Austronesian and Lapita · About 3000-1000 BC

Lapita: the first voyagers of the open Pacific

Farmers and sailors from Taiwan spread across the islands of Southeast Asia. Their Lapita descendants then sailed out into the open Pacific to islands no human had ever reached. Students chart one of the boldest journeys in history.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, 3000 BC to 1000 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

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.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 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.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Farmers and sailors from Taiwan spread across the islands of Southeast Asia. Their Lapita descendants then sailed out into the open Pacific to islands no human had ever reached. Students chart one of the boldest journeys in history.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Trace the spread of Austronesian peoples from Taiwan into the Pacific.
  • Describe the Lapita culture and how archaeologists recognize it.
  • Explain how Pacific voyagers found and settled islands far out at sea.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

3000 BC

Island of origin

Open the map in 3000 BC and find Taiwan. Many scientists think the ancestors of the Pacific voyagers set out from here. Which islands lie to the south, a short sail away?

Open this view on the map
b

1300 BC

Where Lapita began

Jump to 1300 BC and sail to the Bismarck Archipelago, northeast of New Guinea. Lapita pottery first appears here. Look east past the Solomon Islands: how much open sea lies beyond?

Open this view on the map
c

1000 BC

Into the empty ocean

Jump to 1000 BC and find Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji. Lapita voyagers were the first people ever to reach these islands. How would you find an island you cannot see?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Lapita sailors reached islands where no human had ever lived. What would they need to bring to start a new life there?
  2. Their pottery has similar stamped patterns from New Guinea to Fiji. What does that tell archaeologists?
  3. Pacific navigators read stars, waves, birds and clouds. Which of these would you trust most, and why?
  4. Languages from Madagascar to Hawaii belong to the same family as the original languages of Taiwan. How could that happen?
  5. Was sailing into the unknown Pacific braver than the later European voyages of exploration? Explain.
4

Game round

9 min

No Pacific ruler appears in Rule History. Play one round as Hatshepsut, whose fleet sailed down the Red Sea to Punt in the same centuries, and compare: her ships followed a known coast, while Lapita canoes sailed into open ocean. Which took more courage, and which more organization?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.