After visiting the Ellis Island website, consider the following:

• Start with a tour of Ellis Island.  What impresses you  most about the immigrant experience from the descriptions and photos?

• Go to the Ellis Island Site Map, select History, and read the overview.  What were the peak years of immigration through Ellis Island?  Approximately how many Americans can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island?

• Now read over the timeline, especially noting the years 1890-1924.

 
 
 
• On the experience page, list the reasons for emigrating to America.  What was the difference between the First Wave and the Second Wave of immigrants?

• Describe the conditions steerage passengers endured by going to the passage across the Atlantic link.

• Finally, through family interviews, or a search of the The American Family Immigration History Center, which you can  access through the genealogy link on the Ellis Island site, try to ascertain if any of your ancestors passed through Ellis Island. :-)