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4th grade · Social Studies · Unit 2 of 14

Explorers & Missions

Spain and France come to Texas

What your child practices

Why Europeans explored Texas, Álvarez de Pineda, Cabeza de Vaca, Coronado and La Salle, and when, where and why Spain built missions, presidios and towns. Told plainly: the missions harmed many American Indian people through disease, forced labor and the loss of land and culture.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 4.2(A); 4.2(B); 4.2(C); 4.12(B) · reasons for European exploration, the explorers' impact, Spanish missions and settlements, and Spanish colonial government

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Explorers like Álvarez de Pineda, Cabeza de Vaca, Coronado and La Salle came to Texas.
  2. Spain built missions (religious settlements), presidios (forts) and towns to claim land before France could.
  3. The missions harmed many American Indian people.

Example: What was a presidio? Missions were led by priests. Presidios were where soldiers lived. Answer: a fort

Explorers & Missions in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 2 of 14 in 4th grade Social Studies, after First Peoples of Texas and before Mexican Texas.

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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

    Why did Spain build missions in East Texas in the 1690s and 1700s?

    • to build a railroad
    • to keep France out and claim the land
    • to find oil
    • to grow oranges

  2. Question 2

    The mission later known as the Alamo was first called…

    • San Jacinto
    • Goliad
    • Fort St. Louis
    • San Antonio de Valero

  3. Question 3

    Spanish priests came to Texas to…

    • start oil companies
    • spread the Catholic faith
    • open banks
    • build cattle trails

  4. Question 4

    Spain also explored Texas to…

    • find a route to the Moon
    • help France claim it
    • claim land before France could
    • trade with the railroad

  5. Question 5

    The first missions in present-day Texas were near…

    • Houston, in 1900
    • Dallas, in 1850
    • El Paso, in 1682
    • Amarillo, in 1950

  6. Question 6

    Spanish ranches in Texas started the…

    • space program
    • cattle and horse ranching in Texas
    • oil industry
    • computer industry

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