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Explorers and Voyages

Meet the sailors who crossed unknown oceans in wooden ships.

  • Define and explain Explorers and Voyages in your own words
  • Use key terms such as Explorer accurately
  • Apply what you have learned to new examples and questions
  • Avoid the common mistakes learners make with this topic

This lesson focuses on Explorers and Voyages: meet the sailors who crossed unknown oceans in wooden ships.

Definition: Explorers and Voyages

Meet the sailors who crossed unknown oceans in wooden ships.

Key ideas

Explorers opened up the world

Voyages across the Atlantic and around Africa connected continents that had been unknown to each other. These journeys brought new foods, ideas and maps — but they also led to suffering for the peoples explorers met. Great events can have both bright and dark sides.

One event can change everything

Before 1666, London was a crowded city of wooden houses. After the Great Fire burned most of it down, the city was rebuilt in brick and stone with wider streets. A single event, lasting just four days, reshaped the capital for centuries.

Key term — Explorer: Someone who travels to places unknown to their own people. Explorers crossed oceans in small wooden ships.

Worked example: Explorers and Voyages

Why is it wrong to say explorers 'discovered' empty lands?

Because peoples already lived in those lands; the explorers were simply new arrivals to them.

Answer: Because peoples already lived in those lands; the explorers were simply new arrivals to them.

Common mistakes
  • Believing explorers found empty lands The lands explorers reached already had peoples living in them. 'Discovery' meant new to the explorers, not empty.
  • Thinking the fire was the end of London London was rebuilt quickly in brick and stone, and the new buildings, including St Paul's Cathedral, made it grander than before.

Practice

In which year did the Great Fire of London happen?
It is the famous year sixty-six.
Give one reason the fire spread so quickly.
What were houses made of?

Houses were made of wood and stood close together (any one valid reason).

What is a monarch?
Think of a king or queen.

A king or queen who rules a country.

In which year did humans first walk on the Moon?
It was in the 1960s.

Quick check

Explorers and Voyages — quick check

Which of these best defines "Explorer"?

Someone who travels to places unknown to their own people. Explorers crossed oceans in small wooden ships.

Why do people remember great events?

Because the events changed lives or showed what people can achieve, and remembering them helps people understand their history.
Key takeaways
  • Explorers and Voyages: meet the sailors who crossed unknown oceans in wooden ships.
  • Explorers opened up the world: Voyages across the Atlantic and around Africa connected continents that had been unknown to each other.
  • Monarch: A king or queen who rules a country.
  • Watch out for: believing explorers found empty lands
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