Lesson #10: Age of Discovery

For this lesson we're going to investigate a very important time in world history--the age of discovery. Before this time many people believed the world to be flat and countries had little contact with one another. 

1. Quick Question: Before the age of discovery, most civilizations around the world were isolated and had little contact with each other. Why do you think that was?  How has interaction between groups of people changed in the last 500 years?

2. Read through this packet of information on reasons for the age of exploration and complete the reflection questions afterwards. 

3. Choose one Spanish or Portugese explorer that you'll want to investigate for your final summer project. You're welcome to choose one not on this list.

English Explorers	Spanish Explorers	European Explorers
Sir Francis Drake Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Humphrey Gilbert Sir Richard Grenville Sir John Hawkins Sir Martin Frobisher Sir Richard Hawkins John Cabot Sebastian Cabot Henry Hudson	Francisco Pizarro Amerigo Vespucci Vasco Nunez de Balboa Juan Ponce de Leon Francisco Vasquez de Coronado Hernando De Soto Hernando Cortes Cabeza de Vaca Estevanico Panfilo de Narvaez Fray Marcos de Niza Alonso Alvarez de Pineda Juan de Onate Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo	Giovanni da Verrazzano Portuguese Explorers Ferdinand Magellan Vasco da Gama Bartholomeu Dias Pedro Alvares Cabral Gaspar and Miguel Corte Real Jacques Cartier Jacques Marquette Samuel de Champlain Marco Polo Louis Joliet

Which explorer are you going to investigate? Directions for the project will be posted with Tuesday's lesson.