Here Comes the Millennium

Here Comes the Millennium!!

TeachersFirst collected this eclectic set of millennium resources for the year 2000. Some of these are serious and historical. Others are a stab at the future. There are even a couple that take a good-natured poke at our progress over the past thousand years. Any of these could serve as a starting point for your own exploration of the turn of the century, the turn of the millennium, or both. This page remains on our site, but will not be updated further.

New - "Great Minds" Lessons

TeachersFirst has added two web-based lessons to our millennium resources. Designed for students in grades 7-12, each lesson includes

Objectives and detailed instructions for teachers.

Instructions for students

Reproducible student handouts in Adobe Acrobat format.

Two lessons are available:

Great minds of the Twentieth Century examines twentieth century personalities.

Great minds of the Millennium examines personalities prior to 1900.

2000 Around the World - The New York Times offers this collection of photos and short articles drawn from each of the world's time zones at the dawn of the year 2000. The site includes maps of the time zones showing the locations of the places mentioned.

Calendars Through the Ages - Since we're all into counting days and centuries, here's how it started. This site offers a concise history of how calendars and date-keeping developed in several different cultures in Europe, Asia, and South America. Interesting background for study of astronomy and cultures, or as research material for secondary students.

More on the Millennium - It isn't often that we get really excited about a site, but CNN's Millennium site, designed as a companion to their TV series of the same same, is really worth a look. You'll need to enter from the current week's feature, and you'll need the current Shockwave/Flash plug-ins, but once you're into the site the presentations and content really are superb. Sections of the site will become active as the series airs. In addition, there is an extensive teaching guide which provides thematic coverage and additional resources for teachers. This one's a must-see.

The Twentieth Century - A companion to CNN's TV series of the same name, this site offers a chronological examination of the key events of the 20th century. Great graphics, and lots of links to related topics.; The Time 100 - This is the companion site to Time magazine's survey of the most important 100 people of the century. While the navigation can be awkward, the site offers detailed biographies of each person selected, along with teaching ideas, background information, and sections dealing with social, political, and scientific trends over the past 100 years. A great site for middle and high school students, this one could be used for a variety of interdisciplinary units.; CNN's Countdown to 2000 - Grades 6-12 - CNN's millennium site offers daily voices of the millennium and this day this century sections, each of which provides a daily clip from an important historical event or personality. There are also millennium-related stories on a full range of topics, from health care to fashion, to technology.
: Everything 2000 - Grades 4-12 - This site offers a mixed bag of information relating to the coming of the year 2000. There's a fair amount of coverage of Y2K issues and other technical goings on, along with reporting on planned celebrations around the world, and other off-beat ways in which people are planning to usher in the new millennium.
Heroes or Villains - Grades 9-12 - Here's one to make them think. This site from the British Archives asks students to explore famous people of the 20th century and specific acts in which they were involved - Truman and the atomic bomb, Churchill and the bombing of Dresden, etc. Did the acts make them heroes or villains? Endless discussion possibilities make this site well worth coping with a quirky screen interface.; The Millennium in Education - Grades 4-12 - Here's a very abridged history of how education and learning have changed in the past 1,000 years. The site offers a timeline suitable for student use, as well as some other connections to the evolution of educational systems in Europe and the United States.
: The Millennium Bug Project - Grades 9-12 - Here's a more technical look at some of the issues related to the year 2000 and its implications for computing and scientific communities. The site, created by the Oregon Museum of Science, offers several examples and case studies to illustrate the places where the millennium bug may be hiding.
: Millennium from National Geographic - Grades 9-12 - A beautiful, slightly difficult to navigate site from the National Geographic which will feature new natural history themes throughout 1999. The trick appears to be to click on the little icons on the top menu bar to move from one section to another. New sections will be added over the course of the year.
: NASA's New Millennium Program - Grades 6-12 - This is NASA's vision of how space exploration may proceed in the century ahead. It's a bit of stargazing that should appeal to your scientifically-inclined students.
The Next Millennium - Now What? - Grades 6-12 - CNN bills this site as a glimpse into the future, but it's more accurately a collection of excerpts from interviews with leaders in more than a dozen different areas, from education to fashion to space science. Their comments might serve as interesting discussion starters or as the basis for a research project, but this site doesn't match the flair of many of its CNN cousins.; On This Day - Grades 6-12 - Here is the New York Times guide to events - day by day- from the past century. Comprehensive, well researched, yet brief enough to hold student interest. This site would make a great daily history discussion.
An Online History of the Millennium - Grades 6-12 - We love this one!! - Britain's The Guardian offers this site containing 500 web pages, each dealing with two years of history from AD 1000 to 2000. You enter the site on the "page of the day," but can move freely around the site once you have entered. There's a distinctly English feel to it all, and many of the facts are obscure, to be sure, but this site is a great way to help students understand just how long 1,000 years really is!

That Wacky Millennium - Grades 9-12 - This is a humorous but highly literate tour through the last millennium by a private author who really knows his history. Much of the approach is tongue-in-cheek, but there are lots of places at which you could ask your students, "What does he mean by this?" Great discussion starters, even if the repetitious "those wacky ....." gets to you. For a companion site in the same vein dealing with the 20th century, check out That Wacky Century. Local sensibilities vary, so read both carefully before using them with your students.
: Turn of the Last Century - Grades 8-12 - Here's a look at some of the issues people were dealing with in 1899 when the 20th century began. This lesson is one of a series created by teaching fellows at the Library of Congress. It shows interesting contrasts to the concerns we have today, and another way of helping students understand how much has changed, and how much is still the same.
: Y2K for Kids - Grades 4-8 - The Federal Emergency Management Agency created this site to help explain the Y2K problem to children. The simplified explanations also work well for adults who aren't fully computer literate! This site uses lots of Q&A and "what if" examples to illustrate some of the problems governments and corporations are trying to anticipate for the year 2000.

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