Lesson Plan One
Objectives: Upon completion of this lesson the students will be able to:
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1. Locate on a globe and map the main continents and oceans making up the New World.
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2. Use cardinal and intermediate map directions to describe locations (i. e. west, north, southwest, northeast, etc. )
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3. Compare and contrast this true map of the New World with a version illustrating Columbus’s concept of the world.
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4. Trace the four voyages of Columbus from Spain to the New World .
Materials: Various maps taken from: Jerry Aten’s Hooray for Columbus, Jo Ellen Moore’s Who Discovered America, Haig A. Rushdoony’s Exploring Our World with Maps: Map Skills for Grades K-6, Mary Ellen Sterling’s Explorers, a compass, a globe, and crayons.
Procedure:
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1. The teacher will begin with the question, “What is a continent?” Individual students will then be asked to come up and point out on both a large world map and a globe the continent on which they live and the other six continents. Major oceans will also be identified.
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2. A large compass rose will be drawn on the board and the teacher will then review both the cardinal and intermediate directions with the class. A compass will be passed around for the students to experiment with.
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3. After students, working in small groups, have located and labeled the seven continents and the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea on blank maps of the world, the teacher will offer then practice in using directions through a series of questions such as: Which continent is: east of Europe, north of Australia west of Africa, north of South America, etc.
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4. Students will then be given copies of a map designed by Toscanelli showing the world as Columbus believed it to be (its components being Europe, Africa, The Indies (which included India, China, East Indies and Japan) and the Ocean Sea (the Atlantic Ocean). Students, again working in small groups, will be asked to compare and contrast it with their up-to-date maps of the world and to determine what is missing on Toscanelli’s version.
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5. Before tracing the routes of Columbus’s four voyages from Spain to the New World (using a different color of crayon for each voyage) on a new set of blank maps of the area, students will be asked to locate various places using cardinal and intermediate directions (i.e., Where are the Canary Islands in relation to Madeira?).
