The Explorers

7th grade Standards

7.11 Students analyze political and economic change in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries (the Age of Exploration, the Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason).

Know the great voyages of discovery, the locations of the routes, and the influence of cartography in the development of a new European worldview.

Why did Explorers in the 1400’s risk their lives to explore unknown parts of the World?

GOD - to spread Christianity (missionaries) GOLD - wealth from selling rare, luxury

goods such as spices, silks, cottons, dyes and gems to people back home and new markets to sell home-grown goods

GLORY - a life of adventure (Marco Polo)

The World in 1482- Ptolemy

Ptolemy’s Map of the World The Explorers were using the

map based on a woodcut carved in 127 a.d. by Claudius Ptolemy, a Greek scientist. It was over 1500 years old!

Latitude could be calculated accurately and easily from the position of the sun using an Astrolabe

No method existed for properly calculating longitude because of the Earths rotation of the sun

Map Time. . .

Label the Equator and Prime Meridian Label all 7 continents Draw a Compass Rose What continent is located at 60˚W and 30˚S? 135˚E and 30˚S? What country led the way in Exploration?

– Find it on your map and shade it in.

Key of Voyages

Create a key, anywhere on your map, that lists the following explorers– Gil Eanes,

– Christopher Columbus

– Ferdinand Magellan

– Vasco da Gama

– Bartholomeu Dias

Choose a different color to represent each route

The Portugese Explorers

The Portugese began exploring the western coast of Africa, attempting to get beyond Cape Bojador.

Gil Eanes 1434

Bartholomeu Dias 1488

Vasco da Gama 1497-1499

Map Time. . .

Label Spain, Italy and Britain Label the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and

the Pacific Ocean Label the Cape of Good Hope

Christopher Columbus

Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy and studied at Prince Henry’s Center for Navigation

He planned to travel WEST from Europe to reach the “Indies” (Asia)

Sponsored by Spain

What lies beyond. . .

Christopher Columbus’s Voyage

“I have reached the Indies”—Not! On October 12th, Columbus landed on San

Salvador, an island in the Bahamas He believed that this island was in Asia, off the

coast of Japan or China. Why? He called the inhabitants of these islands,

“Indians” after the Asian islands “East Indies” Columbus made 4 more voyages to the

Caribbean Sea and the coasts of South and Central America.

Did Columbus “discover” America?

In the past, why did history textbooks claim that Christopher Columbus had “discovered” America? What credit does he deserve?

When learning about history through a textbook or documents, always consider the source. Be a critical reader and ask yourself: Who wrote this? When was this written? Is there a bias or slant here?

Magellan’s Circumnavigation

In 1519-1521, Ferdinand Magellan led the first circumnavigation around the Earth

Of the 200 men who began the journey, only 18 survived

Spent 7 weeks at the Cape of Good Hope battling cross-winds

Magellan’s Circumnavigation

Balboa’s Route