Learning objects Vikings: the north Atlantic saga - online exhibition

TLF ID M008650

This is an online exhibition rich in historical information, animations and source material about the Vikings in general and their westward expansion in particular. The exhibition, developed by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, contains three elements, two intended for students and one for teachers. The first is a guided tour of eight virtual museum rooms outlining Viking history. The second is a Viking voyage activity that traces Viking exploration and settlement in the north Atlantic. The third is a learning centre that includes ideas for teachers.





Educational details

Educational value
  • This is a significant multimedia resource, highly valuable for the Vikings depth study (c790-c1066) in the year 8 history curriculum. It provides information about the motivation for Viking voyages and settlement in the north Atlantic. Its learning activities are richly illustrated and focus on archaeological excavations, artefacts, chronicles and sagas as well as on settlement sites such as L'Anse aux Meadows and individuals such as Eric the Red and Leif Eriksson.
  • The highlight of this online resource is the 'Viking voyage'. It contains detailed information and a range of sources on the Scandinavian homelands, the Western Isles, Iceland, Greenland, Helluland and Markland, Vinland and subsequent legends about the Vikings. The sources include more than 25 short videos, 35 images, 14 audio files, 4 maps and 4 three-dimensional representations. They are organised into categories such as archaeology, sagas, history, environment and genetics.
  • Each of the eight virtual rooms in the guided tour provides a short chapter in the history of the Vikings' westward expansion from the first raid on Lindisfarne Monastery, England, in 793 to the end of Norse culture in Greenland in around 1450. Most rooms also contain supporting visual evidence - usually an image of an artefact or manuscript and a photograph of where the item was located.
Year level

8; 9; 10; 11; 12

Learning area
  • History
  • Humanities and Social Sciences

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/
  • Publisher
  • Name: Smithsonian Institution
  • Organization: Smithsonian Institution
  • Description: Publisher
  • Address: Washington\, DC, UNITED STATES
  • URL: http://www.si.edu/
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organization: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Description: Publisher
  • Address: Vic, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Generic
Learning Resource Type
  • Interactive
Rights
  • Image © Smithsonian Institution. Metadata © Education Services Australia Ltd 2011 (except where otherwise indicated). You may copy, communicate and adapt this material for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the material.