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5th grade · Social Studies · Unit 5 of 12

Explorers & Encounters

Columbus, Cabot, Cartier, Cabral and Balboa

What your child practices

Why European explorers sailed west, where Columbus, Cabot, Cartier, Cabral, Balboa and Hudson went, which lands Spain, Portugal, France, England and the Netherlands colonized, the conquests of Cortés and Pizarro, and the French fur trade with Native nations.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 5.3a; 5.3b · why Europeans explored the Americas, where they claimed land, and the different ways they met and treated Native Americans

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Columbus, Cabot, Cartier (for France), Cabral and Balboa explored for European countries.
  2. Cortés led the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Europeans claimed land where Native nations already lived.
  3. After contact, Native populations fell sharply, mostly from new diseases.

Example: Why is French spoken in Haiti today? Languages often spread through colonies. France once ruled Haiti. Answer: France once had a colony there.

Explorers & Encounters in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 5 of 12 in 5th grade Social Studies, after Civilizations of the Americas and before The Columbian Exchange.

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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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 and their rulers hoped to gain…

    • Only new friends
    • Wealth, power and glory
    • Snow and ice
    • Nothing at all

  2. Question 2

    One reason a small Spanish force defeated the Aztec was…

    • The Aztec had no army
    • The Spanish had a much larger army
    • Disease and help from peoples the Aztec ruled
    • The Aztec asked to be conquered

  3. Question 3

    Missionaries came to the Americas to…

    • Spread Christianity
    • Find the Northwest Passage
    • Sell furs
    • Build railroads

  4. Question 4

    The English settled colonies mainly along…

    • The Amazon River
    • The coast of Peru
    • The Andes Mountains
    • The Atlantic coast of North America

  5. Question 5

    Jacques Cartier sailed for…

    • England
    • Spain
    • France
    • Portugal

  6. Question 6

    Samuel de Champlain founded… in 1608.

    • Mexico City
    • New Amsterdam
    • Quebec City
    • Jamestown

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