CyberHunt activities - Christopher Columbus lesson ideas

Encourage creative exploration in your middle- and upper-graders with these Internet-based activities.

Supersized Voyage Map

Help students grasp the scale of the legendary first journey of Columbus with a supersized class map. Visit www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/columbus/map/Worldmap.shtml and www.mariner.org/age/land.html for world maps to mark out the voyage, then cover one classroom wall in bulletin board paper. Use a projector to display a large image of the map onto the wall. Have students trace the image, then move the map to the floor so that they can paint and label it. Use model ships to demonstrate the path Columbus traveled. Where did he think he was going? Where did he actually land?

Coat of Arms

After his successful voyages, Spain awarded Columbus the right to bear a coat of arms. Visit www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/frontiers/columbcoat.html to view. Talk about the symbols that Columbus chose, and what they might reveal about his personality and his position in the Spanish court. Then ask students to design their own coats of arms to reflect their personalities and the important things in their lives. Have students divide their shields into four sections and choose the symbols, shapes, and colors they wish to display.

Journals of Exploration

Columbus kept a careful journal of all of his travels, fragments of which survive. To view, visit www.eduplace.com/ss/hmss/7/unit/act6.1blm.html, www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/01-col.html, and http://planetx.bloomu.edu/~aholton/121readings_html/columbus_html Columbus wrote about the natural environment and the native people he encountered along his journeys. As you read a few passages, encourage students to look carefully at his descriptions. Talk about the ways in which what he wrote was influenced by his perspective. How might a Native American have described Columbus and his crew? Invite students to think through this question by writing and illustrating fictional journals from the point of view of a Native American. Then compare students' journals as a class.

RELATED ARTICLE: Ahoy, Columbus!

How much do you really know about the voyages of Christopher Columbus? Sail off on a journey across the Web to learn more. Start your expedition at www.scholastic.com/cyberhuntkids Write your answers in the spaces provided below, or on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Although Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, a seaport town in Italy, he sailed under the flag of Spain. Columbus visited many of Europe's kings and queens asking for support before __________ finally agreed to pay for his famed voyage of exploration. www.nmm.ac.uk/education/fact_files/fact_columbus.html

2. In 1492, Columbus set off West across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a new trade route to the Far East, or Asia, the source of valuable spices, silks, and luxuries. Columbus actually landed on an island in the Bahamas called __________, which he renamed __________ www.enchantedlearning.com/explores/page/c/columbus.shtml

3. Before steam power, ocean travel was slow and difficult. The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria sailed an average of only __________ miles per day. www1.minn.net/~keithp/ships.htm

4. After 34 days at sea, many sailors wanted to turn back. They thought the world was __________ and were afraid of __________. Columbus convinced them to wait. The next day they saw __________ and knew land was nearby. www.castellobanfi.com/features/story_3.html

5. When Columbus first came to what he called the New World, people had lived in the Americas for __________ of years. www.ibiblio.org/expo/1492.exhibit/a-America/america.html

6. Columbus and the Europeans who followed him brought new technologies, ideas, plants, and animals to the Americas. Name three. __________ www.ibiblio.org/expo/1492.exhibit/e-Eur.claims.Amer/eur.claims.amer.h tml

7. Europeans also brought new diseases with them. Within 150 years, the number of native people north of Mexico fell from about 10 million to __________, mostly due to smallpox. www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/Columbus_PeoplesHx.html

CyberHunt Answer Guide

1. King Ferdinand II & Queen Isabella.

2. Guanahani. San Salvador.

3. 90-100 miles a day.

4. Flat. Falling off the edge. Trees in the water.

5. Tens of thousands.

6. Three of these: guns, iron tools, weapons, Christianity, Roman law, wheat, sugarcane, horses, and cattle.

7. One million.

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