February 23

OLD MAPS inspiring your students!

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EARLY MAPS

Early maps were like pictures of what people imagined the world might be.  The earliest known old map was made in 600 BC by the Babylonians  This carved clay tablet had a symbol for Babylon at the center of a circle.  The outer edges of the map suggest unknown lands.

Baylonianmaps

The Greeks were the first to make maps that described what the world actually was, rather than based on legend. 

In 150 AD, Ptolemy of Alexandria gathered all the information that was known from Greek and Roman travels.  He filled in over 8,000 place names on his maps.  His maps described a huge area for the time: from Britain in the north, to northern Africa to the south, and east to China and southeast Asia. 

THE EXPLORERS!

When explorers traveled, they often took a map maker to record the routes and describe areas of land.  Christopher Columbus traveled with his brother Bartolome Columbus who was a mapmaker.  Here is a map drawn c. 1490 in the workshop of Bartolomeo and Christopher Columbus.  This old map was very limited– the world they knew was limited to Europe and parts of Africa and Asia. 

1280px-ColombusMap

DECORATIONS!

Some old maps had illustrations of sea monsters.  Explorers in those days feared the unknown!  This image of a “sea pig” comes from the famous old map known as CARTA MARINA, made in the years 1527-1539.

Sea pig carta marina

1280px-Carta_Marina

CURIOSITIES

Some olds maps showed exaggerated or incorrect shapes for the lands they did not know well.  Mapmakers often guessed at what the contours of an area of land was.  For instance, the coastal area we now know as California was often drawn as a separate island.

1280px-California_island_Vinckeboons5

Longitude and latitude lines were not calculated accurately until 1735 when the chronometer was invented.  This valuable device looked like a clock, and helped navigators to know exactly where they were.  Sailors used this device along with the position of the stars and planets to set their location.

Students are inspired by old maps

Learning about the world of exploration plays a large part current day curriculum.  Let your students work hand-on with a map that looks like an old map, and helps them get familiar with all of routes of the explorers, from the Vikings, across the seas and continents, to the modern day polar explorers.


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