4th Grade History

Study Guide – Chapters 1 & 2

Geography

Continents

1.  Asia                                                                    

the largest continent                                         

where Columbus tried to reach

2. Australia                                                                                

the smallest continent                                       

only has one country

3.  Antarctica                                       

the only continent with no permanent residents   

4.  Africa                                                                          

the second largest continent

5.  Europe

responsible for the settling of the New World   

6.  North America                                           

in the western hemisphere                                 

7.  South America

in the western hemisphere

Oceans

  1. Pacific – largest
  2. Atlantic – most traveled
  3. Indian – warmest
  4. Arctic – coldest

Peninsula – body of water surrounded by water on three sides

Places

England

  1. sent Francis Drake and other "sea dogs’ to raid Spanish boats
  2. sent settlers to the New World with ideas about freedom from the Bible

Spain

  1. sent explorers to find gold in the "Seven Cities of Cibola"
  2. was the first to begin settlement in the New World
  3. financed the journey of Columbus
  4. St Augustine, Florida, was the first Spanish settlement in the New World

 France

  1. made friends with the Indians and traded with them for furs
  2. Quebec, Canada, was the first important French settlement in the New World
  3. New France was the name the French called what is now known as Canada

People

Vikings – people from Scandinavia who visited the New World about the year 1000

Marco Polo – Italian merchant who visited China and described its riches to Europeans

Christopher Columbus

  1. the man who discovered the New World in 1492
  2. hoped to reach Asia by sailing west
  3. sailed with the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria

Balboa – explorer who first saw the Pacific Ocean

Ponce de Leon – explorer who found Florida while searching for the "fountain of youth"

De Soto – explorer who discovered the Mississippi

Champlain – French explorer who founded Quebec

Cortes – explorer who conquered the Aztec Indians in Mexico

John Cabot – explorer who claimed the New World for England

Vasco da Gama – sailed around the tip of Africa to reach India for his country Portugal

Cartier – French explorer who gave France a claim to part of the New World

Leif Ericson – Viking who was the first Europeon to visit North America

Map work – be able to label a blank map with the continents and oceans