Florida History Links
Welcome to your study’s links page! We’ve compiled many great resources to help you learn. If you find any broken links, please let us know below.
Part I Activities
Activity 1
Florida State Parks – Mounds & Middens
Mound House (Calusa Shell Mound Site in Fort Myers Beach)
Florida Museum – Investigating the Calusa
(NOTE: Website contains historically accurate nudity.)
Activity 2
KidsGardening – Three Sisters Garden Lesson
How to Plant the Three Sisters
Activity 3
Florida Museum – Investigating the Calusa
Florida State Parks – Mounds & Middens
Mound House – Calusa Shell Village Site
Activity 4
Part I Lessons
Lesson 1
The History of Florida in 16 Minutes
Lesson 2
The Calusa The Calusa (USF Research)
Prehistoric Florida: Canals, Shell Cities, and Mounds (Prehistoric North America)
(NOTE: The documentary refers to old-earth timelines.)
Lesson 4
Pre-Columbian Florida (NOTE: This video references evolution.)
Lesson 5
Part II Activities
Activity 3
National Park Service – Coquina: The Rock that Saved St. Augustine
NOAA (Ocean Service) – What are coquina and tabby?
Florida State Parks – Spanish Coquina Quarries at Anastasia
Part II Lessons
Lesson 7
Lesson 11
Spanish Shipwrecks
Lesson 13
Lesson 15
Lesson 16
Mansa Musa and the Mali Empire
Lesson 17
Why Slaves Escaped to Florida for Asylum (This link provides a short clip from a longer documentary that older students and adults might find fascinating. It’s available on PBS Passport, but also check your local library.)
Lesson 19
Lesson 21
Lesson 22
Florida's Spanish Culinary History with Chef Michelle Bernstein | Full Documentary
Part III Activities
Activity 1
Explore Seminole History & Culture
Part III Lessons
Lesson 25
Settlement of Florida Seminole Indians Part I
Lesson 26
Florida Museum Student Guide and Activity Packet
Lesson 27
Lesson 28
Lesson 30
Florida Cracker Cattle: A Spanish Legacy
If you want to see what life was like on a cattle drive, you can do so by signing up to participate in the Great Florida Cattle Drive! Riding experience recommended.
Lesson 31
Florida in the Civil War
Dry Tortugas
Lesson 33
Virtual Lunch and Learn - John James Audubon – Visit the Audubon Society to learn more and access an activity on wading birds, many of which make Florida their home.
Audubon for Kids Wading Birds – Some of the most important bird species in Florida!
Lesson 34
Adventures with Audubon (NOTE: At 15:20 there is a minor profanity that appears in a historic limerick.)
Lesson 35
Lesson 36
Lesson 39
Jim and Tara’s Wood Stork Rookery
The Rookery (NOTE: More advanced; includes footage of birds mating)
Audubon Rookery Venice, Florida Evening Flock Arrivals
Lesson 40
Mary Brickell, the Other Mother of Miami
Lesson 41
Manatees! The gentle giants of the sea! What you need to know!
Lesson 42
Dolphins Save Swimmers from Shark Attack
Lesson 43
“What’s Wild: American Alligator” on PBS, American Alligator — The Most Misunderstood Predator
Part IV Activities
Activity 1
Part IV Lessons
Lesson 44
Lesson 45
The Billionaire Who Made St. Augustine Rich
Lesson 46
This Florida City Became America's Most Important Military Asset Overnight
Henry Plant: The Man Who Opened Florida's West Coast
Follow The Crowds: How Flagler & Plant Changed Florida
Learn more about Tarpon Springs: You can even book a sponge diving tour!
Lesson 47
Railroad Museums
- Florida Railroad Museum Parrish, Florida
- Gold Coast Rail Museum Miami, Florida
- Southern Florida Railroad Museum, Deerfield Beach, Florida
- Central Florida Railroad Museum, Winter Garden, Florida
- The Naples Train Museum, Naples, Florida
- West Florida Railroad Museum, Milton, Florida
- Historic Train Depot, Tarpon Springs, FL
Railroad Resource 1
Railroad Resource 2
Lesson 49
Black History Month: Mary McLeod Bethune
Jackie Robinson Integrates Baseball
Black History in Daytona Beach
The Howard Thurman House
Daytona Beach Black Heritage Trail
Lesson 50
The Black Church: Thurman’s Non-Violent Approach
Lesson 51
Florida Cracker History History of the Florida Cracker Pioneers
Florida Cracker Cattle: A Spanish Legacy
Strawberry Girl Read-aloud from Palmetto Historical Park
Lesson 52
Plant City: Winter Strawberry Capital of the World
Lesson 54
How Many Artesian Springs are in Florida? | Discover Florida Channel
Lesson 57
Keeping Your (Food) Cool: From Ice Harvesting to Electric Refrigeration
Lesson 60
The Spanish-American War Explained Florida During WW I
Lesson 61
The Great Depression for Kids | History Made Easy
Lesson 63
Lesson 64
Why Florida Built a Bridge That Goes Absolutely Nowhere
Built Against All Odds | The Overseas Highway Story
Lesson 65
Lesson 70
Florida’s Labor Day Hurricane (audio documentary)
Lesson 72
Overview of the National Hurricane Center
Hurricanes 101: National Geographic
Lesson 75
Key West Cut-Up Old Sour
Part V Activities
Activity 1
Activity 3
Part V Lessons
Lesson 76
The Forgotten History of Miami Beach WWII Training!
Florida Remembers World War II
Lesson 78
Liberty Ship Building in Jacksonville, Florida
Documentary: Liberty Ships: How American Shipyards Rescued Britain In WW2
(NOTE: War casualties are shown at 14:00, 33:40, 34:13, 34:26-29, 40:00. There are scenes of fighting violence throughout this World War II documentary.)
Lesson 79
The US Home Front During World War II
Lesson 80
Nazis invaded First Coast 80 years ago at Ponte Vedra Beach
World War II veterans from South Florida share emotional stories
Lesson 82
Lesson 83
How Children Helped Raise Money During World War II (This video is set in the United Kingdom, but the same events happened in the United States.)
Lesson 85
World War II and the Post War Boom
Lesson 86
The National Park Service: the Everglades Everglades – A Virtual Field Trip
The Everglades: A Symphony of Life | Full Documentary
Lesson 88
Why is biodiversity so important?
Lesson 89
River of Grass, a collaboration between Luca Martinez, The Everglades Foundation, and the UNESCO World Heritage Foundation
Luca Martinez talks about the Everglades
Luca Martinez documentaries and advocacy films
Lesson 90
Largest Ecosystem Restoration Project in the World - The Florida Everglades
Everglades Restoration Project
Everglades Restoration: What You Need To Know
Join Friends of the Everglades to Continue Marjory’s Essential Work!
Lesson 91
What Were Jim Crow Laws | Facts for Kids
Learn More with Liberty: Jim Crow Laws (5th Grade)
Lesson 92
Florida's Fight to Desegregate Pools and Beaches
Primary Source: Integrating St. Augustine Beach
LBJ Signs the Civil Rights Act (NOTE: This video includes historical violence.)
MLK at Civil Rights Act of 1964 Signing Ceremony
Lesson 93
How the Space Race between the US and USSR Started
Lesson 94
JFK's Famous Speech to Congress on Space Exploration (1961)
Lesson 96
Launch of Apollo 4 First Saturn V as Seen LIVE on CBS w/ Walter Cronkite
Lesson 97
Lesson 98
Lesson 99
Expedition Moon (NOTE: Note: Page contains references to evolution.)
The Majesty of the First Apollo Spacewalk (A must watch!)
Wringing out Water on the ISS - for Science!
Lesson 100
Lesson 101
Cuban Revolution Ends - 1959 | Today In History | 1 Jan 19
Lesson 103
Kendal Street Named for Pedro Pan
Lesson 105
The History of the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Lesson 106
Florida’s Immigrant Entrepreneurs
Lesson 107
Types of Government - Understanding Different Forms of Government
Lesson 108
I'm Just a Bill - Schoolhouse Rock
How a Bill Becomes a Law: Crash Course Government and Politics #9
Introduction and Referral of Bills
Lesson 109
Lesson 110
Lesson 111
The Mariel Boatlift | Inside the Museum (NOTE: The video mentions that the Cuban government imprisoned queer people at 5:20.)