Routes of Exploration to the New World

Social Studies Alive!

Chapter 5
(Pages 57-67)

European Explorers & The New World

* What are explorers?
An explorer is someone who travels to unfamiliar regions for a specific purpose/reason.

* What was The New World?

A name for the Americas, (North and South America) especially during the time of first exploration and colonization of the Americas by Europeans. Before this time, people thought that the only continents that existed were Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Importance of Explorers
* Why were explorers important? (What were some of their accomplishments?)
Many explorers did the following: - found new trade routes (trade routes are the paths along ocean and land that sailors/explorers/navigators, took in order to trade goods) - helped map-makers draw better world maps (this made navigating more easy, and helped them understand and create a layout of the physical world better, including oceans, land, mountains, etc.) - opened the way for settlers (settlers were people who travelled over long distances in large groups who came to colonize, or take ownership of the land to live on)

Explorers & Their Negative Impacts

* What were some of the negative impacts explorers had on others? (What harm did some explorers cause?)
Many explorers did the following: - fought with American Indians who opposed, or went against them - enslaved (to turn into slaves) whole tribes and forced them to work in mines and on farms - carried contagious diseases that often killed many Indians since they were never exposed to these diseases, or come in contact with them before (these are sicknesses that spread quickly among people)

Comparing 8 New World Explorers

Christopher Columbus John Cabot Juan Ponce de Leon Hernan Cortes

Jacques Cartier

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado

Henry Hudson

Robert de La Salle

Classwork
Youll be paired into groups of 3. You and the other members of your group will be assigned an explorer to make your mini-book on. You will work together quietly and spaced out a little bit so that other members will not know your assigned explorer. When each member has completed filling in their mini-books, study the other explorers on pages 57-67. Next, I will have each group share information on their explorer while the other classmates guess the explorer. (take notes!) Finally, I will give you all a worksheet on the explorers to complete individually. I will then go over the answers so you can have the correct ones to study.

Mini-Book
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21qi9ZcQVto

Title Page:
Glue the name/picture of your Explorer on top & write your name on the bottom

Page 1: Personal Background (what they were like and did before their voyage?) Page 2: Sponsor (who provided them money, supplies, etc. for their voyage?) Page 3: Motives (what did they set out to do, and why?) Page 4: Dates (important dates during, before, and after their voyage) Page 5: Route of Exploration (what was the path they took for their voyage?) Page 6: Impact (what did they succeed in, how did they influence American
Indians, etc.?)