Today’s Walking Classroom focuses on another famous Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama. Da Gama is best known for finding a sea route from Europe to India. The route that da Gama discovered was important because it opened up Indian Ocean trade and established Portugal as a powerful trade partner in the East Indies.
Character Value: Strengths and weaknesses
Click for Standards Alignment
Common Core
L–Language | SL–Speaking and Listening | RI–Reading: Informational | RL–Reading: Literature | W–Writing | RH–6-8 Literacy in History/Social Studies | RST–6-8 Literacy in Science & Technical Subjects Elementary School:RI.3.1, RI.3.2, RI.3.3, SL.3.1, SL.3.4
RI.4.1, RI.4.2, RI.4.3, SL.4.1, SL.4.4
RI.5.1, RI.5.2, RI.5.3, SL.5.1, SL.5.4
Middle School:
RI.6.1, RI.6.2, RI.6.3, SL.6.1, SL.6.4
RI.7.1, RI.7.2, RI.7.3, SL.7.1, SL.7.4
RI.8.1, RI.8.2, RI.8.3, SL.8.1, SL.8.4
RH.6-8.4
Supplemental Resource Links and Downloads
Quiz: (Make sure you're already logged into your Gmail account, then click to copy this Google form to your Google Drive. Quiz keys are here.)
Vasco da Gama Google Quiz
Slide Deck:
Vasco da Gama Slide Deck
Shares biography of Vasca da Gama, who was commissioned by the Portuguese king to find a maritime route to the East.
Recounts a five-month expedition drifting through the Arctic.
Watch an animation of da Gama’s voyage.
Take a short quiz about da Gama’s life and voyage from the Ducksters Education Site.
Read this biography of da Gama from Encyclopedia Britannica, and write a paragraph or short essay explaining his importance in history.
Search for terms relating to Vasco da Gama.
See More Podcasts in Subject Area: Social Studies
See More Themed Groupings that Contain this Podcast: Biographies, Explorers, Historical Figures