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3rd grade · Social Studies · Unit 9 of 10

Explorers & Encounters

Columbus, de Soto and the first colonies

What your child practices

Why Europeans explored the Americas, the routes of early explorers, Hernando de Soto's march through Alabama and its effects on Native peoples, and early colonies such as St. Augustine, Roanoke, Jamestown and Plymouth.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 3.9; 3.10 · reasons for European exploration, explorers' routes, de Soto's expedition, early colonies, and conflicts with Indigenous peoples

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Europeans explored the Americas for trade routes, gold and land.
  2. Columbus was looking for a sea route to Asia. Hernando de Soto marched through Alabama.
  3. Explorers brought diseases and war that harmed Native peoples.

Example: Columbus sailed west looking for a sea route to where? He wanted spices and goods from the east. He hoped to reach Asia. Answer: Asia

Explorers & Encounters in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 9 of 10 in 3rd grade Social Studies, after Native Nations of Alabama and before French Alabama.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    European explorers came to the Americas looking for…

    • dinosaurs
    • snow
    • gold, land and trade routes
    • airports

  2. Question 2

    Juan Ponce de León explored and named…

    • Florida
    • Peru
    • Virginia
    • Alabama

  3. Question 3

    The Pilgrims founded Plymouth in 1620 so they could…

    • find gold
    • build a navy
    • trade furs only
    • worship in their own way

  4. Question 4

    St. Augustine, Florida, founded by Spain in 1565, is the oldest…

    • European-founded city in the continental United States
    • Alabama capital
    • English town
    • French fort

  5. Question 5

    Hernando de Soto's Spanish expedition marched through Alabama in…

    • 1492
    • 1819
    • 1540
    • 1702

  6. Question 6

    When Europeans and Native nations met, they disagreed about land because many Europeans believed land…

    • could be owned by one person and sold
    • belonged to no one ever
    • should never be farmed
    • was only for hunting

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