4th Grade Explorers Project

“Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer. He also sailed for Spain. His name is our country’s name: America,” said Ben Berisha.

Ben and his partner Johnathan Abrams are working on their Explorers Project. It is a highlight of the fourth-grade social studies curriculum, which focuses on the history of New York.  To kick off the year, fourth graders study Native Americans who lived in the New York area. Students then move on to European explorers who traveled to New York: Henry Hudson and Giovanni da Verrazaano. Then they get to pick any explorer from a list–ranging from the age of exploration to the space age–and do a research project. 

“I really enjoy teaching fourth grade social studies,” said teacher Danielle Recine,” because it focuses on New York. We can look out our classroom window and visualize the amazing history of our state. Students learn about events and people that have shaped the state they live in.”

“We study explorers because they made history, discovered lots of new land and got to see and teach others about the cultures they learned about,” said Abrams.

“And they are super interesting,” added Ben.

In addition to the fascinating stories of exploration–Did you know that Ferdinand Magellan was the first person to circumnavigate the globe? Did you know that Lewis and Clark didn’t just map out the land of the Louisiana Territory; they also inventoried the animals and plants in the territory?–learning about explorers gives fourth graders a basic understanding of geography and history and captures students’ imaginations regarding the people who shaped their world.

“We are researching Leif Erickson for our project,” said Hector Bravo. “He got to America way before Christopher Columbus. We have to do our research on one of the approved websites, like World Book Online; make a Powerpoint with slides, explaining what our explorer did and providing some interesting facts; and present our work to the class.”

“Mae Jemison was the first female African American astronaut. She was a doctor and scientist. In space she did experiments on weightlessness. We picked her because we think she was cool,” said Brooke Jusino.“She was an adventurer and explored new territory.”