Lesson #2 – Map/Globe Skills

Name of Lesson: Mapping the Explorers

Preparer: Kathleen Swift

Audience: Intermediate Elementary; Grade 3

Standards: Geography

3.5 The student will develop map skills by

c) locating the countries of Spain, England, and France;

d) locating the regions in the Americas explored by Christopher Columbus (San Salvador in the Bahamas), Juan Ponce de León (near St. Augustine, Florida), Jacques Cartier (near Quebec, Canada), and Christopher Newport (Jamestown, Virginia)

Materials/Space/Time: globes, current map of Atlantic Ocean on foam boards, push pins, embroidery thread (4 colors), document camera, projector, PowerPoint presentation, computer, tape; average classroom space with desks grouped into 4 groups of 5 or 6 students; whole class (21 students); 50 minutes

Anticipatory Set: Assign the students to pairs to work in for the majority of this lesson. Give each pair a globe. Review how to locate continents on the globe by asking each pair to first locate Europe, then North America, then South America, then the Atlantic Ocean. Explain that today you will be tracing the explorers’ voyages, which took place between these continents. Review the explorers from the day before and ask the students which country they came from. As the students answer correctly, (Christopher Columbus – Spain; Juan Ponce de León – Spain; Jacques Cartier – France; Christopher Newport – England) locate countries on the globe on the document camera and have the students locate the countries on their globes at the same time.

Objective and Its Purpose: Given the map of the Atlantic Ocean and its surrounding coasts, students will correctly identify each of the four explorers’ beginning and ending point on the map with the push pins and string, as assessed by the teacher after the lesson.

Students will be able to match the ending location to each explorer and match the countries and colonies to their locations on the map when given the exit poll, as assessed by the teacher after the lesson.

Instructional Input: Explain that the explorers’ ideas of the world were different than ours are. They did not have all of the information we have today, so they did not know what the world looks like. Pass out the current maps on foam boards to the students, but ask them not to touch them yet. Project the maps from the 15th and 17th centuries on the board and compare and contrast these maps with the current map as a class. Keep a tally of each student’s participation for your assessment. Explain that these maps were before Columbus’s and Newport’s voyages, so they are missing some information. There is no need to go into detail on the timeline of the explorations, since this will be covered in detail in the next lesson.

Modeling: Project the blank map on the foam board on the document camera. Explain to the students that they are going to create a diagram with the thread tracing the voyages of each of the four explorers, and that first you are going to map the voyage of Columbus to demonstrate. Model how to locate Spain and San Salvador by looking at the labels on the map first in Europe, and then in the Bahamas. Place a pushpin in each location as you find it. Tie the string to each pushpin and stick them back into the map, creating a line between both points. Tell the students that it is ok if the string is not in a straight line, since the explorers did not sail in a straight line.

Guided Practice: Pass out the pushpins, tape, and embroidery thread to each student. Tell the students not to touch the materials until they are asked to. Tell the students that they are now going to map Columbus’s journey as a class. First, ask the students to cut off a small amount of the blue string, using the scissors in their desks, and tape it on the key next to the words “Christopher Columbus.” Do this with them on the document camera. Next, ask the students to identify Spain on the maps in front of them by pointing to it. Select one student that appears to have correctly identified the country to come up and point to it on the document camera. Instruct the class to place a pushpin on that spot. Explain to the class that Columbus sailed to San Salvador, an island in the Bahamas. Ask the students to find San Salvador with their partners. Have the students point to it with their fingers again. Walk around and check the students’ work, and help any groups that have not found the correct location. Select a student to come to the document camera and point to San Salvador. Instruct the students to put a pushpin on this location. Next, model for the students how to tie the blue string to each pushpin, creating a line between Spain and San Salvador. Tell the students that if they are having trouble tying the string, they can ask their partner or another student at their table group for help. Walk around the classroom and assist any students that are having difficulty tie the string. Walk around throughout this entire section to provide help to any students do not understand the activity.

Check for Understanding: Review what the students have just done by once again asking them to point to where Columbus started his journey, and randomly select a student to give the name of the location, and point to where Columbus ended his journey, and randomly select another student to give the name of this location. Project the next slide on the board, called “How to map the explorers.” Ask the students what side of the Atlantic Ocean, or which continent each of the locations listed on the slide are on, in order to ensure that they understand each explorer traveled from Europe to North or South/Central America. Make sure to pause in order to allow as many students as possible to raise their hands. If there are students that do not raise their hands after a couple of questions, make sure to call on them to ensure they understand the directions. Review which colors correspond to which explorers, and read the starting and ending points of each explorer out loud. Tell the students they can use the same pushpin for the beginning location of Columbus and Ponce de León, and point out that Ponce de León has three points, instead of two.

Independent Practice: Have the students work independently to find the locations of the beginning and ending points of each explorer’s voyage and tie the corresponding string between them. Remind them to be careful to use the right color threads and to tape a piece of the thread to the key. If the students are having difficulty, tell them to work with their partner. Walk around the room to check on the students progress and provide help where needed. When the students are finished, have them check their work with the other students in their table group.

Closure: Project the completed example map on the document camera. Review the starting and ending locations of each of the explorer’s, and ask the students to move their pushpins to the correct locations if their maps are wrong. As you review each of the explorers, give the students some of the background information for each of their journeys (see Background Information section). Ask the students to write their names on the maps underneath the key, and collect the maps. Pass out the exit quizzes and have the students complete them.

Evaluation:

Formative: The teacher will observe the students’ participation during the first four phases of the lesson, and during the students’ independent work on their maps. The teacher will keep a tally and/or notes on each student’s participation.

Summative: The teacher will evaluate the maps completed by the students to ensure that they correctly completed the key and correctly located each of the required locations. The maps will also be assessed on if they were correctly assembled with the embroidery thread. The teacher will also grade the exit quiz.

Background Information/Content:

Map and globe skills: Locating places on maps and globes – ability to find places on a map and describe that location verbally (Pearson, 2010)

Voyage: a long journey by water to a far away place (“voyage”)

Conquer: to gain, or win by force or violence (“conquer”)

The Madeline Hunter’s sequence has been proven to lead to more successful, engaged, and happy students. It allows students more time to practice their skills during the lesson (Schmoker 2011/2012). Practice such as this is key when learning to locate places on a map (Pearson, 2010). In addition, as Muir has found, providing hands-on practice and teaching maps skills in a logical sequence, such as Madeline Hunter’s sequence, leads to more students retaining the information than other types of sequences (Muir, 1985). Christopher Columbus: In August 1492, Columbus led three ships, the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María across the Atlantic. Sailors had tried to make this trip before him, but had failed because they had tried to sail straight across the ocean and ran into bad winds. Since sailors in Columbus’s time had to rely on winds to push them across the water, they could not complete their journey if the wind blew against them. Knowing that these previous voyages had failed, Columbus decided to try to sail south down to Africa first, and then west towards South America. Columbus was successful, and in October, the ships landed in San Salvador, an island they called Guanahani. Columbus declared that Spain now owned the island, and quickly left to explore more land (“Christopher Columbus”).

Juan Ponce de León: Ponce de León heard about Columbus’s voyages and decided to join another journey. In 1493, he was one of 1,200 men that sailed to the Dominican Republic/Haiti, then called the island of Hispaniola. He became very successful in Hispaniola, eventually becoming the deputy governor. He later conquered Puerto Rico, and became the governor of the island. Ponce de León continued to explore other areas. In 1513, he sailed from Puerto Rico to St. Johns River in Florida. He named the land Florida, from the Spanish phrase Pascua florida, or “flowery Easter,” because he landed on Easter day. Ponce de León explored more of Florida, discovering important rivers and islands (“Ponce de León, Juan”).

Jacques Cartier: Cartier did not reach Canada until his second voyage to Canada. Before exploring North America, Cartier explored other areas of North and South America, including Brazil. He was chosen by the King of France in 1534 to find a new way to get to Asia. That year, he took 2 ships and sailed towards North America. He arrived 20 days later in Newfoundland, an area of Canada, and explored the area surrounding it. It was on his second voyage to Canada, in 1535, that Cartier made it all the way to Quebec, and made a base. Cartier stayed in Canada a while and explored. Cartier eventually made a third trip to Canada in 1541 to make a permanent colony (“Jacques Cartier: Biography”).

Christopher Newport: Newport was a captain for many years before he sailed to Virginia. In 1606, the Virginia Company of London chose Christopher Newport to lead the voyage to Virginia. The Virginia Company of London was a group that paid for and was in charge of the voyage. They wanted to create a permanent English colony in North America. Three ships sailed to Virginia: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. Newport was the captain of the Susan Constant. The voyage took a very long time, since storms kept the ships from leaving England for 6 weeks. The ships landed on a few islands, the West Indies, before landing in the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia in April. The people in the colony had a very hard time the first few years, but they were able to build a colony. Newport made other journeys to and from Virginia, including one where he was shipwrecked on Bermuda, an island in the Atlantic Ocean.

References:

Muir, S. P. (1985). “Understanding and improving students’ map reading skills.” The Elementary School Journal 86(2), 206-216.

Nichols, A. B. “Captain Christopher Newport.” Christopher Newport: Admiral of Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.captainchristophernewport.com/.

No author. (No date). “Christopher Columbus.” Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/127070/Christopher-Columbus/223123/The-first-voyage.

No author. (No date). “Juan Ponce de Leon”). Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Juan_Ponce_de_Leon.aspx.

No author. (No date). “Jacques Cartier biography.” Bio. Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/people/jacques-cartier-9240128#third-voyage.org/Newport_Christopher_1561-after_August_15_1617.

No author. (No date). “Voyage.” Dictionary.com. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/voyage?s=t.

No author. (No date). “Conquer.” Dictionary.com. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/conquer?s=t.

No Author. (No date). “ColumbusMap.” WikiCommons. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyages_of_Christopher_Columbus#mediaviewer/File:ColombusMap.jpg.

Parker, W. C. (2014). Social Studies in Elementary Education: Pearson New International Edition (14th ed.). Harlow, England: Pearson Education Limited.

Salmon, John. (No date). “Christopher Newport (1561-after August 15, 1617).” Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopediavirginia

Schmoker, M. (2011/2012). “The stunning power of good, traditional lessons.” The Phi Delta Kappan 93(4), 70-71.

Name: ______Date: ______

Exit Quiz

1. Christopher Columbus discovered which area:
a) San Salvador
b) Florida
c) Virginia
d) Quebec / 2. Juan Ponce de León discovered which area:
a) San Salvador
b) Florida
c) Virginia
d) Quebec
3. Jacques Cartier discovered which area:
a) San Salvador
b) Florida
c) Virginia
d) Quebec / 4. Christopher Newport discovered which area:
a) San Salvador
b) Florida
c) Virginia
d) Quebec