Read and compare a map of five major exploration voyages -- Columbus, Cabot, Magellan, Cartier, and Coronado -- using a map's legend, compass rose, and scale.
Mapping an explorer's route is one of the best ways to understand what they actually did and why it mattered. Beyond Columbus's 1492 voyage for Spain, consider four more: in 1497, John Cabot sailed for England and reached the coast of present-day Canada, giving England its first claim in North America. In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan set out with five ships to find a route around South America to Asia; Magellan himself died in the Philippines in 1521, but one battered ship, the Victoria, with only about 18 of the original roughly 270 crew members aboard, completed the trip around the entire globe by 1522 -- the first circumnavigation in history, proving the Earth's oceans were all connected.
In 1534, Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River for France, claiming the land along it. Between 1540 and 1542, Spain's Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led a huge expedition through the Southwest, searching for legendary golden cities that did not exist; he found none, but his expedition mapped much of the region and made contact with Pueblo nations along the way. Reading all five routes on one map -- using the compass rose to check direction, the scale to judge distance, and the legend to identify symbols -- shows how quickly, and how competitively, European powers explored huge stretches of the Americas in just fifty years.
Mastery looks like: They can match at least four of the five explorers to their sponsoring country and describe what each voyage achieved.
Common stumbles: Confusing which explorer sailed for which country; assuming Magellan personally completed the circumnavigation.