Students learn a short poem about Columbus’s 1492 voyage to build background knowledge and practice fluency. After practicing the poem, students perform it in small groups using gestures or simple props to show the three ships, the ocean, and the idea that many Europeans still believed the world was flat.

Optional Extension: Students illustrate one line of the poem and create a class poetry booklet about Columbus’s voyage.

During Columbus’s first voyage, his ships passed by an erupting volcano. Students create a simple model volcano to explore this dramatic moment in history.

How to Do It: Shape a volcano from salt dough and place a bottle cap at the top. Fill the cap with baking powder, then drip red-tinted vinegar onto it using a straw. The mixture foams and “erupts,” flowing down the sides of the volcano.

Materials:

• Salt dough
• Bottle cap
• Baking powder
• Vinegar
• Red food coloring
• Drinking straw

Optional Extension: Students research volcanoes in the Caribbean and locate them on a map.

Students build a basic telescope to understand how explorers observed land and sea during long voyages.

How to Do It: Use two paper towel tubes, sliding one slightly crushed end into the other and taping them together. Cover the outside with construction paper and decorate it. For a more realistic touch, tape a magnifying glass to the viewing end.

Materials:

• Two paper towel tubes
• Masking tape
• Construction paper
• Paint or markers
• Optional: magnifying glass

Optional Extension: Students test their telescope by observing objects at different distances and recording what they can and cannot see clearly.

Students explore the types of foods Columbus stored on his ships for the long voyage. They examine (and optionally taste) foods such as raisins, almonds, biscuits, chickpeas, lentils, beans, rice, honey, and cheese.

Optional Extension: Students sort the foods into categories such as fresh, dried, preserved, and long-lasting, then explain why each type was useful on a months-long voyage.