Our History Atlas.com Teacher’s Guide

This Teacher's Guide can be accessed only with a teacher's password. Your students cannot gain entrance to this section.

How to Use This Site with Your Class

This site expands the content of the The Nystrom Atlas of Our Country’s History and the Exploring Where & Why Our Country’s History program. It may be used by both teachers and students.

Teachers can:

  • Use the maps, graphs, and photo tours as digital resources in onscreen presentations.
  • Print the graphic resources or make transparencies of them for group or class discussions.
  • Conduct whole class or small group discussions based on these resources.
  • Use the sample questions from this guide for quizzes or discussions.

Students can:

  • Work through the Study Guide linked below for a comprehensive introduction to all resources on OurHistoryAtlas.com:
  • Download maps, graphs, and photo tours for multimedia presentations.
  • Print maps, graphs, and photo tours to include with reports.
  • Compare the data on this site with data in their atlas, textbooks, and other resources.
  • Research Social Studies topics on the Internet with the help of the Research Links.

To print out this Teacher's Guide, click anywhere in this frame. Then click on the printer icon on your browser toolbar.

Tips on Teaching with Maps

There are three main types of maps on this site: history maps, outline maps, and reference maps. The high quality of these maps may require longer loading and printing times than other materials.

History Maps

Six sets of history maps have been selected from The Nystrom Atlas of Our Country’s History. Each set focuses on a specific time period in United States history.

  • Unit 1: Three Worlds Meet
  • Unit 2: Colonial America
  • Unit 3: A New Nation
  • Unit 4: The United States Expands
  • Unit 5: Civil War and Change
  • Unit 6: Modern America
1400 to 1682
1600 to 1776
1763 to 1810
1790 to 1860
1820 to 1900
1898 to Now

For each unit, this Teacher’s Guide includes:

  • a list of the maps in the unit
  • discussion questions

Unit 1 Three Worlds Meet

This unit covers United States history from 1400 to 1682. It focuses on the first Americans and the peoples of West Africa and Europe who came to the Americas. The following maps are provided on this site for Unit 1:

  • Native American Cultures
  • To the Indies by Sea
  • Exploring the East Coast
  • Spanish Explorations
  • Northeastern Settlements, 1585 – 1645

Discussion Questions:

  1. Which Native American culture group lived along the Atlantic coast? (Eastern Woodland)
  2. Which continent did Columbus reach when trying to sail to the Indies? (North America)
  3. In 1609 was Hudson exploring North America for the Dutch, the English, or the French? (the Dutch)
  4. Who explored North America for Spain? (Ponce de Leon, Cabeza de Vaca, de Soto, and Coronado)
  5. When was Jamestown founded? (1607)

Unit 2: Colonial America

This unit covers United States history from 1600 to 1776. It focuses on the colonization and settlement of North America. The following maps are provided on this site for Unit 2:

  • Thirteen Colonies, 1750
  • Colonists from Many Nations, 1775
  • Religion in the Colonies, 1775
  • Slavery in the Thirteen Colonies
  • Triangles of Trade

Discussion Questions:

  1. Was Pennsylvania part of the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, or the Southern Colonies? (the Middle Colonies)
  2. In which colonies were enslaved Africans over 30 percent of the local population? (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia)
  3. In 1790 what was the official religion in Massachusetts? (Puritan)
  4. In what year was slavery legalized in Georgia? (1750)
  5. What goods were traded from the West Indies to the British Colonies? (slaves and sugar)

Unit 3: A New Nation

This unit covers United States history from 1763 to the 1810. It focuses on the colonists’ struggle for independence and the early years of the United States. The following maps are provided on this site for Unit 3:

  • The Rebellion Builds
  • Revolutionary War, 1775 – 1777
  • Revolutionary War, 1778 – 1781
  • Routes West
  • United States, 1800

Discussion Questions:

  1. Were Loyalists or Patriots more widespread in the 13 colonies? (Patriots)
  2. What year was the battle of Bunker Hill fought? (1775)
  3. Where was the final battle of the Revolutionary War fought? (Yorktown)
  4. What trail did pioneers take from Richmond to Boonesborough? (Wilderness Road)
  5. Where was the national capital in 1800? (Washington, D.C.)

Unit 4: The United States Expands

This unit covers United States history from 1790 to 1860. It focuses on the westward expansion of the United States. The following maps are provided on this site for Unit 4:

  • Land Use, 1800
  • Land Use, 1830
  • Lewis and Clark Explore the Northwest
  • Indian Lands, 1820 – 1850
  • American Expansion, 1845 – 1853
  • Pioneer Trails

Discussion Questions:

  1. Compare land use in 1800 to land use in 1830. What additional products were produced by 1830? (hay, potatoes, sugar, and wool)
  2. What territory beyond the boundary of the United States did Lewis and Clark explore between 1804 and 1806? (Oregon Country)
  3. Which Indian nations were forced to move west in the mid-1800s? (Seminole, Creek, Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seneca, Potawatomi, Miami, Ottawa, and Sauk and Fox)
  4. How did the United States acquire Oregon Country: through agreement, purchase, or war? (Agreement)
  5. When was the Oregon Trail established? (1832)

Unit 5: Civil War and Change

This unit covers United States history from 1820 to 1900. It focuses on the Civil War, the settling the western frontier, and the growth of U.S. industry. The following maps are provided on this site for Unit 5:

  • Slavery and Cotton, 1860
  • Civil War, 1861 – 1862
  • Civil War, 1863 – 1865
  • Railroads and Cattle, 1890
  • Indian Lands, 1890

Discussion Questions:

  1. Where were most textile mills located: in the North or the South? (the North)
  2. Who won the first major battle of the Civil War? (the Confederacy)
  3. How did Sherman’s March to the Sea help the Union? (It split the Confederacy)
  4. What railroad connected San Antonio, Texas, to Los Angeles, California? (Southern Pacific)
  5. What battle was fought between Native Americans and U.S. troops in 1890? (Wounded Knee)

Unit 6: Modern America

This unit covers United States history from 1898 to the present. It focuses on economic struggles, military conflicts, and political changes faced by the United States internally and globally. The following maps are provided on this site for Unit 6:

  • World War I, 1914 – 1918
  • The Great Migration
  • World War II in Europe, 1942 – 1945
  • World War II in the Pacific, 1941 – 1945
  • Civil Rights Movement, 1954 – 1968
  • Population Density, 2000

Discussion Questions:

  1. In which country did most major World War I battles involving the United States take place? (France)
  2. To which large cities did African Americans migrate during the Great Migration? (New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, and Los Angeles)
  3. What year did World War II end in Europe? (1945)
  4. In which cities did U.S. troops drop the atomic bomb? (Hiroshima and Nagasaki)
  5. What year did the Supreme Court ban school segregation? (1954)
  6. In the year 2000, was the eastern or western half of the United States more densely populated? (the eastern half)

Outline Maps

This site offers outline maps—with and without present-day boundaries—for each of the following:

  • United States
  • Eastern United States
  • Western United States
  • North America
  • South America
  • Africa
  • Europe
  • Asia
  • Australia and Its Neighbors
  • World

All of these maps can be printed. Use outline maps for any of the following purposes:

  • discussions on historic or contemporary themes
  • hands-on mapping activities
  • reports, displays, and projects
  • review and testing

Reference Maps

The site provides present-day political maps of the following:

  • United States
  • North America
  • South America
  • Africa
  • Europe
  • Asia
  • Australia and Its Neighbors
  • World

This section also includes a physical map highlighting the natural regions of the United States.

Use these reference maps for:

  • discussions
  • comparisons
  • reports and projects
  • review
  • current events research

Tips on Teaching with Graphs

There are 22 graphs on OurHistoryAtlas.com that show change over time. Remind students that graphs explain numerical data in a visual way. When viewing graphs, ask:

  • What is the topic?
  • What elements (sets of data) are being compared?
  • What patterns do you see?
  • What events or circumstances might explain the patterns?

Use the graphs for:

  • comparisons
  • discussions
  • reports, displays, and projects

Tips on Teaching with Photos

There are 6 Photo Tours on this site—one for each unit. These images help make historical concepts more concrete by showing:

  • people
  • places
  • artifacts
  • events
  • elements of American culture
  • historical documents

Captions explain the historical significance of the images. The word or phrase in bold identifies a key topic.

These photos are especially helpful in providing a visual resource and representation of the unit. Students can use the Photo Tours to:

  • gain a visual sense of people and places that played a role in history
  • compare/contrast lifestyles of the past with those of today
  • clarify historical and cultural concepts
  • use photos in reports and presentations

Encourage students to locate specific places on maps or globes when appropriate.

Tips on Teaching with Links

These links can help both teachers and students find sites related to U.S. history. These sites have been reviewed and selected to provide useful links to online resources to support your curriculum.

  • Because sites change from time to time, Nystrom cannot guarantee or be responsible for their content or the possibility that their addresses (URLs) may also change.
  • Links that provide historical materials sometimes contain elements, such as language or descriptions, that might be considered offensive. Please be reminded that they should be viewed in the context of their period in history and as part of the historical record.

There are 7 sets of research links on this site. There is a set of links for each unit and also a set of general history sites. Each listing includes a clickable direct hyperlink to the site, the site’s URL, and a short description of the site.

These links can be used for:

  • answering questions
  • extending a lesson
  • day-to-day assignments
  • research projects

Teachers might feature a link of the day or the week for students to access during their free time.

Atlas Test

Teachers can print the following test to assess what students know about using The Nystrom Atlas of Our Country’s History. This test can be used as both a pre- and post-test to evaluate student knowledge before and after using the Atlas.

Click on the appropriate test below.