Exploring Explorers

Grade Levels: 3 - 5

Objectives

• Students will use vocabulary related to explorers.
  
• Students will understand some of the reasons why people explore new lands.
  
• Students will recognize the similarities between early and modern-day explorers.

Materials

• Exploring Explorers worksheet
• Why Do People Explore website (http://library.thinkquest.org/C001692/
  english/index.php3?subject=why/organised)

Procedures

1. Introduce key vocabulary: expeditions, heathens, hermits, inhabitants, myrrh, trade.
2. Have students work individually or with partners to complete the Exploring Explorers worksheet as they visit the Why Do People Explore website.
3. Set up a time when students can share the information they discovered.

Assessment

Use the checklist to assess students' ability to take notes and understand why people strive to explore unknown places. Assign a point value to each item.

Extension Activities

• Choose from a large collection of cross-curricular activities for all grade levels.
• Explore outstanding lessons and activities on Explorers.
• Have students visit How to Use a Compass (http://www.uio.no/~kjetikj/compass/lesson1.html) to learn how a compass works to point someone (like an explorer) in the right direction.
• Organize a treasure hunt on school grounds with clues that require the use of a compass and map.

Standards Correlations

National Social Studies Standards

Students develop an understanding of:

• their historical roots and are able to locate themselves in time.
• how reading about and reconstructing the past allows them to develop historical perspective.
• places and regions, and interactions of environment and society.
• the factors that contribute to who they are; to what they think, feel, and believe; to what they decide and do; and to how they perceive themselves and the world.

National Educational Technology Standards

Students:

• practice responsible use of technology systems, information, and software.
• use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.