5th Graders Explore the Age of European Exploration
Students in Mrs. Rightmyer’s 5th grade class have been learning about European explorers from the late 15th and 16th centuries and showcasing their knowledge in a fun and creative way.
As part of the project, each student selected an explorer and designed a unique cereal box centered around their figure. Each box included a custom “action figure” of the explorer, along with carefully chosen artifact props, artwork, photographs, oral histories, and graphs. Students also researched and presented key details such as their explorer’s biography, hemisphere explored, countries visited, and a map tracing their trade routes. The project challenged students to combine research, creativity, and presentation skills.
In addition to learning about exploration, Mrs. Rightmyer’s lessons emphasized the importance of understanding history from multiple perspectives. Students explored the Indigenous perspective of this time period, recognizing that European colonization had a significant and often harmful impact on Native peoples and their land.
Alongside their explorer unit, students are also reading The Cherokee Sister by Debbie Dadey. The novel tells the story of a young Native girl named Leaf, whose family is forced from their home—along with her friend Allie—as they endure the hardships of the Trail of Tears. This connection helps students better understand the real-life consequences of westward expansion and displacement.
We had the opportunity to sit down with a few students to hear about their work and what they learned throughout the process.
Jolene: “My explorer [Hernán Cortés] was born in 1485, in a village called Medellín, and he died at 62. He went over to Mesoamerica, and first he went to Cuba. He discovered a whole bunch of Aztecs, but then he heard rumors that there was gold in Mexico, so he went there. There was gold, but there were also more Aztecs. He fought them, and they finally agreed, but then he abused his power and had to leave. When he came back, all of his men were killed. So he left and went back to Spain. He had a lot of glory and claimed land for Spain, but eventually, they took the land back.”
Jolene also reflected on what she learned about the broader impact of exploration: “The explorers came and they brought their diseases with them, and many Native Americans got sick and either died or barely survived. They were forced to move out of their lands and many starved.”
Lilyanne: “We had to pick pieces that represented our explorer. I chose for [Henry Hudson] to be reading a book, and there are medicines, a potato, and a sack to carry things in. There’s also a bow and arrow, a bell, and a compass. I chose the compass because that’s how they found their way when they didn’t have GPS.”
Sophia: “I liked working on this project—it was fun. It was tough, but once you got more into the project and found out more stuff about your explorer, it was fun.”
Great job to all of Mrs. Rightmyer’s students for bringing the Age of Exploration to life in such a creative way!
For pictures of all the students and their projects, see our District Facebook page.