Topic: The world before the great geographical discoveries

Author of the script: Marcin Dyś

Target group

6th grade student of elementary school

Core curriculum

VIII. Great geographical discoveries. Student:

1) explains the reasons and assesses the impact of geographical discoveries on the socio‑economic and cultural life of Europe (...).

The general aim of education

The students will learn what people knew about the world before the great discoveries and why they had made them.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• describes what people thought about traveling in medieval times;

• explains what the knowledge about the world at the turn of medieval times and modernity was;

• characterizes the figure of Marco Polo;

• describes how and why people used to travel in old times;

• names the inventions and achievements of non‑European civilizations.

Methods / techniques

• exposing methods: talk, explanations and comments from the teacher;

• programmed methods: using e‑textbook; using multimedia;

• problematic methods: activating methods: discussion;

• practical methods: exercises concerned, working with text, working with illustration.

Forms of work

• collective activity;

• activity in pairs;

• individual activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard or traditional blackboard;

• tablets/computers;

• notebook and crayons/ felt‑tip pens.

Before classes

The students shall refresh their knowledge about the goods imported to Europe from the Far East and Africa and what knowledge about the world people had in ancient times and the Middle Ages.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher gives the students the subject, explains the students the lesson objective and the criteria for success.

2. The teacher asks the students where they have travelled to during the last year. Which countries, cities, or maybe even continents they have visited. The teacher can also ask the students about trips by their parents or closest family members. Next, the teacher asks the students why did they go on a journey outside the place they live in (town or village).

3. The teacher writes on the board the reasons why the students or their family members decided to go on a journey – it should include such answers as: summer holidays/rest, family visits, shopping, tourism/getting to know new places, work, etc.

Realization

1. The teacher talks about travelling in medieval times and problems associated with it. Next, the teacher explains that people travelled only when they had to, no one travelled to „rest by the sea” or „visit an interesting place”. They also travelled at a close range and to places they knew, and had the strangest ideas about distant lands. The students fulfil Task 1, describing unusual characters from the illustrations.

2. The teacher the students about ways of traveling and related dangers and discomforts. The teacher adds that that journeys were most often associated with many months of absence, hardships and numerous obstacles. The students do Exercise 1 and Exercise 2 by completing the text and marking sentences as true/false. When doing exercises and instructions, the teacher uses tents or a set of cards in three colours: green, yellow and red. Students use the cards to indicate to the teacher whether they are having difficulty in fulfilling the instructions (green – I’m doing great, yellow – I have some doubts, red – I need help).

3. Next, the teacher tells the students about how people imagined the world in the Middle Ages. There was a belief that the earth is flat, because people for example directly interpreted the Bible, which speaks of the „ends of the earth”. However, educated people and researchers of that time, even though they knew only the areas of Europe, Africa and Asia, knew that the Earth was round. The teacher tells the students that many of the achievements and discoveries of ancient times had been forgotten, such as the common knowledge of the shape of the earth or Eratosthenes' calculations of the circumference of the Earth. Students look at the map and do Exercise 3. The teacher makes sure that the task has been correctly completed and gives feedback.

4. The teacher presents to the students the figure of Italian merchant Marco Polo, the most famous medieval traveller. The teacher tells the story of an extraordinary 24‑year journey of this traveller, during which he visited China, India and many Asian lands. Students fulfil Exercise 4. If necessary, the teacher provides support and help.

5. As a curiosity, the teacher tells the students about Polish travellers, especially about Benedict of Poland and the extraordinary journey to the court of the Great Khan. The students look at the illustration depicting the traveller kneeling in front of the Great Khan Güyük (Task 2).

6. Referring to the journey of Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo, the teacher mentions the world known to medieval travellers, first of all, the civilizations of Asia and their inventions - paper, powder, silk, and oriental spices sought after in Europe.

Summary

1. At the end, the teacher asks the students about the differences between contemporary and medieval travellers. The teacher explains that the „thirst for knowledge” and the „search for adventure” are concepts that were then practically unknown, and that they had not emerged until the period of great geographical discoveries. Next, with the help of the students, the teacher discusses the reasons behind medieval travels, laying the foundations for the topic – why great geographical discoveries are taking place.

2. The students do Exercise 5 – ticking the true statements – and complete the sentences in Exercise 6. When doing the exercises, the students should be able to get help and receive feedback about their work during the lesson.

3. The teacher gives homework for volunteer students (it is not an obligatory part of the script): What products were imported to Europe from distant countries before the great discoveries? Why were they desirable and very expensive - what was the reason for this? How were they brought to Europe?

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

The world before the great geographical discoveries

In antiquity and the Middle Ages, Europeans knew only three continents: Europe, Africa and Asia. Navigation devices had not been invented yet, so sailors were afraid to go to high sea for fear of falling into the abyss. The dominant opinion was that the Earth was flat. Only a few merchants went to the Far East. One of them was the Italian Marco Polo (he lived in the 13th century). He visited and described India, China and Japan, where old and wonderful civilizations developed independently. In the 15th century, the first exploratory sea expeditions were organized by the rulers of Portugal. Thanks to the expeditions of travelers, the geographical horizon of Europeans begun to widen.