Chapter 6: Expanding Horizons6.1 Notes: Early Explorations

Warm-Up

• World Map Exercise

Where in the world…Locate these important chapter 6 places on your map!

• Cape of Good Hope• Straight of Magellan• Brazil• Peru • West Indies• Portugal• India• Spain• North America• Mexico

What was the Age of Exploration?

• A time when Europeans began to explore the rest of the world.

• Improvements in mapmaking, shipbuilding, and navigation made exploration possible.

Photo Analysis #1

Why Explore?

• Merchants sought a profitable trade with Asia.– Spices such as pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg

were used as perfume, cosmetics, medicine, and to flavor/preserve meat.

• The church wanted to spread Christian teachings.

• Learning and imagination.

New Technology• Open water ocean sailing required

new tools so that ships could travel beyond sight of land for extended periods.

• Sailors began to learn how to use the position of the sun and stars to navigate beyond sight of land.– Compass: Determined the direction a

ship was sailing.– Mariner’s Astrolabe: Determined the

latitude of a ship at sea by measuring the noon altitude of the sun or the meridian altitude of a star of known declination.

New Tech (Continued)• Cartographer’s (Mapmakers)skills improved into the 1300s.

– Mediterranean coastline now shown with greater accuracy.• Navigation maps by the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy reappear in Europe

– His grid system of latitude and longitude lines gave Europeans a new picture of the world.

• Ship design improves – Ships can now sail against the wind because of triangle-shaped lateen sails. – Multiple masts and sails(3-4) were added and made travel faster.– Up to 65 feet long and could carry 130 tons

• New ships called caravels incorporated all these improvements!– Caravels drew little water and allowed explorers to venture up shallow

inlets and rivers in order to make repairs to the ship. – Carried new weapons: muskets and cannons.

Caravel

Christopher Columbus

• Columbus leaves with three ships

• Lands in the Bahamas but believes he found India– Names inhabitants “Indians” – Islands became known as

West Indies– Discovers a new route for

spices…business!

Photo Analysis #2• List three details from the picture • What is the message that the illustrator is trying to get across?

Prince Henry the Navigator• Son of King John I of Portugal• Brought together the best

mapmakers, mathematicians, and astronomers to study navigation.

• Sponsored Portuguese exploratory voyages to the Atlantic and down Africa’s west coast to find spices.

• Discoveries became the foundation of the Portuguese Empire.

Bartholomeu Dias

• Found the southern tip of Africa, later named the Cape of Good Hope (1488).

• Found route to the Indian Ocean.

• Proved that ships could reach East Asia by sailing around Africa.

Vasco de Gama • Sailed from Portugal and landed in

India in 1498.• The expedition rounded the Cape of

Good Hope and made stops at trading centers along the coast of Africa.

• Found Hindus and Muslims trading fine silk, porcelain, and spices.

• Faster trade route from Europe to India and East Indies.

Ferdinand Magellan

• Was credited as the first to circumnavigate (circle) the globe.

• Killed in the Philippines and his crew finished the voyage without him.

• Voyage proved that:– The world was round.– The world was larger than anyone had

previously believed.– Oceans of the world are connected.– Lands discovered by Columbus were not part

of Asia.

Wrap-Up

• Magellan VLA– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM-igYjn6E4– Dice Roll: Fresh facts you learned!!

Homework

• Create a newspaper article (complete with a clever headline), highlighting one of the explorers that we studied today.

• Make sure to include three details about the explorer and underline them.

What “stuck” with me today…

• Write down one new piece of information that you learned today and why you feel that this is important.

• Stick your post-it to the board on your way out of class!

RAFT Activity

• Half a page RAFT– Role • Who are you writing as?

– Audience• Who are you writing to?

– Format • A journal entry, letter, speech, etc.

– Topic• What are you writing about?