EUROPEANS EXPLORE THE EAST 1400 AD

MAIN IDEA: Advances in sailing technology enabled Europeans to explore other parts of the world.

WHY IT MATTERS NOW: European exploration was an important step toward the global interaction existing in the world today.

Old Views of the World map 1100

NEW VIEWS OF THE WORLD map 1500

Europe has been long seen as a center of great cultural and economic achievement.

The ancient Greeks and Romans produce major civilizations, famous for their contributions to philosophy, literature, fine art, and government.

The Renaissance, which began in the 14th century, was a period of great accomplishment for the European artists and architects.

INTRODUCTION:

Renaissance explorers were led by:

confidence, curiosity, ambition, and individualism

that characterized Renaissance artists.

This spirit, combined with

economic, religious, and technological factors,

launched the Age of Exploration.

The Age of Exploration,

which began in the 15th century, included voyages to new territories by European nations, particularly:

Spain, Portugal, France, and Britain, built large colonial empires, with vast holdings in Africa, the Americas, and

Asia.

It is a gray and windy morning in 1430. You are standing on a dock in the European country of Portugal staring out at the dark and mysterious Atlantic Ocean. You, like most people at the time, have no idea what lies beyond the horizon. Now you may find out. You have been asked to go on a voyage of exploration.

You’ve heard all the terrifying stories of sea monsters and shipwrecks. You’ve heard the warnings that the currents along parts of western Africa are “so terrible that no ship having once passed . . . will ever be able to return.”

You also have heard that riches await those who help explore and claim new lands. Now, as the captain calls for you to come aboard, you must decide.

The Caravel

Would you go?

The large hold of your ship could carry back

gold, jewels, and other valuable items found in distant lands.

Raging waves could destroy your ship and

leave you at the mercy.

Claiming new lands could bring glory and

prestige to your country.

1. What possible rewards might

come from exploring the seas for

new lands?

2. What are the risks involved in

embarking on a voyage into the

unknown?

Planning: Despite these difficulties, countries around the world are planning for future manned missions to Mars. In 2004, the U.S. identified a manned Mars mission as

a long-term goal. In 2007, NASA stated that it hopes to put a man on

Mars by 2037. Dutch nonprofit Mars One has named 100 people

who will remain in the running for a one-way trip to Mars, expected to leave Earth in 2024. Out of more than 200,000 people who applied, 24 will be trained for the mission and four will take the first trip, if all goes according to plan.

Distance: Like Earth, Mars revolves around the Sun. Every 26 months, Mars

at opposition to Earth and the distance between the two planets is between 34.6 and 63 million miles away.

Thirteen months after opposition, Mars reaches conjunction, which means Mars and Earth are on opposite sides of the Sun and as far away from each other as they can get. At conjunction, Mars is almost 250 million miles from Earth.

That is why rocket scientists time their missions to Mars to coincide with opposition windows every 26 months. The next opposition window will be in May 2016.

If you dream of one day being an astronaut on the first flight to Mars, be prepared for a long trip. Scientists estimate a roundtrip to Mars and back would take 400-450 days.

Would you be willing to spend over a year in a spacecraft just to get to Mars and back?

Difficulties:

Besides the long trip, a manned mission to Mars presents many other

difficulties.

Scientists worry about astronauts being exposed to cosmic rays and other radiation during the long trip. They also are concerned about the physical effects astronauts would experience from prolonged exposure to a low-gravity, low-light environment.

Maybe the factor hardest to predict, is the psychological effect astronauts might suffer as a result of isolation from Earth. No one is really sure what mental stress would be caused due to lack of contact with the friends and family the astronauts leave behind.

Other barriers to such a manned mission to Mars include fuel for such a long trip, as well as oxygen, water, and food for astronauts on such an extended mission. Unfortunately, Mars has a very thin atmosphere that would not normally support human life.

Mars

Earth and Mars compared

• Mars' diameter is half that of the Earth's • It has 10% the mass. • If you weigh 180 pounds on Earth, you would weigh only

68 pounds on Mars. • Mars is half again further from the Sun than the Earth. • Mars is exceedingly dry, cold, and so far as we know,

sterile. • It is believed that Mars lost most of its water to space a

long time ago, and any water that remains is frozen at the poles and locked deep in the ground as permafrost.

• It is an interesting coincidence that the total surface area of Mars is about the same as the surface area of dry land on the Earth.

Making Mars the New Earth

Questions to ask ourselves:

• What possible rewards might come from exploring the Universe?

• What are the risks involved in embarking on a voyage into the unknown?

• What role will you play in shaping the

next beginning?

FACTORS THAT ENCOURAGE EXPLORATION:

Desire to spread Christianity- GOD

Technological advancements in sailing and navigating- GLORY

desire for new sources of wealth –GOLD

TOOLS OF EXPLORATION:

THE CARAVEL-

THE COMPAS-

THE SEXTANT-ASTROLABE-

Portugal Leads the Way

Prince Henry

Son of the Portugal’s king Henry dreamed of overseas

explorations from 1415, when conquering the Muslim city of Ceuta he saw for the

first time the wealth that lay beyond Europe.

EXPLORORS

• Bartholomeu Dias-1488

• Vasco da Gama- 1498

• Christopher Columbus- 1492

https://www.bighistoryproject.com/thresholds/8# _ (5) Modern Revolution!

• Into the Modern Era

• Crisscrossing and Connected

• The Future