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The Renaissance Explorers: With History Projects for Kids
Who were the Renaissance explorers? How did they change the world? Being a Renaissance explorer was both exciting and rewarding. But it sure wasn’t easy! Explorers in the Age of Exploration faced many challenges and dangers as their ships sailed into new and unfamiliar lands. Some explorers caught diseases, while others battled with native peoples over control of the territory. Without the efforts of the Renaissance explorers, the world as we know it might have been very different! Brave men such as Ferdinand Magellan and Niccolò de Conti ventured into uncharted territory around the globe and learned much about what lay beyond Europe and brought back an incredible wealth of information about this “new world .” In The Renaissance Explorers with History Projects for Kids , readers ages 10 to 15 find out more about what it meant to be an explorer and follow the biographies of five famous Renaissance explorers, including Niccolò de Conti, Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, Pêro da Covilhã, and Ferdinand Magellan, from their childhoods until their exhilarating days of scouting new-to-them lands. In addition to diving deep into the biographies of five Renaissance explorers, readers discover the skills and tools essential for these brave men as they crossed vast oceans and interacted with very different civilizations during the course of their journeys. Kids also find out more about the science and navigational techniques that made the Renaissance one of the most important periods for the discovery of new lands, peoples, and animals. Using the engineering design process, kids develop critical and creative thinking skills with 10 STEAM activities, such making a compass that works and building a beacon like the ones used by Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama on their journeys. Fun facts, primary source illustrations, and links to online resources spark an interest in the Renaissance that goes beyond the boundaries of Europe. Even without a time machine, learners can experience the Renaissance! The Renaissance Explorers is one of a set of four books in the Renaissance for Kids series. Books in the Renaissance for Kids series invite readers ages 10 to 15 to learn about the inventors, artists, explorers, philosophers, scientists, and politicians who lived in Europe and around the world during the Renaissance and who made contributions to the wealth of human knowledge and experience that have lasted far into the future. Primary sources, color photography, relevant quotes, and hands-on STEAM activities that promote the scientific method or engineering design process keep even the most curious kids satisfied!
Titles in this series include The Renaissance With History Projects for Kids ; The Renaissance With History Projects for Kids ; The Renaissance With History Projects for Kids ; and The Renaissance With History Projects for Kids .
Titles in this series include The Renaissance With History Projects for Kids ; The Renaissance With History Projects for Kids ; The Renaissance With History Projects for Kids ; and The Renaissance With History Projects for Kids .
112 pages, Hardcover
Published October 16, 2018
About the author
Alicia Klepeis
233 books20 followersFrom color-changing creatures to extreme environments to far-out foods, Alicia Klepeis loves to research fun and out-of-the-ordinary topics that bring the world to young readers. Alicia began her career at the National Geographic Society. She is the author of more than 200 kids’ books. Her nonfiction titles include Go Wild! Frogs; Gutsy Girls Go For Science: Astronauts; Jane Goodall; Living In The Rain Forest; The Philadelphia Eagles; Polar Bears & Penguins: A Pretty Cool Introduction to the Arctic and Antarctic; The Science And Technology Of Ben Franklin; Superfast Cars; and The World’s Strangest Foods.
Alicia's fictional titles include the anthology Secrets of the Forest: 15 Bedtime Stories Inspired By Nature, named Children's Book of the Week by The Independent. Her picture book Francisco’s Kites was named to the Tejas Star Reading List. She is also the author of several World Adventure chapter books including Mountains, Monsoons, and Mules. She has written over 100 articles in magazines such as National Geographic Kids, Kiki, and FACES. Alicia is currently working on several projects involving amazing animals, American history, and world cultures. She lives with her family in upstate New York.
Alicia's fictional titles include the anthology Secrets of the Forest: 15 Bedtime Stories Inspired By Nature, named Children's Book of the Week by The Independent. Her picture book Francisco’s Kites was named to the Tejas Star Reading List. She is also the author of several World Adventure chapter books including Mountains, Monsoons, and Mules. She has written over 100 articles in magazines such as National Geographic Kids, Kiki, and FACES. Alicia is currently working on several projects involving amazing animals, American history, and world cultures. She lives with her family in upstate New York.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
May 20, 2019
The Renaissance Explorers with History Projects for Kids, by Alicia Z. Klepeis is part of the Renaissance For Kids Series from Nomad Press. Klepeis structures her work around chapter biographies of Niccolo de Conti, Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, Pero da Covilha, and Ferdinand Magellan in her focus on the lives of early European explorers.
An introduction, Exploration During the Renaissance, asks the question, “Why leave the comfort of home and family to strike out to new lands where danger might lurk?” Of course, there is the familiar answer, “Europeans were searching for a sea route to India and Asia.” But there were a number of other factors that influenced the timing of this exploration. Improvements in the technology of navigation, shipbuilding, and map making created better opportunities for success. European monarchs sponsored expeditions to expand empires, gain wealth, monopolize trade, and impose Christianity on indigenous people.
Each biographical chapter utilizes primary sources and a timeline to trace the life of an explorer and identify their contributions to the growing body of knowledge about exotic places and their people, culture, plants, and animals. Conti, a Venice merchant, self-funded his twenty-five-year-long expedition to Persia, India, Sumatra, and Borneo. He returned with information about the inhabitants as well as spices, animals, and geography. Dias was sent by King John II of Portugal to find a trade route to India. Dias was the first to sail around the Southern tip of Africa into the Indian Ocean before being forced to return home by his crew. Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese navigator, built on the experience of Dias and became the first to sail from Europe to India. Covilha traveled to India and Ethiopia as an emissary of King John II of Portugal, successfully establishing a relation between Portugal and Ethiopia. Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world changed navigation forever by improving maps and establishing new trading routes.
As with the other volumes in the series, readers are challenged to ask questions and use critical thinking skills in response to a series of hands-on projects that are offered at the end of each chapter. Maps, photographs and illustrations highlight the subjects and provide historical context. Multiple text boxes offer additional facts, quotes, and insights on a variety of topics from the famous Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta to the use of an astrolabe for navigation. Calls to action are strategically placed throughout: Wonder Why? poses additional questions for consideration. Connect contains QR codes for audio and video files. Words of Wonder directs readers to a multi-page glossary at the end of the book. Resources provides a list of books, videos, and museums for further exploration.
The book is well organized and the content expands on familiar facts and introduces readers to details that are often overlooked such as the cruelty that often accompanied the explorers in their encounters with people of other cultures or religions. The text and illustrations are richly detailed. The conversational tone and age-appropriate vocabulary is appealing.
Recommended for home and school libraries.
An introduction, Exploration During the Renaissance, asks the question, “Why leave the comfort of home and family to strike out to new lands where danger might lurk?” Of course, there is the familiar answer, “Europeans were searching for a sea route to India and Asia.” But there were a number of other factors that influenced the timing of this exploration. Improvements in the technology of navigation, shipbuilding, and map making created better opportunities for success. European monarchs sponsored expeditions to expand empires, gain wealth, monopolize trade, and impose Christianity on indigenous people.
Each biographical chapter utilizes primary sources and a timeline to trace the life of an explorer and identify their contributions to the growing body of knowledge about exotic places and their people, culture, plants, and animals. Conti, a Venice merchant, self-funded his twenty-five-year-long expedition to Persia, India, Sumatra, and Borneo. He returned with information about the inhabitants as well as spices, animals, and geography. Dias was sent by King John II of Portugal to find a trade route to India. Dias was the first to sail around the Southern tip of Africa into the Indian Ocean before being forced to return home by his crew. Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese navigator, built on the experience of Dias and became the first to sail from Europe to India. Covilha traveled to India and Ethiopia as an emissary of King John II of Portugal, successfully establishing a relation between Portugal and Ethiopia. Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world changed navigation forever by improving maps and establishing new trading routes.
As with the other volumes in the series, readers are challenged to ask questions and use critical thinking skills in response to a series of hands-on projects that are offered at the end of each chapter. Maps, photographs and illustrations highlight the subjects and provide historical context. Multiple text boxes offer additional facts, quotes, and insights on a variety of topics from the famous Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta to the use of an astrolabe for navigation. Calls to action are strategically placed throughout: Wonder Why? poses additional questions for consideration. Connect contains QR codes for audio and video files. Words of Wonder directs readers to a multi-page glossary at the end of the book. Resources provides a list of books, videos, and museums for further exploration.
The book is well organized and the content expands on familiar facts and introduces readers to details that are often overlooked such as the cruelty that often accompanied the explorers in their encounters with people of other cultures or religions. The text and illustrations are richly detailed. The conversational tone and age-appropriate vocabulary is appealing.
Recommended for home and school libraries.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review