Name : __________________________
European Explorers
Map Activity Class : __________________________
I. Map the Routes
Map the Routes of the following explorers by showing their routes using different colors. Don’t forget
to add each explorer and their route color to the key. Use arrows to show their journey from Europe to
the Americas, but you do NOT need to put their return trip on the map. Also, be sure to label the year(s)
that their exploration took place.
Use your textbook on pgs. 114 – 119 & pgs. 225 – 229 to map the following routes
A. Columbus (1st journey only) E. Champlain (1st journey only)
B. Magellan F. Hudson (2nd journey only)
C. Cabral G. Ponce de Leon
D. Cabot
II. Explorers Biographies
Answer the following questions. Please write these on a separate sheet of paper and attach it to your
map. . ***Answers need to be in complete sentences. All proper nouns need to be capitalized and
spelled correctly! Use your textbook on pgs. 114 – 119 & pgs. 225 – 229 to describe these explorers.
1. Write a 1-2 sentence brief summary explaining what land each of the following explored, where they
were from, and what they accomplished.
a. John Cabot
b. Samuel de Champlain
c. Pedro Cabral
d. Juan Ponce de Leon
e. Jacques Cartier
2. What was the Northwest Passage? Why was it important to the Europeans? Was it ever found? Why
or why not?
II. Claimed Land
Use the map on the screen entitled, “Colonization of the Americas” to shade the land in the Western
Hemisphere that was claimed by each European country during the Age of Exploration. Make each
country’s claimed land a different color and add it to the key.
IV. Columbian Exchange
Use large yellow arrows to show on your map the trade of goods transferred from the Eastern to the
Western Hemisphere. (Include at least 3 different item – write these on the arrows)
Use large green arrows to show on your map the trade of goods transferred from the Western to the
Eastern Hemisphere. (Include at least 3 different item – write these on the arrows)