Age of Exploration
Alexa Poling, Stefani Samlin, DJ Gordon, Antonia Linus, Julia Smith, Julie Skulski
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Welcome!
Use the sidebar to view all parts of our Unit Plan. This page contains our unit goals, standards, skills, differentiation, vocabulary, pedagogical practices, and our unit map.
In This Unit...
In This Unit...
Students will be given the chance to explore a time in history that is referred to as The Age of Exploration. The Age of Exploration was a time in which Europeans started to explore, colonize, and conquer regions newly discovered across the globe. Since the time period is all about exploration, the students will have the opportunity to learn about some of the explorers during this time as well as take part in activities related to each explorer to demonstrate their knowledge. By the end of this unit, students will take part in a project in which they will pick an explorer to dive more in-depth with their gaining of information.
Students will be given the chance to explore a time in history that is referred to as The Age of Exploration. The Age of Exploration was a time in which Europeans started to explore, colonize, and conquer regions newly discovered across the globe. Since the time period is all about exploration, the students will have the opportunity to learn about some of the explorers during this time as well as take part in activities related to each explorer to demonstrate their knowledge. By the end of this unit, students will take part in a project in which they will pick an explorer to dive more in-depth with their gaining of information.
Learning Goals
Learning Goals
Students will be able to build upon their prior knowledge regarding the Age of Exploration.
Students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge on each explorer that is introduced through a variety of instructional activities.
Students will be able to develop an understanding that people in different times and places view the world in different ways which is why the explorers were so eager to explore new places and routes.
Standards
Standards
PA Standards
8.1.3.A - Identify the difference between past, present, and future using timelines and/or other graphic representations.
CC.1.2.3.E - Use text features and search tools to locate and interpret information.
7.3.3.A - Identify the effect of people on the physical systems within a community.
8.1.3.B - Identify fact, opinion, multiple point of view, and primary sources as related to historical events.
CC.1.5.3.D - Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate faces and relevant, descriptive details, speak clearly with adequate volume, appropriate pacing, and clear pronunciation.
CC.1.5.3.A - Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.
8.4.5.B - Illustrate concepts and knowledge of historical documents, artifacts, and sites, which are critical to World history.
8.4.4.A - Differentiate common characteristics of the social, political, cultural, and economic groups in world history.
8.4.4.B - Locate historical documents, artifacts, and sites, which are critical to World history.
8.1.2.C - Apply sources of historical information.
CC.1.3.4.C- Describe in depth a character, setting, or event drawing on specific details
CC.1.5.4.B Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CC.1.2.4.F Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in grade-level text, including figurative language.
E04.B-V.4.1 Demonstrate understanding of vocabulary and figurative language in informational texts.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.2 - Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
6.5.4.H Examine the basic operation of the banking system.
7.2.4.B Identify the basic physical processes that affect the physical characteristics of places and regions.
CC.2.1.3.B.1 Apply place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic.
CC.1.5.4.B Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CC.1.2.4.F Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in grade-level text, including figurative language.
E04.B-V.4.1 Demonstrate understanding of vocabulary and figurative language in informational texts.
ISTE Standards
1.3.C - Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
1.6B - Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
1.6A - Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
1.3 - Knowledge Constructor: Students build knowledge by actively exploring technology that aids them in developing answers to their questions and thinking of new ideas.
1.1.C - Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
NCSS Themes
Time, Continuity and Change - identify and use various sources for reconstructing the past, such as documents, letters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, and others
Time, Continuity and Change - demonstrate an understanding that different people may describe the same event or situation in diverse ways, citing reasons for the differences in views
Individual Development and Identity - explore factors that contribute to one’s personal identify such as interest, capabilities, and perceptions.
Individual Development and Identity- work independently and cooperatively to accomplish goals.
Individuals, Groups, and Institutions - it is important that students know how institutions are formed, what controls and influences them, how they control and influence individuals and culture, and how institutions can be maintained or changed.
People, Places, and Environments - Analyze geographical environments and conditions.
Production, Distribution, and Consumption - Describe the influence of incentives, values, traditions, and habits on economic decision.
Culture - examine how social media has an effect on cultures and beliefs.
Science, Technology, and Society- discover why social media has impacted technology and society as a whole.
Global Connections - students engage in experiences that allow them to explore global connections and interdependence as they learn how cultural differences can cause miscommunications.
21st Century Skills
Use and Manage Information - Manage the flow of information from a wide variety of sources
Interact Effectively with Others - Know when it is appropriate to listen and when to speak
Interact Effectively with Others - Conduct themselves in a respectable, professional manner
Communicate Clearly - Collaborate with others
Reason Effectively - Effectively analyze and evaluate evidence, arguments, claims, and beliefs.
Work Creatively with Others – Demonstrate responsive and respectful behavior towards classmates.
Communicate Clearly- Collaborate in verbal manners that are appropriate and understandable.
Assess and Evaluate Information- Comprehend and think deeply about the information.
Learning and Innovation Skills - Learning and innovation skills, increasingly are being recognized as those that separate students who are prepared for a more and more complex life and work environment in the 21st-century, and those who are not. Focus on creativity, critical, thinking, communication, and collaboration is essential to prepare students for the future.
Skills
Skills
Day 1
Writing
Analyzing
Collaboration
Time management
Communication
Active Listening
Leadership
Flexibility
Day 2
Collaboration
Creativity
Communication
Writing
Listening
Addition with manipulatives
Day 3
Creativity
Communication
Writing
Collaboration
Day 4
Listening
Speaking
Reading Comprehension
Collaboration
Communication
Creativity
Confidence
Day 5
Collaboration
Communication
Creativity
Listening
Writing
Teamwork
Day 6
Collaboration
Communication
Team Work
Confidence
Critical-Thinking
Day 7
Listening
Collaboration
Communication
Evaluating
Creativity
Day 8
Creativity
Technology skills
Day 9
Creativity skills
Writing Skills
Presentation Skills
Artistic Skills
Day 10
Listening
Engaging
collaborative communication
writing skills
Creativity
Day 11
Creativity
Research skills
Critical thinking
Writing
Day 12
Critical-thinking
Communication
Presentation Skills
Confidence
Creativity
Listening
Writing
Meeting a Variety of Learners
Meeting a Variety of Learners
Our unit meets the needs of multiple different learners. Below the reader will be able to see what days each particular learner is addressed.
Visual learners:-Students will have the opportunity to access the iPads to watch an entertaining and educational video
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7- Students will have the opportunity to access the iPads to watch an entertaining cartoon-illustrated video about Henry Hudson and his life. Perhaps the video will give visual learners a better understanding of who Henry Hudson was and how he impacted the world more than the read-aloud would give them.
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10- Students will have the opportunity to watch a musical sing and dance along video and they will also be able to access the iPads to watch an entertaining and informational video on the life of sailors from the exploration age. These resources will provide students with helpful visuals where students can physically see what they are learning about.
Day 11
Day 12
Solitary Learner - Students will have the choice to complete work on their own for various activities during this unit.
Day 1
Day 3
Day 7- Students will have the opportunity to work on their own during their independent practice of completing their opinionated drawing, description, and justification of what they believe to be Henry Hudson’s biggest accomplishment.
Day 10- Students will have the opportunity to work on their own during their independent practice of completing their open-ended opinion worksheet where they will be evaluating the explorers and deciding which one they would want to travel with and explain their reasoning. Students will also be working solitarily when they are creating their own boat by drawing and designing their boat along with providing a description of what they drew.
Social Learner- students will have the opportunity to work together in small groups and partnerships to share thinking ideas and benefit from collaboration with classmates.
Day 1
day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7- students will have the opportunity to work in groups while completing the first worksheet which is designed in a multiple-choice format. Students are expected to communicate and agree in their groups on what they feel would be the best choice to select for each question.
Day 8
Day 9
Day10- Students will have the opportunity to work in pairs while working on the first worksheet which is designed in a multiple-choice format. Students then will be socially learning by working on the Life as a Sailor Math Voyage worksheet with their table groups which we be in groups of 4. Students are expected to communicate with their partner and group members and share their opinions and thought processes.
Day 11
Day12
Interpersonal - Students will be given multiple different opportunities to collaborate and communicate with their peers through different activities that involved team work.
Day 1- An example of interpersonal learners is when students work in their groups as they visit each station and complete the corresponding activity together while filling in their guided note sheets.
Day 2
Day 5
Day 6
Day 8
Day 9
Day 12
Auditory - Students will be introduced to different informational videos in which they will be able to listen along as the videos play.
Day 3
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7- Students will have the opportunity to come together as a whole group and listen to the teacher as she reads the biographical children’s book on Henry Hudson, what he did, and who he was. Students will be able to be content without needing any stressors other than to listen to their teacher’s voice which will be beneficial for auditory learners.
Day 10- Students will have the opportunity to come together as a whole group and listen to the musical sing along video as well as the Life of a Sailor informational storytelling video. Students will be able to be content without any other stressors during these activities other than focusing on being an active listener.
Linguistic Learner - Students will learn through linguistic skills including reading, writing, listening, or speaking
Day 4- Students participate in a Readers' Theater where they will read a script to learn information. The students will write in their reflective journals about what they learned and found out about different historical figures.
Spatial Learner - Students will be given the opportunity to use their creativity to create and design certain activities (e.g. timeline).
Day 1
Day 5
Day 9
Students With Varying Cognitive Demands - Different cognitive demands are being met through the different levels of questioning we have students answering throughout the unit.
Day 1- At each station, students will answer questions that range in difficulty requiring them to use information and apply it to completely answer.
Day 3
Day 5
Day 6
Day 10
Day 12
Kinesthetic Learner- Students will be given the opportunity to learn through movement and will meet their learning needs by providing them a way to be physically and activity engaged through their education.
Day 4
Day 10 - Students will have the opportunity to engage in a dance along video called Over the Deep Blue Sea where they will be demonstrating choreographed body movements to provide them a better understanding of what it would physically feel like to be a sailor on a boat or ship.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
Day 1
Exploration: an act or instance of exploring or investigating; examination. The investigation of unknown regions
Students will be learning about the exploration that occurred during the age of exploration.
Political: A set of beliefs about the laws and things going on with the government in the place where you live.
Students will be learning about why different places wanted to explore. They will see how some countries had political reasons that led them to exploration.
Economic: The way people spend money and the way people make money.
Students will learn that some countries wanted to explore based on economic reasons. They wanted to increase wealth through trade or discovering valuable natural resources.
Influential: Someone or something that is influential has a lot of influence over people or events.
Students will be researching about the different countries and their influence on the new world.
Colonization: Something that occurs when one country takes control of another country or region, establishing a settlement, or permanent part of the colony, in order to control the area and gain riches.
Colonization is what took place as we explored and discovered new territory.
Global interdependence: When countries rely on each other's imports and exports for survival.
Students discover how the start of trading with other countries led to the modern globally interdependent world we have today.
Day 2
God – creator of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being.
Students will be learning about God and the impact religion had as one of the driving motives for the Age of Exploration.
Glory - high renown or honor won by notable achievements.
Students will be learning about glory and how ego fueled explorers.
Gold - a yellow precious metal.
Students will learn about gold and how the pursuit of riches influenced the Age of Exploration.
Motivation - the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.
Students will see the word motivation used throughout the lesson multiple times. It is important for them to know the way that is used.
Day 3
Biography: a story of a person’s life.
Students will be reading a biography on Marco Polo and writing their own.
Marco Polo: Italian explorer who lived from 1254-1324.
Students will be researching Marco Polo and learning about his life.
Diplomacy: The art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations without hostility.
A term present in the book.
Kublai Khan: Mongolian emperor of China and grandson of Genghis Khan who completed his grandfather's conquest of China.
Important figure and prominent character in the book.
Cathay: An old name for China.
Necessary to know for the time period.
Merchant: Someone who buys and sells goods for a living.
A high frequency word used in the book.
Day 4
Voyage: A journey especially by water from one place or country to another.
Students will be learning about the voyage Christopher Columbus went on sponsored by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.
Route: The path taken to get from one place to another
Students will discover the routes Columbus and his men traveled.
East Indies: The world's largest island group. The East Indies includes the Moluccas, which were once fabled as the Spice Islands.
Through the reader’s theater, students will learn about the travel to the East Indies.
Riches: Great wealth
Students evaluate how the royal couple have much wealth and Columbus would like them to fund his expedition.
Spices: Substances made from dried plant parts used to flavor food.
The students learn that on the voyage spices were a grand discovery.
Mapmaker: A mapmaker, or a cartographer, is a person who creates maps. Cartographers have been making maps for thousands of years. Long ago, they would explore an area in order to create new maps.
Students realize how long ago people would explore an area in order to create new maps.
Sailor: A person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew.
Students learn about the duties of sailors and how the whole crew needed to work together to complete the voyages.
Day 5
Voyage - a long journey involving travel by sea
Example - Christopher Columbus voyage led to the discovery of the New World.
Explorer - a person who explores an unfamiliar area (discoverer)
Example - Christopher Columbus was an explorer who found and explored the New World.
Day 6
Debate - an argument about a subject in a formal manner
Example - The students were debating whether schools should have uniforms or no uniforms.
Persuade - convince/cause something to do or think something through reasoning or argument
Example - The students persuaded the teacher to give them no homework for the weekend.
Rebuttal - counter-argument / argument or set of reasons put forth to oppose an idea
Example - Bob wanted a cat, but his parents rebutted that idea by telling him that he is allergic to cats.
Oppose - disapprove of
Example - I am opposed to the idea that the school days should be longer.
Day 7
Biography: a story of a person’s life
Students will be engaging and actively listening to the read-aloud of Henry Hudson’s Biography
Henry Hudson: An English explorer and navigator who gained notoriety in
the early 1600s for his expeditions that charted regions of what is now Canada and portions of the northeastern United States.
Students will be researching Henry Hudson and learning about his life.
Navigate: The act or practice of setting a course for or finding one's way to a destination.
Students will have this term incorporated into their worksheets (a term present in the book and video).
Expedition: a long journey or voyage done for a specific purpose and often is exploratory.
Students will have this term incorporated into their worksheets(a term from the book)
Fund: to support in most cases financially; money.
Students will learn who funded Hudson. (this term is mentioned both in the book and video)
Day 8
John Cabot: an Italian Navigator who sailed from Bristol in 1497
Landfall: an arrival at land on a sea or air journey
Voyage: a long journey traveling by sea or at space
Navigation: the process or activity of one's position, following a route
Day 9
Landscape: a picture representing a view of natural inland scenery
Day 10
Voyage: A journey especially by water from one place or country to another.
Students will be engaging and actively listening to the Sing along, watching The Life of a Sailor video, and working on the activity worksheets that all use this vocabulary word.
Round Trip: A journey to one or more places and back again.
Students will be working in groups on their activity worksheets and will be mathematically evaluating how much it would cost to go to a certain destination and back, thus understanding the meaning of “round trip” and this term is also used throughout the activity sheet.
Bow: The front of the ship.
Students will be actively listening and viewing The Life of a Sailor video while staying engaged using a corresponding multiple-choice worksheet that defines this vocabulary word.
Stern: The back of the boat.
Students will be actively listening and viewing The Life of a Sailor video while staying engaged using a corresponding multiple-choice worksheet that defines this vocabulary word.
Standing rigging: Comprises the fixed lines, wires, or rods, which support each bowsprit on a sailing vessel.
Students will be actively listening and viewing The Life of a Sailor video while staying engaged using a corresponding multiple-choice worksheet that defines this vocabulary word.
Day 11
Explorer: a person who explores an unfamiliar area; an adventurer.
Accomplishment: something that has been achieved successfully.
Day 12
Wax museum: an exhibition of wax dummies, typically representing famous people and fictional characters.
Students will be participating in a wax museum activity. In order to do this students should know what the purpose of a wax museum is.
Significance: the quality of being worthy of attention; importance.
Students will be studying the importance of their explorers. It's important students understand the word significance so when they ask the questions they understand what they are asking.
Influence: the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.
Students need to know the meaning of influence because they will be asking and presenting about the "influence" of their explorer as well as their peer's explorers.
Explorer: a person who explores an unfamiliar area; an adventurer.
Students need to know what an explorer is in order to complete the assignment.
Pedagogical Practices
Pedagogical Practices
Constructivist Approach - Learners will have multiple opportunities to build their understanding and expand their knowledge through everyday experiences.
Collaborative Approach - Learners will be able to work together with their peers to build upon their knowledge.
Reflective Approach - Learners will be able to self-reflect on what they have learned recently and what they would like to know more about.
Inquiry-Based Approach - Learners will have opportunities to engage in the exploration, investigation, research, and study process in order to gain more information.
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