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Early European Exploration and Atlantic Encounters

3rd Grade · Social Studies · US-MA-SS

10 lessons

Goal

Analyze primary sources to trace 15th- and 16th-century European voyages, conquests, motives, and early interactions with Indigenous nations.

10 lessons
0 of 10 done
  1. Historians and Primary Sources: Maps, Journals, and ArtifactsUp next
  2. The Norse: First Europeans in North AmericaNot started yet
  3. Motives for Exploration: Trade Routes, Wealth, and EmpiresNot started yet
  4. Christopher Columbus and Voyages to the CaribbeanNot started yet
  5. Amerigo Vespucci and Mapping a New WorldNot started yet
  6. Balboa Crosses Panama and Magellan Circumnavigates the GlobeNot started yet
  7. Ponce de Leon in Florida and Spanish ExpeditionsNot started yet
  8. Hernan Cortes and the Fall of the Aztec EmpireYou are here
  9. Jacques Cartier's Voyages to CanadaNot started yet
  10. Building a Timeline of 15th- and 16th-Century ExplorationNot started yet
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Learning standards covered

us-ma4.T3.3Massachusetts Social Studies Standards · 5th Grade

Trace on a map European explorations of North America and the Caribbean Islands in the 15th and 16th centuries (e.g., voyages of Vasco Nuñes de Balboa, Jacques Cartier, Cristobal Colon [Christopher Columbus], Ferdinand Magellan, Juan Ponce De Leon, Amerigo Vespucci, Hernán Cortés), evaluate the reasons for the voyages, noting that they were part of an effort by European nations to expand their empires, find new routes for trade with Asia, new opportunities for colonization, and new natural resources; make a timeline of their landings and conquests.