EXPLORERS
"Humans are exploring creatures. Some explorers have set sail across uncharted seas. Others have trekked across forbidding deserts or through dense jungles. Some have returned to tell their stories. Others have not. Some explorers are driven by the desire for wealth and fame. Others explore simply for the thrill of it. And still others explore to collect information about animals, plants, and people. . . "

LEWIS & CLARK
"On March 4, 1801, a tall, red-headed Virginian named Thomas Jefferson was sworn in as the third president of a very young United States of America. The country was small - tiny, compared to its present size. Americans knew that a great expanse of land lay west of the Mississippi River. They knew Indians lived there; some white trappers had ventured into it, but no one had any real idea what was. . . "

MAPS
"Tired of your day-to-day life? Looking for an escape? Why not browse through an atlas (a collection of maps). Maps can take you on flights of fancy all over the world-and even out of it. Of course, most people use maps to help them get from one place to another. But maps are also spurs to the imagination, suggesting where you could go, might go, will go-someday!"

MARCO POLO
"Imagine taking a trip that lasts 24 years! If you are 10 when you leave, you'll be 34 before you see your home again. Marco Polo (1254-1324) was actually 17 when he left his hometown of Venice in 1271, and 41 when he returned. He spent most of those years traveling throughout China, India, and Southeast Asia as emissary for Mongol emperor Kublai Khan. If this seems incredible to you, you are not. . . "