This resource book provides information and activity sheets on explorers of North America. The five sections of the book trace the explorers' contributions both geographically and chronologically. Each section includes thought questions, biographical portraits and skill activities for grades 4-8. Section 1, "They Opened the Door," profiles Leif Erikson, Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Juan Ponce de Leon, Hernando Cortez, Giovanni da Verrazano, and Hernando de Soto. "They Navigated Great Lakes and Rivers" examines the contributions of Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Henry Hudson, Robert de La Salle, and Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville. "They Crossed Vast Plains and Deserts" focuses on Estevanico, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark, and Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. "They Blazed Western Trails" highlights the work of Sir Francis Drake, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Sacagawea, George Washington Bush, John Charles Fremont and Kit Carson, James Beckwourth, and Isabella Bird Bishop. "They Aim for New Frontiers" chronicles the work of Robert E. Peary and Matthew Henson, Louise Arner Boyd, Robert Ballard, Sylvia Alice Earle, Neil Armstrong, Sally Kristen Ride, and Franklin Chang-Diaz. A time line of the explorers, maps of North America, and answers to the activity sheets are provided. (EH)