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Topics to Discuss:
Great Explorers
Biography
Let’s read some short biographies of the explorers Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan and Marco Polo…
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator and explorer who toured across the Atlantic Ocean and discovered the American continents.
Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. He worked with his father at his cheese stand. He was a student of the Prince Henry’s School of Navigation, located in Portugal.
Columbus began his first voyage in 1492. He sailed to the Canary Islands from where he left for a five-day tour across the waters. In 1492, one of the sailors accompanying Columbus noticed a patch of land, which is today a part of the Bahamas. Columbus took a risk and went to parts of Cuba and Hispaniola.
Columbus did not realize that he had arrived in a new part of the world. He was convinced that he was in India. For this reason, he called the natives who lived on these islands the Indians.
Choose the correct answer using either the past simple or past perfect tenses.
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition to sail all the way around the world. He also discovered a passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean that is today called the Straits of Magellan. Growing Up Ferdinand Magellan was born in 1480 in northern Portugal. He grew up in a wealthy family and served as a page in the royal court. He enjoyed sailing and exploring and sailed for Portugal for many years. Magellan had traveled to India by sailing around Africa, but he had the idea that there may be another route by traveling west and around the Americas. The King of Portugal did not agree and argued with Magellan. Finally, Magellan went to King Charles V of Spain who agreed to fund the voyage.
Activity: Writing a Biography
Fill in the missing information
Name of explorer:
Birth Year:
Birth Place:
Family:
Discoveries:
Why famous:
Activities:
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a merchant and explorer who traveled throughout the Far East and China for much of his life. His stories were the basis for what much of Europe knew about Ancient China for many years. He lived from 1254 to 1324. Marco was born in Venice, Italy in 1254. Venice was a wealthy trading city and Marco's father was a merchant. It took Marco Polo three years to get to China. Along the way he visited many great cities and saw many sites including the holy city of Jerusalem, the mountains of the Hindu Kush, Persia, and the Gobi Desert. He met a lot of different types of people and had many adventures.
_____ Died in 1324
_____ Born in 1254 in Italy
_____ Traveled throughout the Far East and China
Autobiography