Social Studies

Heritage & Citizenship

You will investigate the motivating factors for early European exploration and the prevailing attitudes of the explorers. You will also examine the positive and negative effects of interactions between European and First Nation peoples, from first Viking contact to the time of permanent European settlement in the early seventeenth century.


At the end of this unit, you will be able to:

  • identify the Viking, French, and English explorers who first came to and explored Canada, and explain the reasons for their journeys.
  • describe the expansion of European influence through the founding of the first trading posts and explain how the fur trade served the interests of both the Europeans and First Nations Peoples.
  • identify the results of contact for both the Europeans and the First Nation peoples


The Voyageurs: 

Early Explorer Journal

Early explorers who traveled from Europe to North America were not entirely sure of where they were going or what they would find. In their quest to find a Northwest Passage to Asia they reached North America. During their travels they faced many fears and obstacles as well as encountered many new sights that were both exciting and sometimes scary.

Task: Imagine that you are an early explorer setting out on a journey across the ocean, seeking out and seeing the “New World” for the first time. Write a journal from the perspective of an early explorer. You must write a minimum of 3 journal entries. In the first entry you will describe how you might feel, what you might be thinking and how you will prepare to go on your journey to the New World. In the second entry you will describe your journey to The New World; what you might be feeling, your fears, anxieties, loneliness, what you might be seeing and doing while on board your ship.  In your third entry you will describe your arrival in The New World. What will you see there, people you might encounter and things you will have to do. Remember to keep all entries in first person, you are writing about your experiences, thoughts, and feelings during this experience. 


Explorer Journal Outline & Rubric

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)