a
The world before
Open the map in 1490 and zoom out. Which parts of the world do European maps barely know at this point?
Open this view on the mapAge of Exploration · 1492-1522
Around the world in three years
Columbus sails west, Magellan's crew circles the globe. Students follow the journeys layer and discover how the world map itself was the discovery.
- Length
- 45 minutes
- Ages
- 10–13
- On the map
- 3 steps, AD 1490 to AD 1550
- Live lesson
- 7 rounds, 4 on the map
- Homework
- The same rounds, a week long
- Worksheet
- Two A4 pages, with Classroom
- Slides
- 22 slides, with Classroom
- You need
- A projector; phones for live
A call from history · new
Ferdinand Magellan is on the line. The class decides.
Late October 1520, as the fleet enters the strait at the tip of South America
The strait at the southern tip of South America (later named the Strait of Magellan)
“You must decide whether to lead the fleet through this dangerous, uncharted strait, hoping it leads to the Pacific and a route to Asia, or turn back. The strait is full of hazards, and many of my men are afraid. If you go forward, you risk losing ships and lives, but you might succeed in finding a new way to the Spice Islands.”
Should I lead the fleet through the strait, or turn back to Spain? The caller speaks English, in their own voice, from a short brief of textbook facts, knows nothing of what came later and never tells the outcome; the screen does, after the call. On the live board the telephone rings the whole class: the teacher answers on the room's microphone, and students write to the caller from their phones.
Sign in to take the call
Calls come with Pro (5 a month) and Classroom (20 a month, ringing the whole class). How calls work
Live lesson · new in Classroom
Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.
Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.
€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.
- 7 rounds
- 4 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
- About 15 minutes
- Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
- A report
- Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
Or as homework · new
No lesson hour to spare? Set it as homework.
The same 7 rounds, without the board: each student walks through them alone on their phone, sees every answer at once with the explanation, and the report fills in as they go. Open for a week, with a code and a link you can paste anywhere.
Homework comes with Classroom, like the live lesson. The free lesson can be set as homework by everyone.
Age of ExplorationAround the world in three years
Slides · new
The whole lesson as a deck.
22 slides: the plate, the 3 map steps with their pictures and a link to the live map, the discussion questions, the quiz with the answer on the next slide, and the worksheet. Speaker notes carry what to say. It is a .pptx, so it opens in PowerPoint, Keynote and Google Slides, and you can change anything.
Preview: the first 4 slides
€19 per month: the deck of every lesson, every worksheet, every live lesson. Rome at its height comes whole for free.
Introduction
5 minRead aloud
Columbus sails west, Magellan's crew circles the globe. Students follow the journeys layer and discover how the world map itself was the discovery.
By the end of the lesson, students can
- Follow Magellan's expedition route on the map and name the oceans it crossed.
- Explain why European kingdoms paid for these risky voyages.
- Describe how the world map changed between 1490 and 1550.
Explore the map
12 minProject the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.
a
b
Follow Magellan
Open Stories (top left) and play the journey of Magellan & Elcano (1519-1522). Where does the journey get dangerous? Count how many of the five ships made it home.
Open this view on the map
c
A connected world
Jump to 1550. Look at the trade routes crossing the Atlantic and Pacific. What is new compared to 1490?
Open this view on the mapClass discussion
14 minPick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.
- Why sail west to reach the east? Explain the plan - and what nobody in Europe knew yet.
- Only 18 of about 270 men survived Magellan's expedition. Why did rulers keep funding such voyages?
- What did the "discovery" of the Americas mean for the people already living there?
- Spices were worth more than gold by weight. Why?
- How did these voyages change what a "world map" even looks like?
Game round
9 minRule History: rule as a Spanish or Portuguese monarch around 1500. Would you fund an expedition or invest in your army? Let students defend their budget.
Open Rule HistoryWorksheet
5 minThis worksheet comes with Classroom
€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, the slides of every lesson, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.