USI ‐ European Exploration Home:School Connections Unit Overview Students will examine different aspects of the Age of Exploration, with a focus on France, England, Spain, and Portugal. Their motivations for exploration, obstacles faced, and major accomplishments will be the beginning of their understanding of the regional differences present in the years leading up to our independence. Key Term Here are some of the terms we hope you might see or hear from your student. Some are new and some they probably have not heard in some time. We hope you can keep the conversation going at home.  motivation  obstacle  cultural superiority  navigational tool  trading post Home Support There are a number of ways you can support this unit at home. These are just a few.  Use a world map to identify France, Spain, England, and Portugal. Discuss with your student the fastest routes from these countries to North America. Identify obstacles that would prevent fast travel.  Discuss with your student what motivated explorers. Relate these motivations to modern explorer’s motivations.  Visit the Virginia Historical Society and check out the exhibits of European explorers who visited our area. Books and Websites Here are some books you can encourage your child to read.  The World Made New by Marc Aronson and John Glen  Explorers Who Got Lost by Diane Sansevere‐Dreher and Ed Renfro  The Picture History of Great Explorers by Gillian Clements  Around the World in a Hundred Years by Jean Fritz There are many kid‐friendly websites to explore geography. A few to start with are:  http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/applications/imaps/maps/g5s_u2/index.html ‐ This site has an interactive map that shows exploration routes.  http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/discovery/northam.html ‐ An informative site that lists regions of North America and who is said to have discovered each.  http://www.mce.k12tn.net/explorers/explorers_start.htm ‐ Descriptions, activities, and on‐line quiz for each topic is found in this site.