Social Science section of Good Sites for Kids!

Ancient History

Look for to see what's been added lately!

We've divided these sites up into Geography (physical, political, and cultural) and History (all kinds except Ancient). So here we go!

Geography Sites

History Sites

Miscellaneous Sites

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50 States Basic facts on all 50 states of the USA.

50 States in 10 Minutes Can you type in the correctly spelled names of all 50 US states in 10 minutes? Type them in any order, can even be all lowercase, but must be correctly spelled. "Helpful" countdown timer tells you how much time is left.

Around the World - Holidays from Yahoo! Kids - all about holidays from around the year and the world, 277 Christmas sites!

AskAsia "An educational web site for students and teachers covering some thirty countries that comprise Asia today, and featuring materials that stem from early civilizations to current events." We used this with teenagers, seemed to go well.

Atlapedia Like an online almanac, with country info and stats, political and regional maps, and downloadable maps.

CIA World Factbook Excellent information source for any country in the world. Well laid out site. It's now a secure site. Well, it is the CIA.

Cyberkidz "is an educational platform for boys and girls in the age of 4 till 12 years. By playing the educational games, children will practise subjects they learn in elementary school (PK-5)." The games are sorted by year from age 4 to 12, using a sliding bar. There are dozens of fun, playable games in every curriculum category, with new ones being added. This is an excellent site from the Netherlands.

Earth's Seasons from Enchanted Learning. Find out about the Equinox, the Solstice, and the seasons of the year at this fine offering.

Flags of the World is the world's oldest and largest site about flags. "Here you can read more than 49,000 pages about flags and view more than 91,000 images of flags of countries, organizations, states, territories, districts and cities, both past and present." There are several ways to look up flags, too.

GIS Resources "Resource for GIS Welcome to the World of Global Information Systems" Lots of valuable links to maps sites, GIS lesson plans & education sites, geography links, and much more! Along with its sister GPS site, this is part of an Illinois-based ed initiative.

GPS Resources "Welcome to the World of Global Positioning Systems. The following links will hopefully give the participants a resource to obtain information about GPS, sources to companies related to GPS, projects that are using GPS, and educational sites that have a wealth of information." A wealth of information about, and links to, GPS lesson plans and activities, Geocaching activities, the Travel Bug project, more. Along with its sister GIS site, this is part of an Illinois-based ed initiative.

Geonet from Houghton-Mifflin. Upper level (US high school) geography drills. Students will have to dig for answers and will have to read and think.

Geography Dictionary & Glossary - The ABC of Geography "Welcome to possibly the most comprehensive geographic related dictionary on the internet for students... Over 1400 terms defined. This dictionary is primarily aimed at supporting secondary/senior/high school and early tertiary students who are studying Geography or related subjects such as Earth Sciences." Everything A to Z, from Abiotic to Zonal Soil. This excellent site from Hong Kong will become your fast reference for geographical terms. We want to thank Danny Harrington (BA Hons. Oxon), for this great addition to these pages.

Geography Quiz Online point and click interactive quizzes on US states, Canada, China, Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, Middle East, Central and South America, Caribbean, Oceania, and Continents and Oceans. (Try saying that fast.) We used these with teenagers, and the quizzes are very good.

Go Social Studies Go "Go Social Studies Go integrates fun content with the coolest links, videos, and games found on the net. In addition, we’ve teamed with with Cramstoppers, a free quiz making site that allows students to take their education one step further. " This site constantly adds new things to read and do. American and World History, World Geography, Global Religions, Choose Your Own Adventure, links, more. Oodles of subcategories in each! We ran on the Underground Railroad, read about Archduke Ferdinand's assassination, checked out the Silk Road, learned about African geography ("Place is huge!"). This is middle school through high school level, maybe first year college - anyway, excellent site! Shout out to "veteran social studies teacher" Ken Uhde, of Groves High School, Birmingham, Michigan, its creator!

Government and Politics from Kids World. Mainly US government and political parties' kid sites.

Kids Web Japan is a great site about Japan for kids. Everything kids would want to know is here, including anime and manga. Also history, culture, folk tales, interactive things to make and do, etc.

Lakota Culture Links to pages about Lakota language, origins, prayers, beliefs, and the reservations. Good information from the Acta Lakota Museum at St. Joseph's Indian School on the Missouri River in Chamberlain, South Dakota. We have visited the Acta Lakota Museum and we recommend it to you.

Lakota Legends Links to 17 Native American/First Nations legends, or folk tales if you prefer. You won't see these anywhere else online. From the Acta Lakota Museum at St. Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain, South Dakota. We have visited the Acta Lakota Museum and we recommend it to you.

Land/Sea "Our Amazing Planet: Top to Bottom. Explore Earth's surface from peaks to mysterious depths." Loong jpeg chart shows Earth from 35,000 feet up to 35,000 feet down! See pressure, time needed to boil and egg, what lives there, the Titanic, Deepwater Horizon, the Marianas Trench!

Language Guide Want to learn alphabets and vocabulary words from other languages? "LanguageGuide.org offers free sound integrated resources for learning languages." The site features pictures of various things with written and spoken names in several languages. Words are pronounced by volunteer native speakers. Current languages are English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese. Sponsored by Language Guide, a registered non-profit organization, the site is free to use but they do ask for donations. Uses QuickTime.

Lat-Long.com "Search More Than 2 million U.S. Locations in an Instant! Search More than 2 Million Places: Parks, cemeteries, bridges and post offices. Find these and more on Lat-Long.com." This site is a list of all 50 US states. You can click on a state and check out its features by category (did you know South Dakota has 91 canals?) or you can search by item and a state pulldown menu from the main page (example: glaciers in Alaska.) Google Maps display each item. Latitudes and longitudes are given in tradish degrees, minutes, and seconds; also in decimal degrees.

Maps4Kids "Data is available on every State in the US, as well as for every Country in the world ! Maps4Kids.com is a great resource for fast facts about places in our world. The Top 10 page shows you the highest, longest, most populous."

Multicultural Education through Miniatures from the College of Education, University of South Florida. "Multicultural Education through Miniatures includes photos, maps, stories, and games of handmade dolls and puppets from all over the world. This website can increase global awareness for children and adults. Explore by clicking Select a Photo, See Entire List, or Click a Map. Cultural games are also available at Go to Activity. Students and teachers can use the pictures, stories, and games for educational purposes." This site will increase geographical awareness. It is at an upper elementary reading level, also the dolls are amazing!

My Wonderful World "Geography is more than places on a map. It's global connections and incredible creatures. It's people and cultures, economics and politics. And it's essential to understanding our interconnected world." Thanks, Tessia.

National Geographic Kids "Features different people, animals, and places each month with facts, games, activities, and related links." Well, hey, it's National Geographic. Very educational, and the games are fun, too.

Native Words Native Warriors. The story of the Code Talkers in World Wars One and Two, from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian. Well done site tells the story of these good, brave men, as told by the Code Talkers themselves. Plenty of photos and explanations.

Netstate "Learn About the 50 States! Armadillos to Yellowhammers!" (What about Zap, North Dakota?) Kinda like 50States but different. Besides having a Visit the States window listing all 50 states, this site has a menu of categories on the left side of the main screen that offers tons of information about each state.

Oglala Lakota College A tribally controlled institution serving the educational needs of the Lakota Oyate, focused on the Pine Ridge reservation. Use their History and Culture menu to access their excellent Oglala culture site, Lakota Archives, their large collection of Lakota language audio files, and much more.

Ology from the American Museum of Natural History. We love this site! It covers "Ologies" such as Archaeology, Astronomy, Biodiversity, Earth, Einstein, Genetics, Marine Biology, Paleontology, and Water. The bottom half of the page has links to around 20 activities, experiments, and interviews. Then there's the Highlights section, Ask a Scientist, an Advanced section, and At the Museum. Click on the blue buttons in the At the Museum box. Only part of this great site is shown at a time. Be sure to use the Search box and enter a term like "horse" to find a ton of other information.

Screenshot from the classic MECC Oregon Trail Game

Oregon Trail for Elementary Schools Arguably the best Oregon Trail site. Plenty of information and links. Comprehensive overview of life on the Trail. William has a broken arm. You have died of desentery.

Oregon Trail - End of the Oregon Trail (NEW URL) Anything you would ever want to know about the Oregon Trail, and much more. This huge site could and should be the source of many K-12 lesson plans. You should have bought more ~~baking soda~~ saleratus. You do not have an extra wagon wheel, so you must trade for one.

Oregon Trail Links A large list of links to other OT sites. If you continue hunting in this area, game will become scarce.

Panwapa - Where Kids Shape the World. "Panwapa is an imaginary floating island with characters, stories, and global explorations for kids ages 5-9. Panwapa characters introduce kids to concepts of learning about and accepting other cultures. Educators who use Panwapa can create a group on Curriki to extend and comment on the curricular questions which go along with the Panwapa videos, playalong games, and lessons." This site is great! Talking animated characters engage kids and help them choose from a variety of wonderful things to do. You have to check it out, it is great! From the Sesame Street people.

SCORE History/Social Science "Over 5000 websites aligned to California's History/Social Science Curriculum." Explore Resources and Lessons by Standard, Grade Level Topic, or Keyword. Explore Children's Literature lesson plans/thematic units by Grades K-5 and 6-8. Help for Teachers includes - help! Also useful links such as the California Learning Resource Network ("A Guide to Standards-Aligned Electronic Learning Resources and Assessments for Teachers, Administrators, and Parents"), a whole section on Technology and Social Science - with its own lesson plans and ideas, lots more!

Seterra - Learn Geography. "Seterra is a challenging educational geography program with 70 different exercises. Learn about countries, capitals, flags and cities in Africa, Europe, South America, North America, Asia and Australia, using outline map exercises!" This is wonderful freeware that really works with kids ages 9 and up - we've used it! Great for high school and college geography, too. From the nice lady in Sweden who brought you Sebran!

What's my latitude and longitude? Go to this site and it will show you your latitude and longitude, based on your IP address. This could be useful as an introduction/attention step for a lesson on lat & long. Credit to David Stoline and reddit.

World Atlas Huge site of geography facts, maps of everywhere! You should check it out. If it has to do with geography, it's in here!

World atlas dot com Huge list of trivia about the world, continents, countries, languages, money, oceans... even gives the weight of continents (how can they tell?)

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Learn much more about The Cave of Chauvet and this 30,000 year old painting HERE!

Abraham Lincoln Research Site Valuable source since 1996! "I am not an author or an historian; rather I am a former American history teacher who enjoys researching Abraham Lincoln's life and accomplishments. If you have a specific Lincoln question that you would like me to research for you, please e-mail me. NOTE: The three main sections of this website are the Abraham Lincoln Research Site, Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination, and the Mary Todd Lincoln Research Site. For additional Lincoln information, please see my page titled Abraham Lincoln Links." Kudos to Roger Norton, Webmaster!

(The) American Revolution from American Flag Works. This is a well organized collection of links that cover (1) events leading up to the rebellion, (2) battles of the Revolution, and (3) the important people of the Revolution. This site draws on established sites like the History Channel and PBS. Thanks to Nancy Ward for the email!

Archiving Early America "Here at Archiving Early America, you will discover a wealth of resources — a unique array of primary source material from 18th Century America. Scenes and portraits from original newspapers, maps and writings come to life on your screen just as they appeared to this country's forebears more than two centuries ago." Excellent.

Castles on the Web "offers an extensive database of all things Castle related including a castle photo gallery, free castle web pages, hundreds of castle links, castle site of the day, castles for kids and more!" For our favorite trio of 11 year old castle freaks, and a few hundred thousand more like them.

Could you pass a US citizenship test? Here is a 96 question test covering what you would need to know in order to pass the citizenship test. OK, American citizens, let's see how you do! Useful for civics and government classes.

D-Day There are so many resources on the web about this pivotal event in world history, the Allied invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944. This one is a very good resource from the BBC, with graphics.

Ellis Island Learn about your ancestors at THE site to learn about immigration. Records of ships and people!

Winslow Homer "Prisoners at the Front" 1863. Union Brigadier General Francis Barlow, Medal of Honor, seven Purple Hearts, talks to Confederate prisoners.

Painting by Winslow Homer, "Prisoners at the Front" (1863) Union Brigadier General Francis C. Barlow talks with Confederate prisoners of war. Badly wounded several times, Barlow ended the war as a Major General. Later in life, as Attorney General of the State of New York, Barlow successfully prosecuted Boss Tweed and broke the Tammany Hall gang. A famous American painter, Homer was a combat artist during the war. This is one of many paintings he drew from sketches he made during the action.

Gettysburg Civil War site for kids, from the National Park Service. Investigates the causes of the war and the larger conflict, too.

Historical Atlas of Europe from Year 1 to 2000 ..."shows the history of Europe through a sequence of 21 historical maps, every map depicting the political situation at the end of each century." Great history resource.

History, from Kids' World. US history, some world history, some ancient history.

History of Labor Day From the US Department of Labor. Find out the history of the holiday, learn why it is more than just another Monday off.

HMS Victory official site. Learn about the world's oldest warship, in service since 1765! The only surviving "First Rate" wooden battleship in the world, HMS Victory was Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar back in 1805, and is still on duty with the Royal Navy today! Use the menu across the top of the screen. Interactive views of different decks. Photos of the interior and famous paintings. The various stats would be good for mathematics classes.

The Ice Trade In this history game set in the 1800s, students send 10 ships loaded with ice from New England to Florida, Brazil, or India. Can you turn a profit in 10 turns?

Jamestown Settlement "In 1607, 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and boys began a settlement on the banks of Virginia's James River..." Well done site explores the history, the different peoples - native, European, and African - and the world of 1607. YouTube videos greatly enhance learning.

Khan Academy "is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) with the mission of providing a world-class education to anyone, anywhere...We are complementing Salman (Khan's) ever-growing library with user-paced exercises--developed as an open source project--allowing the Khan Academy to become the free classroom for the World." 1800+ videos cover math from 1 + 1 up through differential equations; Science: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Organic Chem, Cosmology, Astronomy; History; Finance (BIG section!); Test Prep: SAT, GMAT, CAHSEE, IIT JEE. The videos are wonderful! This is amazing and FREE!

Kids Past from KidsKnowIt. "KidPast.com is the fun way to explore our history. We are who we are today, because of those who have gone before us. " The Online History Textbook does a good job of covering elementary and middle school history. The History Games are pretty good. The Historical Quotes are over the top, and every child should know of them.

Kids' View of World War II and the 1940s Era from the Spring Hill Elementary School in Kansas, this older site (2000-2001) works to bring the World War II era to life for contemporary kids. Made by 5th graders and their teachers. Interviews with veterans and civilians alike brings a unique touch. Also covers fashions, entertainment, toys and games, and has a timeline. Thanks, Mrs. Vopat and Mrs. Jones, and the Jr. Ikes Teams.

KidsKonnect Civil War links. More links to sites about the American Civil War, 1861-65. Good page layout sets the mood, too.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial This is the new in 2012 multimedia site from CyArk. It is fantastic. This presentation starts with a slideshow. Other sections off of the horizontally scrolling main section cover the Black Hills, Gutzom Borglum, carving the sculpture, preservation, how CyArk digitally documented the Memorial for posterity, laser scanning, photography, the Virtual Tour, videos (including the Tom Brokaw intro that you watch at the Memorial), and 2D & 3D perspectives. Marvelous job. Our fave is the very cool Virtual Tour, showing everywhere you can go. If you cannot visit Rushmore then this is the way to go! Visualize someone taking the virtual tour while standing on the same spot!

National Archives "The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever... Those valuable records are preserved and are available to you, whether you want to see if they contain clues about your family’s history, need to prove a veteran’s military service, or are researching an historical topic that interests you." This is a treasure trove of original, primary source documents. Click here to see them. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Emancipation Proclamation, Civil War records, World War 2, FBI, CIA, and OSS films on DVD, military service records, it is all there. They also have branches all over the US.

Oregon Trail - End of the Oregon Trail (NEW URL!) Anything you would ever want to know about the Oregon Trail, and much more. This huge site could and should be the source of many K-12 lesson plans. You should have bought more ~~baking soda~~ saleratus. You do not have an extra wagon wheel, so you must trade for one.

Oregon Trail Links A large list of links to other OT sites. If you continue hunting in this area, game will become scarce.

Pearl Harbor Lesson Plans US Navy official site. "Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, we all have been drawn to examine similar events in our past. The lesson plans provided for you will help you and your students to understand what happened on December 7, 1941. Beginning with the first American treaty with Japan in 1854 though the attacks in 1941, students will use primary sources to synthesize information and draw conclusions about the role of the U.S. Navy in foreign policy and to understand how people in 1941 reacted to the tragic bombing of Pearl Harbor. These lesson plans are geared towards upper middle and high school students. You may download and reproduce everything available. We encourage you to use these lesson plans as pre-museum visit materials."

Primary Documents in American History From the Library of Congress, this site covers the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers, documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789, and has a Guide to American Historical Documents Online. There is nothing like reading the original documents!

REVOLUTIONARY WAR: Birth Of A Nation "Welcome to Historycentral's Revolutionary War site.This is the most complete site on the web on the Revolutionary War. The section on the 'Causes of the War' traces the events that led to the American Declaration of Independence. The 'Battle' and 'Main Event' sections tell the story of all the major battles of the war. Many battle entries come with a narrated multimedia presentation that last up to three minutes. A NEW SECTION chronicles many of the major legends and myths of the war. Each story comes with the written text as well as a multimedia presentation; perfect for students of all ages. For those who want to learn more, we have added sections on the Economics, Daily Life and Arts of the period. Our site includes extensive first-hand accounts of battles, along with many other primary source documents. Our Student Guide lists the important terms from this period. Our Teacher's Guide includes many lesson plans with resource materials and ideas on how to teach the American Revolution." Going in Social Studies > History.

South Dakota History for kids. This is the official South Dakota 4th Grade state history unit. Covers prehistory to modern times.

Technology and Social Science from SCORE History/Social Science is a whole section on technology integrated into Social Science - with its own lesson plans and ideas for teachers!

Traitors, Seamstresses, and Generals: Voices of the American Revolution American Revolution ThinkQuest site. Well organized, tons of information. Fits very well with any classroom study of the Revolution. Packed with resources and activities. Succinctly stated: One of the best ThinkQuests we have ever seen.

US Presidents List Lists all US Presidents and Vice Presidents (wow) with links to tons of facts about them. A good gotta-have source of information.

Victorian Britain from BBC Primary History. Be a kid in the time of Victoria! Rich kids were warmly dressed, well fed, and went to school. Poor kids wore rags, were half starved, and went to work as coal miners and factory workers. See their toys and how kids lived in this split society. Check out the Activities and the Fun Facts, too.

USS Constitution fights HMS Java in War of 1812

USS Constitution official home page. Learn about this famous frigate's history, and take a virtual tour of the recently restored ship. Living history.

USS Constitution fights HMS Java off the coast of Brazil. War of 1812, one of several spinoffs of the Napoleonic Wars.

Ultimate History Quiz History Channel's excellent American History Quiz! Play single player, multi player, or against friends. Ten questions, choose your level of difficulty. May be addicting. Best for 4th grade and up.

We Choose The Moon is an interactive experience recreating the historic Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in real time. Once where only three men made the trip, now millions can. Live event begins 8:02 AM EDT July 16, 2009, with launch at 9:32 a.m., exactly 40 years after Apollo 11 lifted off. Going in Astronomy, Social Studies, and Technology.

White House Kids' Page Improved, spiffed-up and modernized. Kids' section of the official site.

Women's Suffrage from about.com has a good timeline and many links to more information. In the USA, women could not vote until 1920 (Native Americans could not vote until 1924!)

World War 2 from BBC Primary History. Be a British kid in the time of World War 2 in Britain. Very good, concise, fact-filled, great to explore this site. Be a history detective checking out time capsules. Shop for food in 1943 with a ration book. Explore a wartime home with bomb shelters. Read letters. Find out what it was like to be evacuated on a train. What was The Blitz?

World War II - The Home Front This is an excellent British site about what it was like to be a child in the UK during World War 2. WW 2 lasted six hard years for the UK, 1939-45. Covers evacuations, The Blitz, bomb shelters, rationing (with Excel game,) what women did, propaganda, music of the era. A section for teachers explains the language arts lessons. We need a site like this for American kids, too. This is from the Snaith Primary School in East Yorkshire, UK, and is one small part of their BIG academic site! One downside - links to other UK WW 2 sites are broken.

Yorktown Victory Center "On October 19, 1781, the decisive military campaign of the American Revolution culminated with the British surrender to combined American and French forces under the command of George Washington. The Siege of Yorktown effectively ended the six-year struggle of the Revolutionary War and set the stage for a new government and nation." The best parts for online learning are the Yorktown Victory chronology, Yorktown and American Independence, and Militia in the Revolutionary War.

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Castles on the Web "offers an extensive database of all things castle related including a castle photo gallery, free castle web pages, hundreds of castle links, castle site of the day, castles for kids and more!" For our favorite trio of then-10 year old castle freaks, and a few hundred thousand more like them.

H.I.P. Pocket Change is the US Mint's kid site. Very lively, features games, fun online activities, and cartoons, all of which is to teach children about coins and coinage.

Sampler of Social Studies for gr6-8/11-13yr From Curriki! "The curriculum resources contained in this folder represent a selection of high-quality materials from the Curriki repository for grades 6-8/ages 11-13 in Social Studies." Everything from a Middle Ages webquest to traditional Indian music to Westward Expansion to Japanese culture, and more, is in this selection.

Social Studies sites