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Age of Exploration Unit Ideas. European Exploration of the New World - unit. Age of Exploration Unit, grade 5 but can be adjusted, free download, Core Knowledge. European Exploration of North American Unit, designed for grade 3 but can be adjusted, free download, Core Knowledge.
- Teaching The Age of Exploration
- Age of Exploration Overview
- Age of Exploration Timeline
- Teacher Resources For Learning About The Age of Exploration
- Age of Exploration Pacing Guide
- Age of Exploration Primary Sources
- World Map
- Age of Exploration Videos
- The Atlantic Slave Trade: TED-Ed
- Age of Exploration Picture Books
If you’re a teacher, then you are probably familiar with this scenario: you look at your schedule and realize you’re supposed to teach about a topic you remember little to nothing about! Especially with U.S. history, you want to make sure you teach your students the important facts, but it can be overwhelming to know what needs to be covered. Resea...
What was the Age of Exploration?
The Age of Exploration, or Age of Discovery, refers to a historical period that began in the 1400s and lasted until the the 1600s. The Age of Exploration is a period in European history of extensive overseas exploration. Portugal was one of the first countries to send explorers west, which led many other countries such as England, Holland (The Netherlands), France, and Spain to launch their own expeditions. Image by Universalis, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link During this time explorers had more advanced...
Who were the famous European Explorers?
Famous explorers of this time include Christopher Columbus, Juan Ponce de León, John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, Ferdinand Magellan, Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. Columbus before the Queenby Emanuel Leutze, 1843
What were the Effects of the Age of Exploration?
The Age of Exploration led to many changes, both positive and negative. On the one hand, this era increased trade and made mapping the world possible. Negative effects of the Age of Exploration include the spread of fatal diseases, decades of warfare, the destruction of many Indigenous Peoples’ civilizations, and the Atlantic Slave Trade. Other effects are more difficult to define as good or bad, such as the spread of religion, economic globalization, and migration of people between Europe, A...
When teaching the Age of Exploration, or any historical period, it can be helpful for students to have a general timeline of important events and when they occurred.
Now that you’ve the basics, it’s time to dig in deeper! After all, you can’t teach what you don’t know! Here are a few wonderful resources which will help you better understand the Age of Exploration: 1. The Age of Exploration: Crash Course European History– This informative YouTube video gives a great overview of the time period 2. Free Online US ...
One of the hardest things about teaching is time management! How much time should you spend on each subject? What topics are most important? To help you teach the Age of Exploration, I’ve created a two-week pacing guide. Suggested Pacing Guide: Note: Each lesson is around 45 minutes long. This pacing guide is the same one I use in my Age of Explora...
No matter what historical time period you’re teaching, primary sources are such an important resource! Primary sources help students connect with history and feel like real historians! However, with so many primary sources out there it can be time-consuming and overwhelming to find appropriate and relevant ones. To help you when teaching the Age of...
Description of Primary Source:
This map by Martin Waldseemüller is often called “America’s Birth Certificate” because it is the first map that labels America and shows it as a separate land mass.
Class Discussion Questions:
1. What do you see? 2. After looking at the map, what places do you see? 3. What decorative illustrations do you see? What could they mean? 4. Why do you think this map was made? 5. How does it compare to a current world map?
Resources for this Primary Source:
1. View the map(I recommend having students view this one on the computer so they can zoom in. The details are amazing!) 2. Lesson plan(Library of Congress) 3. Student worksheet(National Archives) Need more Age of Exploration Primary Sources? Click here to read the blog post.
Another fabulous resource for teaching the Age of Exploration is videos. Videos help students visualize new information and are a great way to engage reluctant learners. The only problem with videos is they can often include content that isn’t appropriate for the classroom. No one wants to accidentally show something like that in their class, so I’...
Ted Ed’s compelling and quick summary of the Atlantic Slave Trade6 minutesMy rating: age 9+Notes: The animation is excellent and the narration is concise and easy to follow. This would be a great introductory video for teaching about the Atlantic Slave Trade.The last resource I want to highlight for teaching about the Age of Exploration is picture books. Picture books can wonderful for all ages and grade levels! They give information in a simple and engaging way, and they often give more personal perspectives on historical issues.To help save you time, I’ve compiled a teacher-approved list of Age of Ex...
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THE LESSON PLANS. On the next several pages, you will nd the Lesson Plans for New World Explorers. The Lesson Plans clearly outline what students must do before, during, and after each lesson. Page numbers are listed so that you will immediately know what you need to photocopy before beginning each lesson.
- Geography of New World Colonization. Please use a map of the Age of Exploration outlining exploration and routes of the Spanish, English, and French (included in most texts and available online) and an atlas or modern political map to compare and contrast.
- Using Art to Assess Spanish Exploration and Colonization. Display William Henry Powell’s Discovery of the Mississippi, 1853.
- Captain John Smith. A reading from Captain John Smith. Note that this is written in an older form of English, which can be discerned by having the teacher read this aloud while students read along silently.
- Samuel de Champlain. Image study: Deffaite des Yroquois au Lac de Champlain, 1613, published by Chez Iean Berjon, also available from the Library of Congress.
- Christopher Columbus: The Pioneer of the New World. Let's start our journey with the man who changed the course of history – Christopher Columbus. Begin by introducing the context of the 15th century.
- Marco Polo: Tales from the Silk Road. Venture into the captivating world of Marco Polo. This Venetian explorer traversed the Silk Road, connecting the East and West.
- Lewis and Clark: Charting the Uncharted. Fast forward to the early 19th century, and we encounter Lewis and Clark. The pair was tasked with exploring the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase.
- Ferdinand Magellan: Navigating the Globe. Embark on a global journey with Ferdinand Magellan. This Portuguese explorer led the first expedition to circumnavigate the Earth.
This Explorers of the New World Lesson Plan is suitable for 3rd - 5th Grade. Students research explorers and explore how exploration affected the Western Hemisphere; students demonstrate competency in using multimedia encyclopedia and information software, and present PowerPoint presentation to class with two scanned drawings.
Explorers of the New World: Learning About Major Explorers of the New World For Teachers 3rd - 5th Learners investigate the principal explorers of the New World and the contributions that they made to the European knowledge about America, the development of rivalries, and the effects on Native American cultures.
