explorers interactive dice game - social...

Explorers InteractiveDice Game

The first page of this packet contains the standards covered by this project. I always printed the page out and used it as my “cheat sheet” while teaching. It helped me ensure I was covering what I needed to.

is a graphic organizer I gave to students to glue into their social studies notebooks. We fillled them in together before starting the game, but you could also use it as a reflection sheet and complete it after the game.

Page 3 is the answer key for the graphic organizer. Again, helpful for me to ensure I was covering everything.

Essential/Teacher Background KnowledgeStandards: VA USI.4a-c

Motivating forces for exploration• Economic – Gold, natural resources, and trade• Religious – Spread of Christianity• Competitions for empire and belief in superiority of own culture

Obstacles to exploration• Poor maps and navigational tools• Disease and starvation• Fear of unknown• Lack of adequate supplies

Accomplishments of exploration• Exchanged goods and ideas• Improved navigational tools and ships• Claimed territories (see individual countries below)

CULTURAL INTERACTIONS•Spanish

•Conquered and enslaved American Indians •Brought Christianity to the New World•Brought European diseases

•French•Established trading posts•Spread Christian religion

•English•Established settlements and claimed ownership of land•Learned farming techniques from American Indians

WHERE THEY EXPLORED•Spain

•Francisco Coronado claimed southwest United States for Spain.•France

•Samuel de Champlain established the French settlement of Quebec.•Robert La Salle claimed the Mississippi River Valley.

•England•John Cabot explored eastern Canada

Motivation Obstacles Accomplishments

Where They Settled Cultural Interactions

Spain

France

England

Motivation Obstacles Accomplishments

• Economic – Gold, natural resources, and trade

• Religious – Spread of Christianity

• Competitions for empire and belief in superiority of own culture

• Poor maps and navigational tools

• Disease and starvation

• Fear of unknown• Lack of adequate

supplies

• Exchanged goods and ideas

• Improved navigational tools and ships

• Claimed territories

Where They Settled Cultural Interactions

Spain Southwest United States

•Conquered and enslaved American Indians •Brought Christianity to the New World•Brought European diseases

France

-Quebec (Canada)-Mississippi River Valley

•Established trading posts•Spread Christian religion

England Eastern Canada

•Established settlements and claimed ownership of land

•Learned farming techniques from American Indians

Students also glued the next page into their social studies notebook. This “game page” is what they completed as they played the dice game. It helped focus all of the fun :)

Your Explorer Name __________________ Country sailed for: ________________

Roll # What did you do? Where did you go?

(circle one) Gold

1Stayed in my country

New World


New World


New World


New World


New World


New World


New World


New World


New World


New World

Game Page

The next page I printed on card stock. Then I cut out the cards and put them in a basket. Students chose a card and this was the explorer they pretended to be throughout the game.

This also told them what country they would be starting at (this is explained next).

They used the information on this card to fill in the top of their “game page”.

Francisco CoronadoSpain

Samuel de Champlain

France

Robert La Salle

FranceJohn CabotEngland


Samuel de Champlain

France

Robert La Salle



Samuel de Champlain

France

Robert La Salle



Samuel de Champlain

France

Robert La Salle




John CabotEngland

John CabotEngland



John CabotEngland

John CabotEngland

Before class that day, I hung these flags in different corners of the room. This is where students would start depending on what card they picked.

For exmaple, if they are Samuel de Champlain for the day, they will go stand in the corner with the French flag. No one will start in the New World corner of the room.

ENG

LAN

D

SPA

IN

FRA

NCE

NEW

W

ORL

D

This part takes a little prep before game day.

I print the following cards and cut them out. Next I tape them onto wooden dice according to the country column.

So, I end up with an England Dice, France Dice, Spain Dice and 2 New World Die (I’ve found it gets crowded in the New World. Having 2 die helps crowd control.)

I place the dice under the corresponding flag that’s hung in the room.

SPAIN FRANCE ENGLAND NEW WORLD NEW WORLDConquer and

enslave American

Indians. Go back to Spain.

-5

Your crew is too fearful of sea monsters to

make the trip. Stay in France.

-3

Go to the New World and

trade.+5

You found gold. Stay in

the New World.+10

You found gold. Stay in

the New World.+10

Spread Christianity to

the New World.

+3

Establish trading posts in the New

World.+5

Believe you are the best

country in the world. Stay in

England.+1

You found new natural

resources. Stay in the

New World.+10

You found new natural

resources. Stay in the

New World.+10

Exchange goods and ideas with

people in the New World.

+5

Spread Christianity in

the New World.

+3

Your crew is sick and

starving. Stay in England.

-3

You brought European disease.

Return to your country.

-10

You brought European disease.

Return to your country.

-10

Bring disease to the New

World. Go back to Spain.

-5

Go to the New World and claim the

Mississippi River Valley.

+5

Go to the New World and

explore eastern Canada.

+5

Establish a new

settlement in the New World.+10

Establish a new

settlement in the New World.+10

Go to New World and

claim Southwest US

for Spain .+5

Go to New World and establish Quebec in Canada.

+5

After a voyage or two, you make

improvements to your ship and go the New World.

+5

You did not bring enough supplies. Go back to your

country.-10

You did not bring enough supplies. Go back to your

country.-10

Go to the New Word and find

new natural resources.

+5

Used an inaccurate

map and are lost. Stay in

France.-3

Learned farming techniques from

American Indians. Stay in

New World.+5

Your navigational tools are not

advanced enough. Go back to your

country.-10

Your navigational tools are not

advanced enough. Go back to your

country.-10

Students take turns rolling the dice at their station.

For example, if I pick the de Champlain card and I’ve started in France, I take the France dice and roll it. Depending on what I roll, it will tell me to stay in France or go the New World. It was also tell me how much gold I earned or lost (those are the + or - on the bottom of each dice).

Before I go anwhere, I fill in my Game Page, writing what was on the dice, circling where I go, and then how much gold I earned or lost (I start all kids at zero and have them use negative numbers as needed).

After students’ 10 rolls, they head back to their seats. We then discuss what happened to them on thier trip and either fill in their graphic organizer or compare their adventure to what we already filled in on the organizer.

How the Game is Played:

explorers interactive dice game - social...

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