Christopher Columbus, arguably the most famous of all explorers, was born in Italy 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. The success of the voyages of Columbus helped to motivate a whole host of New World explorers from many European countries—England, Spain, Portugal, and France. Their explorations and the staking of claims for their countries continue to influence the religion, culture, and languages of the "New World" even today.

Assign students to select two other famous explorers of the New World from two different countries. Students should create a report of at least 100 words or a presentation of at least two minutes that cites at least four resources.

Students should address the following examples of essential questions for critical thinking in their reports (you should 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)?

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.

Columbus Day is celebrated in October each year. This recognizes that Christopher Columbus discovered "America" on October 12, 1492. He is arguably the most famous explorer in history.

Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. As a young man, he settled in Portugal and married a woman of noble background. After his wife's death in 1485, Columbus and his young son Diego moved to Spain. It was there that he was able to learn more about geography and navigation and convince King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to finance his quest to create a new trade route to India and the Far East.

His goal was to bring back their spices, silk, and gold. He successfully argued that the new trade route would be shorter and less costly and hazardous than the existing sea route around the Cape of Good Hope and the existing overland caravan routes that were slow, limited in cargo, and threatened by gangs of robbers.

The fifteenth-century Europeans were not aware of the South and North American continents during this timeframe. Mapmakers did not show an accurate picture and no one knew there was a Pacific Ocean. However, unlike most influential people of his time, Columbus knew the world was round. He theorized that since the earth was a sphere, a ship could eventually reach the Far East by travelling in the opposite direction—west.

On the evening of August 3, 1492, Columbus departed from Palos, Spain with three ships; the largest was the Santa María, and two smaller ships, the Pinta and Santa Clara (nicknamed Nina). After about five weeks, his crew sighted land on October 12, 1492. Columbus called the island San Salvador (St. Savior in Spanish) which is now one of the Bahamas.

While he didn't discover the new trade route to the Far East, he did open up exploration of the New World to the European countries, and particularly Spain. Many other explorers from France, Portugal, and England would follow, using the routes discovered by Columbus.

eLibrary Elementary BookCarts are flexible lesson plans for inquiry-based learning activities. Instead of sending students out to search eLibrary Elementary, and often waste time, assign students to open a BookCart activity that minimizes searching and maximizes learning.

BookCarts can include all the information and resources that students need in one place to complete the learning activity (especially important for elementary students):

• Essential Questions for Critical Thinking that guide and motivate students
• Student Directions that list what students are expected to do with the resources
• Correlated Print Resources provide call numbers for students to include in their research
• Quizzes when appropriate to assess student knowledge of content

ProQuest has created a BookCart learning activity for your students to use: "Explorers of the New World."

It includes three models of essential questions for critical thinking that you can assign to your students. You can even create more or substitute others if you wish. Included is a five-question quiz sample. Students should write a summary of their two explorers and include a printed map and photo that they can find in an eLibrary Elementary search outside the BookCart.

• Logon to the eLibrary Elementary Teacher Edition to access BookCart Editor.
• Click the BookCart Admin link at the top right of the Teacher Edition.
• Click the ProQuest Carts tab.
• Review the list of Folders on the left side and click Elementary BookCarts.
• Scroll down and find "Explorers of the New World."
• Click the Copy icon in the Actions column to the right of this title.
• Return to My Local Carts.

This BookCart can easily be edited for most effective use:

• Click the new BookCart Title with the prefix "COPY OF."
• Delete "Copy of" and then type your first and last name in the AUTHOR boxes.
• Type your email address in the box next to Author.
• Edit the sample of STUDENT DIRECTIONS in the DESCRIPTION box.
• Type call numbers for print resources related to this topic.
• Scroll down and click SAVE.
• Click My Local Carts tab to see your newly edited and ready to use activity.

Assign students to write a report of about 100 words that cites at least two eLibrary articles/websites and one print resource. Students should select two explorers from different countries and summarize what they did to explore the New World. The summary should include a picture and map. It should also include how the work of that explorer affects America and our world today.

Click Famous People > Biographies by Profession > Explorers

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