by Kristie Giles, Bridger Elementary
Students research explorers, participate in a explorer simulation and must persuade the rest of the class that their explorer(s) were really the first to discover the Americas.
Teacher Introduction
Simulations are always interesting to students. I have taught explorers for many years and just having them read information then regurgitate that information back to me was boring for me as well as the students. This Web Quest was born from two books I found in a book order. Easy Simulations: Explorers, by Tim Bailey has an exceptional simulation for explorers. I felt that it would be a great way for students to understand that exploration was not just discovering a new world. It was a hard life to live. It would also allow students to recognize the hardships of other explorers as they researched. The second book, Mysteries in History: American History, by Wendy Conklin, M.A. (TCR 3047), gave me the brilliant idea that students must convince someone that their explorer was the first to discover the Americas.