk with Lewis and Clark about their expedition across America. Call on Norman Rockwell. Do you think his vignettes of American culture were representative of all Americans? You can look at many of his famous illustrations at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Rutland Town, Vermont. Learn more about him. Wouldn't you like to meet Ben
Franklin? He was an accomplished and versatile man. Jean Fritz's book,
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? is a fast read about this interesting
statesman. Exchange ideas with Thomas Edison, one of our greatest American inventors. Ask Abraham Lincoln if he really read books by candlelight. Just for fun--visit with Elvis Presley, Andy Warhol, Steven Spielberg, and Humphrey Bogart. Visit with Pocohontas and find out the real facts about her life. Compare these facts to the Disney movie. See if Betsy Ross really sewed the first American flag.
Things To Do Remember those short, entertaining Saturday morning Schoolhouse Rock cartoons? You can now see and hear them online! There's one called The Great American Melting Pot which is about the wonderful ethnic diversity that is part of the United States. Figure out what time it is in Atlanta, Georgia if it is 9:00 pm in Reno, Nevada. Read nationwide news from USA Today or from the Associated Press or from CNN News. Or even find local online newspapers from any area of the United States at NewspaperLinks.
Check out Today In History to learn about notable American events of the past. Visit your school or public library and check out the book Ellis Island Interviews : In Their Own Words by Peter Morton Coan. This author has compiled firsthand accounts of surviving immigrants who came through Ellis Island. The book is not only about their experiences at Ellis Island but also about their feelings for their new homeland. See what pilgrim life was like. This website calls itself America's Homepage.
Teacher Resources Online activities are a listing of internet sites with fun, interesting, and educational tasks attached to each one. (You can learn how to use this WWW Activities tool created by UEN for Utah educators).
Virtual Field Trips are teacher and student-created tours of curricular topics. (You can learn how to use this UEN Virtual Field Trip tool created by UEN for Utah educators). Lesson Plan/Webquests/Activities
Bibliography
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