Explorers from Europe
Examine how new tools and intense competition led European nations to start crossing oceans.
Examine how new tools and intense competition led European nations to start crossing oceans.
In the 1400s, European rulers from nations such as Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain fought to be among the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean and claim new territories. They hired ambitious and eager explorers, gave them ships, and pointed them westward - with the hope of growing rich.
How did Spain and Portugal benefit from exploration?
Why were northern European nations late to the exploration game - and how did they catch up?
What technology helped ships cross the oceans safely?
Spain and Portugal recruited men such as Vasco de Gama and Hernan Cortez to conquer new lands - and the people who already lived there.
Essential questions:
What motivated these rulers?
Why were Spain and Portugal so successful during this time?
Where did Spain and Portugal claim land?
Suggested Activity: Be The Teacher
Playing “catch-up”, Great Britain and France sent ships west to the Americas where they found an unfamiliar and harsh climate, land that was difficult to farm, and tribes of Native Americans who, for many reasons, didn’t want them there.
Essential questions:
What motivated these rulers?
What lands did the English and French claim for themselves?
How did the arrival of these ships affect the people who lived there already?
Suggested Activity: A Different Point of View
As people began to travel the world, they began drawing what they found. These early maps - though not without mistakes - changed the way people saw the world.
Essential questions:
When were the first maps created?
How did having increasingly accurate maps change how people viewed the world?
Why did explorers try to map the land they discovered?
Suggested Activity: Social Media Post
Explorers needed the right tools to help them navigate the seas and the right boats to survive the voyage.
Essential questions:
What new technology made long voyages possible?
How did new technology change the way Europeans saw the world?
Suggested Activity: And the Winner Is...
Related Social Studies Topics
Timeline Challenge
Start a class timeline (or add to an existing timeline) showing important events from the age of exploration.
Socratic Discussion
Discuss: What were the positive and the negative outcomes of The Age of Exploration?
Discuss: Today, why does the international community generally not support expansionism (countries conquering territories)?
Create
Investigate an Arctic Explorer (in Prenda World)
(Not sure what to do? Create a commercial for a navigation tool!)
STEM
Learn how a compass works in this article, and then give it a try yourself by creating and using a simple compass.
Learn about how the Inka people were seriously into STEM!
Image Attributions