Lesson 1: Technology and the Origins of Transoceanic Travel
Duration of Days: 3
Lesson Objective
Students will explain how technological and scientific innovations enabled transoceanic exploration and expansion after 1450.
What technological developments made transoceanic travel possible?
Why did maritime exploration accelerate in this period?
caravel, astrolabe, magnetic compass, lateen sail, cartography
APWH Unit 4 Topic 4.1
Skill 2.A
Reasoning Process: Causation
Analyzing cause-and-effect relationships in informational texts.
This lesson introduces the technological foundations of transoceanic expansion and sets the stage for European maritime empires.
Purpose: Establish causal understanding of exploration
DOK: 2
Modern navigation technology and global transportation systems.
Students may assume European exploration relied solely on innovation rather than adaptation of existing knowledge.
Visual analysis of navigation tools; guided cause-and-effect organizers.
Formative multiple-choice questions focused on causation.
AP World History textbook, navigation diagrams, maps