Celebrating Columbus Day & The Importance of Explorers

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. Many facts about this famous explorer are not known, including exactly when he was born. Most historians think it was in 1451. His name is written as "Cristoforo Colombo" in Italian, the language of the country he was born in.

It is written as "Cristobal Colon" in Spanish, the language of the country who sponsored his voyages of exploration. He is known to us as "Christopher Columbus," the English form of his name.

Christopher Columbus grew up in Genoa, helping his father in his wool business. Little is known for sure about Columbus's education. He knew Italian, Spanish, and Latin. He also had to learn mathematics and astronomy to become a navigator. He'd read the maps of Ptolemy, and the writings of Marco Polo. Both men's work inspired Columbus.

Columbus was convinced that he could sail west, across the Atlantic Ocean, and reach Asia with its wealth of spices, gold, and silk. What he didn't know was that two continents--North America and South America--stood in the way. Columbus first presented his idea to King John of Portugal but he was content to use the sea route around Africa.

Columbus left Portugal for Spain. It was in Spain that Columbus finally found the support he was looking for. Ferdinand and Isabella were the King and Queen of Spain. Columbus went to their court and outlined his plan.

It took Columbus several years, but finally, in 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to fund his voyage. They provided most of the money for his ships and crew. They also agreed that Columbus would be called "Admiral of the Ocean Seas." He would be governor of all the land he discovered, and he would receive 10 percent of all the wealth he brought back. Ferdinand and Isabella, and Columbus, too, were devout Christians. So as part of his mission he agreed to spread the word of Christianity to all the people he met on his journey.

It was a journey that would truly change the world, but not in the way anyone could have imagined in 1492.

Columbus Day is an excellent opportunity for students to learn more about all the explorers of the New World that Columbus' discovery helped to motivate. Assign students to select another famous explorer of the New World that followed Columbus. Students should create a report of at least 100 words or a presentation of at least two minutes that cites at least two resources.

Students should address the following examples of essential questions for critical thinking in their reports (you may want to create others):

• What background and experiences prepared your explorer to achieve fame?
• What did your explorer do to achieve fame?
• How does your explorer's discovery affect the U.S. and/or North America today?
• What science or technology did your explorer use to make his discovery(s)?

Pathfinder: Type "explorers" in the Subject Headings Search box > click Search > select only from subjects that include New World explorers.

Oral and PowerPoint reports provide an opportunity for students to develop standards-based lifetime presentation skills and to share their new knowledge with their peers.

Use our custom ProQuest models for written or PowerPoint reports written and PowerPoint-style reports.

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