Exploring The Americas

Exploring the

Americas

Unit Essential Question:

What goals did the European Explorers have in

journeying to the New World, and what challenges did

they face?

Do now:
In S.S. notebook...
What is an adventure you have taken
in the past? Where did you go and
why?

10 minutes of continuous writing

Trivia!

What makes up “The

Americas”

What is

this?

South America

Multiple Choice

What continent is this ?

• South America

• Asia

• North America

• I don't know!

What is

this?

What is one country
in South America?

Where do you think

the people who

explored the

Americas came from?

WHY do you think

people came to

explore the

Americas? What
were their goals?

Poll

WHY do you think people came to the Americas?

• To get rich!

• To find new land

• To explore and adventure

• To find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

Exploring the

Americas

What goals did the European Explorers have in

journeying to the New World, and what challenges did

they face?

Vocabulary

Browse through your

article. On a sticky note
(or two) write down any
vocabulary or related

words you do not know!

5 minutes

Our vocabulary list:

Vocabulary

1.Reconquista (n) a series of battles that lead
to the spread of Catholicism into Spain

2.Sponsor (v) to finance or support a business
or event

3.Expedition: (n) a journey, usually a difficult
or dangerous one made with a lot of
planning and a goal

4.Navigation: (n) The science of planning and
traveling along a route to a particular
location

5.Entrepreneur: (n) a person who organizes
and operates a business (a go-getter)

6.Treaty: (n) a formal agreement between
two or more nations

7.Circumnavigate: (v) to go completely
round

8.Strait: (n) a narrow waterway connecting
two larger bodies of water

9.Conquistador: (n) a conquerer, usually a
Spanish soldier who defeated the Indians in
the America’s

10. Reform: (v) to improve or change the
condition of something

11.missionary: (n) someone sent on a
mission, usually for religious purposes to to
do charitable work

12.NorthwestPassage: (n) a water route
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific
Ocean through Canada

13.mutiny: (n) rebellion against authority

14.ecosystem: (N) a community and its
environment working together as a whole
15. Columbian Exchange: (n) The
movement of people, livestock, plants and
technology between two continents that
resulted in exploration and colonization of
the America’s
16.Oral Tradition(n) the spoken way of
keepings culture and history (storytelling)

Explorers

Wanted!

The

Backstory

Essential Questions

Where did the

explorers come from?

What were their goals
in exploring the new

world?

Explorers

Wanted!
Survival of
the fittest!

(& most
strategic)

Put yourself back in time!
A monarch is sponsoring

an expedition

You want to advertise

yourself to go!

Who are you?

Where did they go?
Where did they come

from?

What were they going

for

Exploring

the

Americas:

The

Technology

Do now: Padlet Question

What is technology?

What technology could

you not live without and

WHY?

What types of technology
or tools would explorers

need to help them on their

journeys?

Essential Questions:

-How did improvements in technology
contribute to exploration?

-Explain the impact of the printing press?

Exploring the

Americas-

The Technology

Essential Questions:

How did improvements in technology contribute to

explorations?

What impact did the printing press have?

Homework:

Post on Google Classroom- Question about
technology due tomorrow!

Exploring

the

Americas:

The

Technology

- Read pg 4-5 in your

reader with your group

- Compare and contrast

navigational tools used
today compared to
back then

- Answer the questions on

your guided notes after
you read

- Homework: Printing

Press story

Exploring the

Americas:

Early

Exploration

- Christopher Columbus
- Amerigo Vespucci
- John Cabot
- Ferdinand Magellan
- Ponce de leon
- Henry Hudson
- Giovanni Verrazano
-

-What are the aims, obstacles and
accomplishments of early
explorers?
-What were the different motives
they had

Age of
Exploration
Simulation

Put your stuff away and have a seat

on the carpet!

Exploring

the

Americas:

Conquistadores

Essential Questions:

-What are the aims of the
conquistadors and what
obstacles did they face?

-What achievements did they
make in the new world?

Important Conquistadores

-Inca and Aztec Empires

-Protestant reform

-Juan Ponce de Leon

-Francisco Pizarro

-Juan Cabrillo

-Hernan Cortes

-Hernando de Soto

Exploring

the

Americas:

Inside a
Caravel

Essential Questions:

-

-

Exploring

the

Americas:

Later Explorers

Essential Questions:

-How did a desire to locate a
Northwest Passage drive
explorers further west?

-What obstacles did explorers
face in their search for the
Northwest Passage?

-Act it out!

-Main idea and detail

End of Unit

Journal Entry-
Printing Press

Ready

● What country are you

from?

● Where are you going?
● What are your voyage

plans?

● What are your goals?
● What hardships may

you face?

● What are you excited or

worried about?