Summary
This activity helps solidify knowledge and practice map skills by studying European Explorers. Students make posters about European explorers after seeing an example about Christopher Columbus. Then, students act out the route that the explorers took on a large map of the world on the playground. Finally, they draw the route on their own maps and share an explorer’s journey with the class. This activity is good for two classes to do together.
Essential Question(s)
Why did explorers travel around the world? How do you explore an uncharted path?
Snapshot
Engage Students will learn about European explorers and their routes, then go out to the playground where a map will be waiting.
Explore “Guiding” students will stand on the map and help “explorer” students reenact the route that their chosen explorer took on their journey.
Explain Students will find a partner to travel their explorer’s path with them. This is recommended for two classes to do together.
Extend Students will draw each explorer’s route on a map.
Evaluate Students will share with the class about the route every explorer took on their journey.
Materials
Map of the World (attached; one per student)
Location Cards (guidelines are attached)
Explorer Cards (guidelines are attached)
Engage
45 Minute(s)
Start by introducing a picture of Christopher Columbus to the class. After discussing the image with the students, have each student take out a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. Label one half “I Notice” and the other half “I Wonder.” Have students list their observations and questions on the respective sides of the paper. Ask for some volunteers to share their “I Notice, I Wonder” statements, then discuss with the class that it can be hard to know what is correct and what is incorrect about events that happened a long time ago.
Pair students up. Using the “I Used to Think…” strategy, have students write one half of a piece of paper what they currently think about Christopher Columbus. Tell the class that they will all watch a video about Christopher Columbus together. Watch the video Christopher Columbus | PBS World Explorers and allow time after the video for them to write what they now know about Christopher Columbus.
Bring out one copy of the attached Explorer Handout. Put “Christopher Columbus” as the name at the top of the handout. Fill out the handout with the students by having them provide answers for each section.
Explore
45 Minute(s)
Separate the class into groups of three or four. Give each group a copy of the Explorer Handout and make sure each has access to an internet connected device. Assign each group an explorer from the list below. Have each group watch the linked video for their respective explorers.
Ponce de Leon, Hernando de Soto, Francisco Coronado, John Cabot, Sir Walter Raleigh, Henry Hudson, René-Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle, Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet
After each group has watched its video, provide time for each group to fill out their handouts. Check in periodically to see if they need any additional information or have questions on their routes. Take up each of the handouts at the end of class.
Explain
90 Minute(s)
Post every group’s handout around the classroom before the start of the third day. Inform the class that they will participate in a Gallery Walk around the classroom. Assign the students to the groups they had yesterday and give each group a Gallery Walk Handout. Give each group ten minutes at each handout to write down the explorer’s name, where the explorer started, where the explorer ended, what the explorer did, and why the explorer was important. Monitor the students to be sure that they are not having trouble getting their facts.
Bring the students back together after time has finished. Ask volunteers to mention facts that they found interesting before taking up each group’s handout.
Extend
45 Minute(s)
Return each student back to their groups and give their handouts back as well. Take the groups out to an area with plenty of space and tell them that today, they will become explorers! On each group’s map, make sure that they label each continent correctly. Then, check with each group to know that they know where their explorer started and ended. Give each group fifteen minutes to create their own route that they would have taken if they were explorers. They will need to use oceans just like the explorers of the past, but besides that they can choose any route they wish, whether it is longer or shorter. They can draw this route on their map with chalk or colored pencils depending on how the map was created.
As students are building their routes, be sure to give guidance if students seem confused. Once each group is finished, have the groups write their names on their map and then show off their route to the rest of the class! Make sure each group can explain why they are taking this route and what they are passing as they are exploring. At the end of the lesson, congratulate every group for becoming real explorers!
Evaluate
45 Minute(s)
Using the Rose, Bud, and Thorn strategy, have students reflect on the positive and negative knowledge they learned about the age of exploration over this week. For the “rose", have students write what excited them while learning about explorers. For their “thorn,” have students write about the misconceptions we believe about explorers and what they found “wrong” about what the explorers did. For their “bud,” ask students to consider what could be explored by the next generation of explorers, including themselves. Pair students up and have them share their responses with their partners.
Differentiation for Gifted Learners
Resources
Christopher Columbus | PBS World Explorers. (n.d.). PBS LearningMedia. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/58b6bd78-c924-4d32-b48d-d9590b862ff5/columbus-pbs-world-explorers/
Francisco Vázquez de Coronado | PBS World Explorers. (n.d.). PBS LearningMedia. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/pbs-world-explorers-coronado/pbs-world-explorers-coronado/
Henry Hudson | PBS World Explorers. (n.d.). PBS LearningMedia. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/pbs-world-explorers-henry-hudson/pbs-world-explorers-henry-hudson/
Hernando De Soto | PBS World Explorers. (n.d.). PBS LearningMedia. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/pbs-world-explorers-desoto/pbs-world-explorers-desoto/
John Cabot | PBS World Explorers. (n.d.). PBS LearningMedia. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/john-cabot-pbs-world-explorers/john-cabot-pbs-world-explorers/
Juan Ponce de León | PBS World Explorers. (n.d.). PBS LearningMedia. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ponce-de-leon-pbs-explorers/ponce-de-leon-pbs-explorers/
K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery walk / carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/118
K20 Center. (n.d.). Rose, bud, and thorn. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/2224
Louis Jolliet & Jacques Marquette | PBS World Explorers. (n.d.). PBS LearningMedia. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/af74d68c-5a82-401e-b4e1-f431827b547b/louis-jolliet-jacques-marquette-pbs-world-explorers/
René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle | PBS World Explorers. (n.d.). PBS LearningMedia. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/de-la-salle-pbs-world-explorers/de-la-salle-pbs-world-explorers/
Sir Walter Raleigh and John White | PBS World Explorers. (n.d.). PBS LearningMedia. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://oeta.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/pbs-world-explorers-raleigh-white/pbs-world-explorers-raleigh-white/
