HISTORY/GEO RESOURCE: PROJECT Student: _______________________________________________________________

The EXPLORATION

HALL OF FAME projectHow many times have you heard some kid

wondering out loud…

Well today’s your lucky day… if you follow these steps, you will finally be able to answer him, and gain some massive street-cred!You will need…

A team of 2-4 (the project is fully scalable)

A large blank map of the world (supplied by your kind-hearted teacher)

Historical and geographical resources you can find in your library and on the internet

A deep desire to prove that your choice of explorers are the absolute best of them all!

“So who were the greatest explorers of

the New World anyway?

Continued…

Step 1: TEAM UP!Find some partners. It helps if your ancestors are French, Spanish, English, Portuguese, Chinese, Dutch, or Vikings. If not, then just channel your inner soccer fan, break out the face paint, and get ready for an educationally confrontational experience.

Choose ONE of these great naval nations:

A. EnglandB. SpainC. FranceD. Portugal

E. Iceland (Vikings!)F. ChinaG. Netherlands (Dutch)H. Rogues (Pirates)

RECORD YOUR CHOICE HERE: __________________________Step 2: Divide and conquer these research tasksYour goal is to prove that your country had the greatest explorers by completing as many of these steps in proper detail as possible.

a. BIOGRAPHIES (1 per teammate)i. Who were your country’s greatest naval navigators, traders, and explorers? For

each person, describe the key facts about their greatest voyages (who, what, when, where, why?).

ii. What was the lasting impact of these voyages? How did they benefit your country/company in the long run?

b. MAPWORK: TERRITORIES EXPLORED, COLONIZED and CONTROLLED (circa 1500-1800)

i. Create a legend on your map for each sailor and/or famous voyage.ii. Draw the paths of exploration accurately, in different colours, and with dates shown.iii. If needed, add an “inset map” for greater detail on smaller voyages.iv. Outline the territories your sailors explored, settled in, or colonized from 1500 until

1800.

v. Colour the territory of at least 3 indigenous tribes/empires in the territory colonized by your sailors.

Step 3: EXPLORE SOME MORETo add depth to your research, consider doing ONE or the OTHER of these options. At least ONE EXTRA OPTION PER PERSON is required for TAG STUDENTS. Students aiming to receive a mark above 90% must be involved in completing at least one of these extras.

NAVAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS What sorts of naval technology did they

use? (e.g., portolan, compass) Who developed these tools? How did they work?

What did their ships look like? What were they made of? How were they made? In what ways were they advanced compared to ships of an earlier era?

What skills did the sailors need to avoid disasters at sea? How did they use the stars and other celestial reference points to navigate?

Provide a bibliography for this research

Describe how your explorers treated the indigenous cultures when they first encountered them.

What did they gain? (e.g., gold? Slaves? Inventions? Food? Crops? Animals? Other discoveries?) From whom/how did they get it?

Research PRIMARY SOURCES (letters, reports, etc.) and SECONDARY SOURCES (commentaries written after the period in question)

Provide a bibliography for this research

Step 4: FIRE THE CANNONS!Now you must try to sink your competition with an energetic and informative presentation that…

Presents your research on your explorers (1 per team member) Presents and reviews your team’s completed map Presents your BONUS research (Step 3) Summarizes why your country really was the greatest of all time! 1 Minute Bonus: Discredit your opponents with a smear campaign highlighting the terrible

things they have done (e.g., blunders, slavery, etc.)

You can…

Make a powerpoint, a prezi, or any other multimedia presentation… OR… Make a movie…. OR… Act out a script…OR Suggest something else that will prove your knowledge, and will make your chosen country

proud

LISTS AND RESOURCES

Spanish Explorers Vespucci (Italian sailing for

Spain) Christopher Columbus (Italian

sailing for Spain) Francisco Pizarro & Hernan

Cortes (Spain) Hernando De Soto (Spain) Ferdinand Magellan

(Portuguese sailing for Spain)

Portuguese Explorers Vasco de Gama Bartolome Dias Pedro Alvares Cabral

British Explorers Sir Francis Drake John Cabot (Italian sailor) James Cook Henry Hudson (early voyages)

French Explorers Jacques Cartier Samuel de Champlain La Verendrye Marquette

Dutch Explorers Henry Hudson (later voyages) Willem Janszoon Willem Barentsz

Early Explorers Vikings (Scandinavian) Zheng He (China)

Rogue Explorers (Pirates) Jean Fleury (French) Henry Morgan (Welsh) Blackbeard (English) Samuel Bellamy (English)