Focus: This unit (Unit 3 for schools using the CKHG series in Sequence grade-level order) introduces students to European exploration and trade from 1400 to the 1600s. Students learn about motivations for European exploration, including profit from the trade of goods such as gold, silk, sugar, and spices, as well as the desire to spread Christianity. Students study specific explorers (Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco de Gama, Pedro Cabral, Columbus, Magellan, and Vasco de Balboa) and learn about their encounters with indigenous peoples. Students also learn about John Cabot and the search for the Northwest Passage, Sir Francis Drake, Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, and Henry Hudson. Students are introduced to the early slave trade and the beginnings of slavery in the Americas.
Number of Lessons: 13
Lesson Time: 45 minutes each daily. Each lesson may be divided into shorter segments.
Additional Search Terms: social studies • geography • map skills • nonfiction • informational text • primary source documents
CKHG Grade Levels: CKHG units are correlated to topics at the grade levels specified in the Core Knowledge Sequence, which allows students in schools following the Sequence to build knowledge grade by grade. In other settings, individual CKHG units may be used as supplemental resources. In general, the content and presentation in the CKHG units for Grades 3-5 are appropriate for young readers from the upper elementary grades through middle school.
