This week you will learn:
• Why explorers set sail across the oceans
• What ships like caravels were like
• The tools navigators used, like the compass
• What life was like for a sailor at sea
About 500 years ago, people in Europe wanted spices, silk, and gold from faraway lands. Traveling over land took years and was dangerous. So brave sailors asked: could we get there by sea?
This began the Age of Exploration. Explorers sailed in wooden ships across huge oceans, with no maps of where they were going! Countries like Portugal and Spain sent many voyages — that means long journeys by sea.
Some explorers found new sea routes. Some found lands they never knew existed — lands where millions of people already lived. The world was about to change forever. All aboard — this week we sail with them!
1. What did people in Europe want from faraway lands?
2. Why did sailors try going by sea?
3. What is a voyage?
4. Were the new lands really empty? Who lived there?
Write what each word means in your own words.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1400s | Portugal begins sailing down the coast of Africa |
| 1492 | Columbus sails west across the Atlantic Ocean |
| 1498 | Vasco da Gama reaches India by sea |
| 1519 | Magellan's crew begins sailing around the whole world |
Write T for true or F for false in each circle.
Draw a wooden sailing ship on a big ocean. Add waves, wind in the sails, and a sailor looking out for land.
Tomorrow we climb aboard! We will explore the ships called caravels and the amazing tools — like the compass and astrolabe — that helped sailors find their way with no road signs at all.