History & Geography Grade 4 Unit 1b - The Age of Exploration Part 1

For hundreds and even thousands of years people have liked spices.

In the past, spices were especially important as people did not have refrigerators. Food, especially meat, would spoil very quickly.

Salt helped to prevent meat from spoiling.

Spices made plain, bad-tasting, or part spoiled food taste better.

Spices were not very valuable.

Before the Age of Exploration spices in Europe were

Spices usually grow in

Most spices came from the warm islands and coasts of the Far East (southeastern Asia)

Hundreds of years ago spices had to be brought to Europe

Most spices came from Europe

Most spices came from India, the middle of southern Asia, and the islands between Asia and Australia.

Europeans called the islands between Asia and Australia the "Spice Islands".

Spices had to be carried to Africa and west Asia in what from the Spice Islands?

After being transported to western Asia or Africa, the spices then had to be taken long distances overland to cities on the Mediterranean Sea. By what mode of transport were they taken?

The Mediterranean Sea is part of which ocean?

From the Mediterranean the spices are then again loaded onto what to be transported across the water to Europe?

Crossing the ocean was dangerous because of what?

Often, crossing land with the spices was even more difficult than crossing the sea.

When transporting goods across land by camel, each camel could only carry a small part of the huge amount of spices. This meant that many camels were needed and it was very expensive.

Thieves would sometimes attack the camel caravans and steal the spices.

Cities along the caravan routes charged for the caravans to pass in safety, which made the trip even more expensive.

By the time the spices reached Europe, the merchants had to sell them for very high prices to pay for the cost of bringing them there.

Did people still want to buy the spices even though the prices were high?

Peppercorns were so valuable that they were sometimes called what?

Many of the spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves were actually worth their weight in what?

Spice merchants often became rich men.

Sea captains and merchants realized that it would be more cost effective if they could find a way to reach the Spice Islands by water only. That way they could bring back bigger cargoes and not have to pay to transport them across the dessert. But in those days, no one knew a route to sail a ship from Europe to Southeast Asia, because no one knew what the earth looked like. They did not know that there was an ocean south of Africa. They did not know what was across the Atlantic Ocean west of Europe.

People were also very afraid of the ocean and what there might be out there.

Sailors told stories of huge sea monsters that swallowed ships.

Most educated people knew the earth was a sphere, but some still believed it was flat.

Some people were afraid of sailing too far from land and falling off the edge of the earth.

Ships were driven by wind in their sails. If the winds did not blow in the right direction, the ship might not be able to make it home.

It was very difficult to find a way to sail to Spice Islands in the far east of the earth.

Prince Henry the Navigator was born in the country of

Prince Henry the Navigator was born in the year

Prince Henry was the king's third son and never himself became king. Instead he became famous for

Who is generally accepted as the most famous explorer from the Age of Exploration?

In what country was Christopher Columbus born?

In what year was Christopher Columbus born?

What profession was Columbus' father?

Whilst in Portugal, Columbus had an idea. What was it?

It was a good idea of Columbus' to sail west around the world but unfortunately there was something in his way. What was it?

Columbus knew that the Americas were between Europe and the Spice Islands in the Far East

Columbus thought that the world was smaller than it really was.

Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to pay for Columbus' voyage.

At the time of Columbus, educated people in Europe were quite sure the world was round and not flat.

Columbus had three ships called the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.