Assign students individually or in groups to focus on an early exploration group. They have to pretend they are on that trip, whether it be the adventures of the Vikings or the journey of the Pilgrims over to the New World. They must write a journal chronicling a certain amount of time spent aboard the ship. Require them to create entries that are a mix of creativity and authenticity by referring to accounts and/or descriptions of actual passengers.
Explain to the students how compasses, charts, graphs and an understanding of the world were extremely important to these early explorers. Provide them with definitions of words such as longitude, latitude, cross staff, astrolabe and so forth. Distribute a handout with pictures that are representative of these various terms on it. Require the student to write the correct vocabulary word underneath the picture to which it corresponds. You could also do this activity as a large group on the Smart Board.
Assign art projects in order to differentiate your instructional methods. Tell students what task they must complete or allow them to pick from a number of different topics. The students could create a scale model of one of the ships that came across the ocean with Christopher Columbus, make a map showing the route of one or more of their favorite early explorers or produce some crafts characteristic of the early Native Americans.
Print out a script from a website such as Pro Teacher, which chronicles the tales of some early explorers such as Vaso de Gama, John Cabot, Ferdinand Magellan and so forth. For older students, allow them to create their own play. Require them to include at least one hardship the explorer faced in their journey, and how that hardship was overcome. Provide props and costumes to create an authentic experience for the students.