Grades 4 and 5: European Exploration and "Settlement" in British Columbia, 1787-1867

Student Handout - Exploring Together

There is still a lot to know about the world! After you have carefully read the handout How Do We Know Where We Are, you will be asked to go on a mission of exploration with a partner or in a group.

• In books or on-line, find old maps of the world and, if possible, of Canada and British Columbia. Copy two or three of these maps to compare old and new styles of map-making. Answer these questions:

Do old maps and new maps show the same places?
Do they have the same names for the same location?
How else do the old and new maps compare?

• In books or on-line, find out about the life of one of the explorers mentioned in the handout. Present a short history of that person's life along with some pictures, if possible.

• In books, magazines, or on-line find out how some of the early European explorers of British Columbia are remembered in the province today. Hint: Look for names of schools, of streets in major cities, rivers, islands, and so on.

• In books or on-line, find out about the tools used by map-makers and surveyors in the past and those used by these map-makers and surveyors today. Collect pictures of these tools and label the pictures with their names. Find out how these tools work.