Early Maritime Navigation

Background Information

In this background information for the teacher, you will find historical insights on early maritime navigation and the engineering challenges that existed for sailors from the 13^th century to the 18^th century. It focuses on: the magnetic compass’ evolution from a magic needle to a sophisticated instrument; Europe’s quest to exploit the connectivity of the world’s oceans and the role of the compass played especially as it relates to trade; the tools needed to visualize the spatial relationships between ports, such as portolan charts; the need to understand the earth as a sphere; and the accurate measurement of time and how that relates to position on the globe. In addition, the background information highlights the geography and the culture of the times.

Supporting Questions

• 1. Why has the sea been crucial to the fate of nations, empires, and civilizations?

  Formative Performance Tasks

  1. Look at the planet’s physical geography, build an argument that the sea was better at connecting cultures than the land.
  2. View Power of the Sea video and discuss the implications of using the sea for trade.

  Featured Sources

  • Power of the Sea
  • https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1WouvrIFG1Z_aTy_zDf1HcMrI1sQ&hl=en_US&&ll=1.065611330584903%2C47.724608500000045&z=2
  • Cantino Planisphere
  • https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/exploring-the-early-americas/interactives/waldseemuller-maps/worldmap1507/index.html
  • http://www.themappamundi.co.uk/mappa-mundi/
• 2. What is navigation and what special challenges does the sea pose to travelers?

  Formative Performance Tasks

  1. In pairs ask your partner to draw you a map from school to a specific location in your town.
  2. After reviewing the map, which landmarks were used to help you get to your destination?
  3. View Lost at Sea video and discuss how traveling the sea is different than traveling land.
  4. Based upon this information, how might Rhett get his friends home safely knowing that current technologies are not available to him?

  Featured Sources

  • “Lost At Sea”
  • https://archive.org/details/firstvoyageround00piga
  • http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=1436004
• 3. How does being posed with a challenge lead us to innovation and progress?

  Formative Performance Tasks

  1. Compass Lesson Plan (Includes, Compass video, Lost at Sea video, portolan charts and the evolution of both, and a hands-on compass activity). Discover how the magnetic compass evolved from a mystical object to a precise and reliable instrument for travelling across the world’s oceans.
  2. View Latitude video and discuss how and why navigational technologies changed and evolved to determine latitude and why these new technologies were important to seafarers.
  3. View the short GPS video. How do the challenges of the past inform the technologies of today?

  Featured Sources

  • The Compass
  • Latitude
  • GPS
  • http://www.chirurgeon.org/files/Chaucer.pdf
  • http://theinstitute.ieee.org/tech-history/technology-history/a-history-of-the-magnetic-compass
• 4. How did STEM confer advantages to a society’s ability to navigate the world’s oceans?

  Formative Performance Tasks

  1. Drawing connections to the last three questions, view the Longitude video and analyze the longitude challenge, how it was addressed by different societies, and what advantages were achieved. Students may also further investigate resources on the topic. Some sources are listed below.
  2. Teacher Choice: Classroom Activity – Teachers will choose from various sources to help students identify and realize the global consequences of regional responses to new navigational technologies

  Featured Sources

  • Longitude
  • https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/rgo14
  • https://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch2en/conc2en/ship_log_density_17501810.html