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Topic: History Games and Animations

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Welcome to the Best of History Web Sites Games and Animations section. Below you will find an annotated list of fun history games and animations organized around broad historical periods. Most of these games and animation are aimed at students ages 10-16. We hope you enjoy these selections and encourage you to submit a recommended history game or animation to us via the contact form. Many thanks to Joshua Dale for his help in organizing and developing this section.
-Tom Daccord

Ancient History Games

Gladiator: Dressed to Kill This game has the player choose the correct armor for three different types of Roman gladiators within a time limit. Each gladiator then fights and wins or loses based on what the player's choices were.

Housesteads Fort This is a 3D tour of a reconstruction of a Roman fort along Hadrian's Wall in Ancient Britain.

Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii in 79 AD This is a scavenger hunt that presents the user with several web sites and asks them to research the answers to various questions.

newThe Mummy Maker Test your knowledge of history with an interactive challenge. Enter the embalmer's workshop and prepare a body for burial.

The Pyramid Maker

Death in Rome This game presents the user with a scene where a Roman dies and the user then has to figure out how the Roman died. The player uses evidence from the scene and information both from witnesses and modern experts.

Pyramid Challenge This game presents the user with a series of challenges related to building a pyramid for the Egyptian Pharaoh. The construction of the pyramid succeeds or fails based on the player's decisions.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World This quiz has the user match the wonders of the ancient world with descriptions in a variety of formats.

newAnglo-Saxon Coins In this game you learn stories behind the coins and try to make "money talk."

Medieval History Games

Middle Ages This game quizzes the user on events in the Middle Ages.

Asian Middle Ages Chronology This game prompts the player to reorder several events that took place in Asia during the Middle Ages.

newKing of the Hill Dispatch armies of dispensable peasantry to defend your royal honor, your Majesty.

Asian Middle Ages People, Places, and Things This game quizzes the user on Asia during the Middle Ages.

Destroy the Castle Build your own virtual trebuchet and fire giant sandstone balls at a castle wall. You decide on the size of your projectiles, where to place your trebuchet, and other factors critical to success.

newBuild a Medieval Arch find out how medieval masons built cathedral arches - without the benefits of modern technology.

Early Modern History Games

The Battle of Waterloo Game This game allows the user to replay the Battle of Waterloo and make the decisions that both generals faced.

Great Fire of London Animation see contemporary etchings of the London skyline, showing the extent of the devastation. Afterwards, you could view the changing designs for St Paul's Cathedral, rebuilt in the aftermath of the fire by Sir Christopher Wren.

newPirates! Take this quiz about pirate lore and find out if you'll have to walk the plank!

Gunpowder Plot Game Guy Fawkes was among a gang of Roman Catholic conspirators who wanted to blow up the House of Lords and assassinate King James VI of Scotland and I of England. As part of their plan, they stored gunpowder kegs in the cellars of the House of Lords. You must find those kegs before the fizzing fuse causes disaster!


Early U.S. History Games

Places of the American Revolution This game quizzes the user on important locations in the American Revolution in the form of a matching game, flashcards, concentration, or a word search.

newOn the Trail of Captain John Smith: A Jamestown Adventure Follow in the footsteps of Captain John Smith to discover what life was like in the New World 400 years ago.

The British are Coming! This timed quiz game quizzes the user with questions about the American Revolution. The goal is for Paul Revere to beat the British, but he only moves when the player gets a question correct.

 

The Flames of the Rebellion This downloaded feature is a strategy game that allows two players to play either as the British or the Colonials and play out the Revolutionary War for control of the thirteen colonies.

Fact Match This is a concentration type game about the American Revolution.

Bill of Rights This game quizzes the user on the Bill of Rights in a variety of formats.

Nation-Building U.S. History Games

Animated Atlas This site features a ten minute, interactive movie that is a geographic history of the United States, locating major events and the admission of every state.

Constitution Facts Test your constitution IQ with an interactive quiz and see how you scored against others in your state and nationally.

 

 

Which Founding Father Are You? Answer five questions to see who you best match up with.

Strike it Rich!This PBS game will see if you have what it takes to strike it rich in the gold rush!

Early American Reformers of the 1800's This game quizzes the user on important terms from reform movements in the 1800s.

 

 

 

 

 

Modern U.S. History Games

World War I Study Activity This game quizzes the user on World War I in a variety of ways.

Electoral College by States This game quizzes the user on how many electoral votes states have in a variety of ways.

America Becomes a World Power This game quizzes the user on how America became a world power.

1960-1980 Challenge This game quizzes the user on events in the U.S. between 1960 and 1980.

U.S. Presidents This game asks the user 10 questions about the presidents of the U.S.

Characteristics of Geographic Regions This game quizzes the user on geographic regions in the U.S. in a variety of formats.

Modern World History Games

newWarfare 1917 Build armies and send them into battle. Certain death, or ultimate victory?

Between the Wars Vocabulary This feature presents the user with flashcards about World Wars I and II. The questions it offers are very good, though it does not allow the user to enter an answer.

Cyber School Bus This is a collection of games by the UN. There are several different types of games and quizzes about world issues and countries.

The Changing British Population Play the animation and track how key events in British history have affected the size of the British population.

Animated Maps and Map Games

newCrisis in Darfur “Crisis in Darfur” is an impressive, interactive Google Earth file from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as part of their "Mapping Initiatives." Students can view images of burned-out Darfur villages and gain a deeper understanding of the destruction as a result of the civil strife in the area.

The Western Front, 1914-1918 Animation This animated map shows the Western Front of World War I.

Animated Map: The Fall of France (Dunkirk) This animated map shows the fall of France during World War II.

newFirst Animated Map "Turning the Pages" allows vistors to virtually "turn" pages of manuscripts in an incredibly realistic way. This Atlas was compiled by Mercator in the 1570s.

newKings and Queens Through Time In this animated timeline you put the kings and queens of England, and later the United Kingdom, in their proper place. There are four periods to explore.

Schock-ing Geography Students can quiz themselves on physical, current political, and historical map information. Historical maps include Europe 1763, Europe 1815, Europe 1914, and World 1800.

newGeoSpy Test your geosmarts and become a GeoSpy agent by identifying states, provinces, countries, and continents.

Animated Map: Battle of Somme This is an animated map showing the Battle of Somme in WWI.

Animated Map: The Burma Campaign This animated map shows the campaign in Burma during World War II.

newAnimated Maps of European Mapmaking Explore the changing European view of the world in the animated history of maps across the centuries.

newGeoBee Challenge The GeoBee Challenge from National Geographic is a game that features five new geography-based questions every day.

newSocial Explorer interactive maps allow you to choose a time period and demographic feature to look at census data from 1790 to 2000.

newMapping the Holocaust (Google Earth) Uses Google Earth to map key Holocaust sites with historic content illustrating the enormous scope and impact of the Holocaust.

newThe Traveler IQ Challenge The Traveler IQ Challenge is a fun online geography game that tests your knowledge of various places in the world.

 

Tom Daccord and Justin Reich offer a wide variety of custom workshops for schools and districts. Recent workshop topics and keynotes include:

--Teaching History & Social Studies with Technology
--Teaching with New and Emerging Technologies
--The Laptop Teacher: Managing the Laptop Classroom
--Thriving in a Web 2.0 Classroom
--Teaching English & Language Arts with Technology
--Building a Personal Learning Network
--Building the Collaborative Classroom with Blogs and Wikis
--Classroom Web 2.0 Projects
--Empowering Creativity, Collaboration, and Community with Technology
--Improving Writing with Word’s "Hidden' Features
--Johnny Can't Search: Digital Literacy for the 21st Century
--Making PowerPoint Engaging: Turning Presentations into Lessons
--Not Another Paper! Alternative Assessents using Technology
--Group Audio Blogging and Mobcasting: VoiceThread, Gcast, and Jott

and more...

Contact Us for More Information

 


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Fenn School, Concord MA

 

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