Lesson Plans with a Minnesota Connection:
State Unit Study - Minnesota
Designed for homeschoolers, this site from About.com provides an interactive unit complete with printable maps and worksheets.

Minnesota Floor Map
A middle-grade geography lesson in which students use materials and space provided to design a floor map of the State of Minnesota. See also Minnesota Map/Quiz, for a printable version of a basic Minnesota geography quiz using a completion format and Minnesota Word Search, for a word search puzzle on Minnesota cities and towns.

Minnesota Alliance for Geographic Education
This page lists the Minnesota Academic Standards in geography. Scroll down the page to find links to actvities and lesson plans for some of the standards. See Minnesota Urbanization for map images to support teaching of the standards.

Minnesota Road Trip
An intermediate to middle grade lesson plan exploring four of the five themes of geography (location, place, movement, and regions) as they relate to Minnesota through the detailed planning of a seven-day trip around the state. See also Minnesota Travel Itinerary WebQuest for a simialr activity.

Minnesota-China Connection
A long list of activities developed for this project. They are organized by subject area.

Tracking the T-Wolves
An ongoing intermediate-grade activity designed to take advantage of students' interest in professional sports to help them learn about the first of the five themes of geography: location, particularly the location of U.S. and Canadian cities having NBA teams.

ArtsNet Minnesota
A joint project of Minnesota art centers and museums, the site contains artworks, biographies, style characteristics, discussion questions, student activities, and lesson plans.   

Minnesota Communities
Online explorations using primary sources from the Minnesota Historical Society. Click on teachers for a large selection of lesson plans on topics including people (Ard Godfrey, John Pillsbury, Julia Nelson, etc.), occupations (milling, pottery, mining), landscapes (falls, river, iron range), and milestones (Civil War, mill explosion, dangers of mining, and many more).

Minnesota: A History of the Land
A teachers' guide intended to help middle-school students view the Minnesota: A History of the Land video series.

Forests. Fields, and the Falls: Connecting Minnesota
An overview and teaching activities this program from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Minnesota Civic Education Matters
Civics lesson plans with a Minnesota flavor.

Minnesota Political Leaders
An Internet-based lesson for grades 7-10.

Refugees in Minnesota
A lesson plan for grades 11/12

Classroom Curriculum from the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless
Many elementary and middle-grade lesson plans dealing with homelessness.   

The Changing Role of the Iron Range
A lesson plan for grades 4-5.

Settlers in the Late Nineteenth Century Had Experiences both Similar to and Different from Earlier Pioneers
A 1st-grade lesson plan that uses literature to compare and contrast the lives of Minnesota settlers before and after the Civil War.

Louisiana Purchase
A 5-lesson unit adaptable to a variety of grades/abilities.

Minnesota History: A WebQuest
This 25-question WebQuest might make a good extension or culminating activity for your Minnesota state history unit.

Earliest Americans and Their Environments
Though this 3rd-grade lesson plan is not specifically about Minnesota, it does examine the land-bridge theory of migration from Asia to North America that offers one explanation of the arrival of the the first people to inhabit Minnesota. For further information, see Paleo Period, Jeffers Petroglyph Site, and Lake Agassiz: The Ultimate Fishing Spot?

Following the Path of the Dakota Conflict of 1862
A lesson plan for grades 4-6 in which students map historically significant sites along the Minnesota River while learning about the importance of the Dakota Conflict of 1862.

Sioux Treaty of 1868
A secondary lesson plan using historic documents from the National Archives and Records Administration.

Anishinabe - Ojibwe - Chippewa: Culture of an Indian Nation
A high-quality lesson plan for grades 3-5.

German Immigrants: Their Contributions to the Upper Midwest
A lesson plan in which students answer questions and practice their German while using photographs and documents from the American Memory of the Library of Congress.

Little House in the Big Woods
A unit for grade 3 using this work by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  See also Famous Person - Laura Ingalls Wilder, Laura, Laura Ingalls Wilder: Iowa Hero and Little House.

Charles Lindbergh: An American Aviator
Links to lesson plans and resources. For other lesson plans on Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr., see He Flew for Freedom and Charles Lindbergh.

Paul Bunyon
A 5th-grade lesson plan on storytelling that emphasizes Paul Bunyon.

Fishes of Minnesota
This interactive, online quiz is a fun way to learn about Minnesota fish species.

Natural Resources Education
The Minnesota DNR has a number curriculum guides and resources, many of which include lesson plans. Though most can be obtained only by attending a workshop or must be ordered by mail, the following sample activity is available online: How Does Your Watershed Flow? (an upper elementary or middle grade lesson plan in pdf format from Project Wet). Other programs for which curriculum materials are available include Young Naturalists, Project Wild, Project Learning Tree, Wildfire Prevention Education Materials, MinnAqua, and Minnesota Minerals Education. Go to the main site above to find ordering information for the following curricula: Adopt-A-School, Arbor Month, and Fisheries Tour Packet & Supplemental Materials Guide.

Forests - Teaching Activities - Natural Resource Education: Minnesota DNR
Fact sheets, lesson plans, and activities for Biomes of Minnesota, Gypsy Moth, and A Vanished Forest.   

Tree Identification to Observe Diversity of a Given Nature Area
A 2nd-grade lesson plan developed to meet the Minnesota Science Standards.

Teacher's Guide to Arbor Month
One more set of activities from the above Minnesota DNR site.

Minnesota Raptor Center
Sixteen multidisciplinary lesson plans about ospreys for grade 4-8. See also Tools for Educators.

Minnesota Zoo Scavenger Hunts
Printable pages for schools planning field trips to the Minnesota Zoo.

Mississippi River
Over 30 middle school lesson plans, activities, and assignments. For other lesson plans, see also Life on the Mississippi Past and Present, Mississippi River, and Mighty Mississippi. For background information about the Mississippi River, go to The Topic: Mississippi Rriver or the Mississippi Headwaters Board.  

Mississippi River
A lesson plan for grades 2-4.

Wildlife Along the Mississippi River
A lesson plan for grades K-5 from Education World. See also Mississippi River Scavenger Hunt.

Watershed Lesson Plans
Five days of lesson plans in pdf format on the Lake Superior Watershed.  If you are doing an integrated unit on Lake Superior, take a look at Fish of the Great Lakes, Minnesota's Historic Shipwrecks, Lights of Lake Superior, and the Great Lakes Information Network.  

Lesson Plan on the Edmund Fitzgerald
A 4th-grade lesson plan about this ship sunk in 1975.

Water on the Web
This program from UMD looks really interesting. It is an interactive curriculum designed for advanced high school and college students that uses real lake data to explore basic science concepts through directed study and inquiry. To access the lesson plans, go to curricula.

Great Lakes for Kids
Lesson plans for grades 4-8. For more information on the Great Lakes, go to The Great Lakes Information Network.

Paddle to the Sea
An activity from the Gulf of Maine Aquarium using the book Paddle to the Sea by Holling Clancy Holling. Among other things, this activity examines the effect of the Great Lakes on local weather patterns and compares water surface areas of the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Maine. For more resources regarding this book, Mini-Themes, and scroll down the page to find a long list of links for a grades 5-6 unit.

Resources for Minnesota Teachers:
Education Minnesota Home Page (Formerly MEA and MFT)

NCREL
The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) is a resource for teachers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Minnesota Department of Education

Minnesota Department of Education - Special Education

InforMNs
A site designed to help Minnesota educators use technology and the Internet. It offers tech support as well as information about workshops, listserves, and school websites.

Information for Doing a State Report on Minnesota:
Living in Minnesota!
Are you doing a state report on Minnesota? This is your lucky day. I wrote this essay just for you!  

Minnesota North Star
The "official" website for the state of Minnesota. It provides a selection of resources that should give you all the details, facts and figures, and anything else you need for your state report.

State Unit Study - Minnesota
Designed for homeschoolers, this site from About.com provides an interactive unit complete with printable maps and worksheets.

Explore Minnesota
Facts and figures about Minnesota from 50 states.com.  

Minnesota State Flag
A picture of and information about the Minnesota State Flag.

Maps of Minnesota
Clicking above will take you to a reasonably good online map of Minnesota. Another decent online map is available from MInnesota State University - Mankato. Go to Locating Minnesota to view it. Click here for a black and white printable outline map of Minnesota. Also see Maps: Minnesota DNR.

More Information About Minnesota:
Minnesota - North Star
The state of Minnesota's home page. This is a good site for learning about Minnesota.

Explore Minnesota
Minnesota tourism information.

Minnesota Secretary of State Student Page
Links to homework help sites as well as information about state government, state symbols, Minnesota trivia, and Minnesota state history.

Minnesota State Demographic Center
Information on Minnesota's population.

Minnesota Geology
From the University of Minnesota.

State Topography Image: Minnesota
Not too exciting, but worth a quick look.

Minnesota Government:
Minnesota State Government Online
A sub-page of the North Star site.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's Home Page

Minnesota State Senate

Minnesota House of Representatives

Minnesota Nature/Outdoors:
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR)

Minnesota's Game Fish
Pictures and information from the DNR. Also see Natural History of Minnesota Fishes.  

Fishes of Minnesota
This interactive, online quiz is a fun way to learn about Minnesota fish species.

Ice Fishing Home Page
Yes, we really do ice fish here in Minnesota!  See also Ice Fishing World for ice fishing information and reports about ice fishing action in Minnesota and North Dakota.

Minnesota Fishing Reports

Great Lakes Aquarium - Duluth
An excellent site for learning about fresh-water fish, particularly those found in Lake Uperior. For additional information, see Fish of the Great Lakes, and Minnesota Sea Grant.

Mississippi Headwaters Board
A great site for information on the Mississippi River. See also OldManRiver.com.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area
Information on the BWCA, which is on the border of Canada and Minnesota. See also BWCA.com.  

North American Bear Center
Learn all about Bears from the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minnesota.

International Wolf Center
Images and information from the International Wolf Center, also in Ely, Minnesota.

Minnesota Raptor Center
Eagles, Hawks, Ospreys!

The Superior Hiking Trail

Adelson's Cross-Country Ski Page
Get the latest information on snow conditions and races.

Minnesota United Snowmobilers Association

Minnesota History:
Minnesota Historical Society
See Minnesota Communities for online explorations using primary sources from the Minnesota Historical Society. Click on teachers for a large selection of lesson plans on topics including people (Ard Godfrey, John Pillsbury, Julia Nelson, etc.), occupations (milling, pottery, mining), landscapes (falls, river, iron range), and milestones (Civil War, mill explosion, dangers of mining, and many more). If you are looking for the history of a specific region or town in Minnesota, try the Hennepin History Museum, Minnesota Historical Organizations, Minnesota Local History, and Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums.

EMuseum @ Minnesota State University, Mankato
Go to History of Minnesota for a timeline and specific historical topics.

Minnesota Secretary of State History Page
See Minnesota Chronicle for a timeline. This page also provides interesting historic maps and documents such as the Minnesota State Constitution and the Northwest Ordinance.

Today in History: Minnesota
Find out what happened on today's date that is significant in the history of Minnesota.

Minnesota Prehistory
Information on Minnesota's distant past. See also Jeffers Petroglyph Site and Lake Agassiz, the ultimate fishing spot?  

From Site to Story
An excellent site with information on archaeological research in Minnesota.

Native Peoples of Minnesota
Brief histories of the Dakota, Lakota, Nakota, and Anishinabe. See also Native Peoples of Minnesota Links.

The Kensington Runestone
Did Vikings really explore Minnesota? Read this article and decide for yourself. For more information, go to the Kensington Runestone Home Page,   Kensington Runestone Museum, Vikings in the New World, and Vikings and Runestones.

Virtual Museum of New France: The Explorers
See also Discoverers Web: Joliet and Marquette, Louis Hennepin, and Time Line - A Brief History of the Fur Trade.  

Louisiana Purchase
A brief overview of this real estate deal that acquired vast new lands for the United States, including part of what is now Minnesota. Click here to read the treaty agreement. See also  Purchase Louisiana Bicentennial.

Historic Fort Snelling: A Brief History of Fort Snelling
From the Minnesota Historical Society, this site tells the story not only of this historic fort, but also of the development of the U.S. Northwest.

Historic Murphy's Landing
An excellent site with information on this historic landmark.

Pig's Eye's Notepad
An encyclopedia of St. Paul history.

The Dakota Conflict Trials
Extensive information from U.M.-Mankato.

The Dakota Conflict of 1862
A chronology, photos, and a brief narrative.

First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Information on this famous Minnesota Civil War regiment. See also 1st Minnesota.net.

Minnesota Immigration History Research Center
From the University of Minnesota.

International Migration to Minnesota
From 1982 to 1994. 

Harvest Journal: Memoir of a Minnesota Farmer
This site contains excerpts and research notes as well as ordering information about this book based on the journals kept by a Minnesota farmer from 1868 through 1937.

Minnesota Mining History
A brief overview from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: Minerals Division. See also Minnesota Taconite and What's mined in Minnesota?

The Tradition and Heritage of Mayo Clinic
Learn about the history of this world-famous medical facility.

Minnesota Legislative Library: Minnesota Governors, 1849 - Present
A chronological list.

Famous Minnesota Winter Storms
Listed chronologically.

Minnesota's Historic Shipwrecks
This site developed by the Minnesota Historical Society not only provides information on shipwrecks, but also offers information on exploration and fur trade, the iron ore industry, lumbering, and railroads.

1895 Map of Minnesota
This vintage map may be just what you need for your state history unit. Be patient, as it takes a long time to load this page.

Minnesota Indian Nations:
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council
Information about Minnesota Indian tribes, treaties, and resources. For additional information see Treaties with Minnesota Indians, Indian Fishing and Hunting Rights, and Minnesota Indian Gaming Association.  

A Brief History of the Lakota People

Ojibwe History

Minnesota Indian Tribes, Reservations, Treaties
Links to pages for specific bands. Click on the right side menu

Native Peoples of Minnesota
Brief histories of the Dakota, Lakota, Nakota, and Anishinabe. See also Native Peoples of Minnesota Links.

Native Languages
From my World Languages Page.

Minnesota Cities and Towns:
Minnesota Cities
Links to information on every city or town in MN.

Minneapolis Home Page

St. Paul Home Page

Saint Cloud Home Page

Duluth

Rochester
Home of the Mayo Clinic.  

Bloomington
Home of Mall of America.

Minnesota Weather:
Minnesota Climatology
Information about Minnesota weather, including historical data.

Minnesota Weather
Current conditions and forecasts.

List of Minnesota Weather Records
From Wikipedia

Famous Minnesota Winter Storms
Listed chronologically.

Minnesota Newspapers:
Minnesota Newspaper Web Sites
Links to all Minnesota newspapers that have online editions.

Minnesota Newspaper Directory
Links and contact information for all Minnesota newspapers, including those which do not have online editions.

Saint Cloud Times
Our local newspaper. Check it out; it's not bad! 

Duluth News-Tribune

Rochester Post-Bulletin

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Twin Cities Pioneer Press

Arts/Museums/Zoos:
Walker Art Center

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Minnesota Children's Museum

The Science Museum of Minnesota

Minnesota Transportation Museum

Gibb's Farm Museum, St. Paul

Minnesota Zoo

Como Park Zoo and Conservatory

Great Lakes Aquarium - Duluth

Farming/Agriculture:
Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Minnesota agriculture from A to Z.

University of Minnesota Agricultural Extension Service
Publications, news, and programs.

The Land Online
Minnesota's agricultural newspaper.

Harvest Journal: Memoir of a Minnesota Farmer
This site contains excerpts and research notes as well as ordering information about this book based on the journals kept by a Minnesota farmer from 1868 through 1937.

Minnesota Farm Bureau

Gibb's Farm Museum, St. Paul

Professional Sports:
Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Vikings Home Page

Minnesota Timberwolves Home Page

Minnesota Lynx