Explorer Trading Card During the Age of Discovery, Spanish, Portuguese, English, and French explorers made voyages across most of the known world. These men sought to find something of value which would both increase the wealth of their nations as well as their personal wealth. Kind of like a modern-day baseball player: they play for the benefit of their team and also make money for themselves at the same time. Task: Choose an explorer from the list on the next slide. Complete research to collect the “information” for your chosen explorer. Create a Trading Card to present his stats, home country, and accomplishments similarly to the example on the third slide. Include: A representative picture or portrait of the man. A short biography of the man; include his country of birth and background. An inset map, showing his discovery (or discoveries). Where did his boat leave from, and where did his expedition go? A flag of the country for which he worked. A short description of what he hoped to find and a description of what he actually found. A character rating. On a scale of 1-5, rate the man regarding his effectiveness as a professional explorer. 1 would be an absolute failure at finding what he aimed to find…5 would place him on the Age of Exploration’s All-Star Team. Appearance: Be creative and colorful Locate accurate information. Double check your information against at least two other sources. Spell all of your written information correctly. Accurately present your person’s voyage (voyages) on a map. Provide a caption for the map. Example: from Spain to Peru. You may use the Trading Card Creator: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/trading-card-creator-30056.html Assessment: See Rubric

-Landed in San Salvador (Bahamas) Explorer Years Nationality Achievement Christopher Columbus    1492 - 1502  Italy -Landed in San Salvador (Bahamas) -Central, South America, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Virgin Islands. John Cabot  1497 Italy -Discovered Newfoundland in present day Canada. Amerigo Vespucci  1499  -Navigator who gave his name to the new world, America Vasco Nunez de Balboa     1513 Spain  -Crossed the isthmus of Panama Ponce de Leon  Spain  Discovered Florida Hernando Cortes  1539 -Mexico , conquered Aztecs and won gold and silver treasures. Ferdinand Magellan  1522  Portugal  Reached Asia by sailing west Francisco Pizarro   1535 -West coast of South America. Defeated the Incas capturing the largest silver mine in the world. Jacques Cartier  1534 - 1536  France  Explored St. Lawrence River and gave Canada its name. Hernando De Soto  1539 - Landed in Florida and explored Georgia