European Explorers – The who, how and where

As a class we looked closely at 8 different European explorers and tried to map their routes around the world. We were given a world map and different coordinates that matched an explorer. We discussed how to read a world map and what longitude and latitude and where the Equator is.

latitude-longitude-lines

We needed to read the longitude and latitude of the coordinates to map out each journey. This was a challenge and took a fair bit of concentration, persistence and team work. Once this was done we were given 8 explorer cards with information about each one and where they travelled. We had to use the information to guess which explorer took which journey that we drew on the world map. The explorers we looked at were:

Finally we recorded 3 interesting facts about each explorer in our groups and then we placed all of this information on a big poster. Check out some of our posters and facts here:

IMG_9452 IMG_9453 IMG_9454 IMG_9455 IMG_9456 IMG_9457 IMG_9458 IMG_9459 IMG_9460 IMG_9461

We also looked at the different tools that explorers used to navigate in the sea. One piece of equipment we learnt about was the astrolabe.   The astrolabe was invented in Greece and for many centuries. It was used by both astronomers, navigators and explorers who used it to determine latitude, longitude and the time of day.

astrolabe-14

 

We worked together to make our very own and tested them outside.

IMG_9464 IMG_9463 IMG_9462

 

What was something interesting that you found out about an European Explorer?

What do you think it would have been like to be an explorer all those years ago?

Which explorer would you like to find out more information about and why?

 

5 thoughts on “European Explorers – The who, how and where

  1. Dear Miss Baldwin,

    I found out that lots of explorers went on dangerous adventures,

    I think it would have been dangerous, scary & freaky,

    I would like to find out about Marco polo because his name is really cool.

    From Tarj 😃

  2. Dear Mrs Baldwin

    They inspired other explorers to travel and explore new places. Terrible because they didn’t have that much things. Marco Polo because he explored many places

  3. Dear Mrs baldwin
    i would like to learn more about marco polo because he is a very famous explore and i think he is very brave

  4. Dear Mrs Baldwin
    I think that it would be hard to sail along time ago because they did not have a lot of the safety if the ship was sinking.

  5. dear miss Baldwin, this activity was very difficult but fun at the same time and they all look fantastic and I can see that everyone put a lot of effort into the research, the poster and decoration.

Leave a Reply to Dylan Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *