LEARN NC: Search results

Pliocene coral in Aurora, NC: This is a chunk of Pliocene coral in Aurora, North Carolina. Some of the world's finest marine fossil displays of the Pleistocene, Pliocene, and Miocene periods can be found at the Aurora Fossil Museum.; Format: image/photograph

America's first people: In Two worlds: Educator's guide, page 2.2; These activities, designed to accompany "First Peoples" and "The Mystery of the First Americans," will enable students to explore the origins of human populations in North America.; Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies); By Pauline S. Johnson.

Giant Ground Sloth skeleton at Cape Fear Museum of History and Science: At Cape Fear Museum of History and Science in Wilmington, North Carolina, the skeleton of a Giant Ground Sloth towers menacingly. The Giant Ground Sloth was a mammal that lived in North America during the Pleistocene Epoch.; Format: image/photograph

Wordsplash example: Example of a wordsplash -- an arrangement of key terms displayed visually around a central topic. This example presents words associated with the Pleistocene Epoch.; Format: image/illustration

Quick study: Paleoindian Period: A “cheat sheet” covering basic information about the Paleoindian Period and its key characteristics.

Columbian mammoth: This Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) is on display at the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum in Price, Utah. It was discovered by a bulldozer operator in Huntington, Utah...; Format: image/photograph

Using wordsplash in the classroom: A wordsplash is a set of key terms or concepts related to a given concept, typically displayed in an interesting visual presentation. Used as a pre-reading strategy, wordsplash can tap into students’ prior knowledge about a topic before they encounter it...; Format: article; By Emily Jack.

Theories of migration: In Two worlds: Educator's guide, page 2.1; In this lesson, students will read about and evaluate differing theories about the migration of the first people to the Americas.; Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies); By Pauline S. Johnson.

First peoples: In Prehistory, contact, and the Lost Colony, page 2.1; Beringia was a wide land bridge between Alaska and Siberia that was periodically exposed during the last Great Ice Age. According to a widely-held theory, the first people to live in North America were Asians who followed animal herds across Beringia. The Paleoindians living in North Carolina by 9000 BCE were descendents of these first North Americans. Nobody knows how long it took before the first Paleoindians reached North Carolina, but the few artifacts they left create an image of their past.; Format: article

Aurora Fossil Museum: Some of the world's finest marine fossil displays of the Pleistocene, Pliocene, and Miocene periods can be found at this Beaufort County museum.; Format: article/field trip opportunity

Moss on Mount Mitchell in Yancey County: This is a close-up of seedlings growing in a lush mound of moss on Mount Mitchell. Mount Mitchell is the highest peak in eastern North America, towering at 6,684 feet. It is named after Elisha Mitchell, a University of North Carolina professor who returned...; Format: image/photograph

Why are the rocks and plant communities of Roan Mountain interesting to natural scientists?: In Roan Mountain Highlands, page 2; The rocks of Roan Mountain are interesting because of their age, their mineralogy, and the evidence they provide about the geological processes that formed them. The plant communities are interesting because they are southern examples of communities usually...; By Dirk Frankenberg and Jennifer Godwin-Wyer.

Quick study: Archaic Period: A “cheat sheet” covering basic information about the Archaic Period and its key characteristics.

The pathfinders: In Intrigue of the Past, page 3.2; An essay covering the pathfinders of the Paleoindian Period. Learn about the trek across Beringia and the lifeways of these early American Indians.

Analyzing North Carolina's natural history: In Two worlds: Educator's guide, page 1.4; These two short activities will allow students to examine the changes that occurred as the earth formed and assess their impact on what is now North Carolina.; Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Science and Social Studies); By Pauline S. Johnson.

Intrigue of the Past: Lesson plans and essays for teachers and students explore North Carolina's past before European contact. Designed for grades four through eight, the web edition of this book covers fundamental concepts, processes, and issues of archaeology, and describes the peoples and cultures of the Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods.; Format: book (multiple pages)

The mystery of the first Americans: In Prehistory, contact, and the Lost Colony, page 2.2; In the second half of the twentieth century, archaeologists agreed that those “first Americans” migrated from Asia across Beringia and into North America between fourteen and twenty thousand years ago. Recently, though, new evidence has come to light that has led some archaeologists to doubt that theory and to suggest new possibilities.; Format: article; By David Walbert.

The natural history of North Carolina: In Prehistory, contact, and the Lost Colony, page 1.2; If the five billion years of the earth's history were condensed into a single day, humans would have arrived in North Carolina just two tenths of a second before midnight! This article summarizes the major biological and geological events in North Carolina's history and explains how the land and environment of today came to be.; Format: article; By David Walbert.

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