Day: January 23, 2014

Dispatched on faraway quests to secure riches and territory for their countries of origin, and fueled by curiosity and courage, the discoveries of early world explorers in the western hemisphere are a standard piece of the fourth grade social studies curriculum at Mount Madonna School (MMS). Recently fourth grade students shared their Explorers Project research in presentations to their classmates, and it was evident that the students had been fully engaged in learning about the explorers’ lives and exploits.

 

‘We learned about Danish explorer Vitus Bering,’ explained fourth graders Amirah Ibragimchayeva and Addy Catterall-Pendleton. ‘Bering went to sea as a teenager and later joined the Russian navy. He led several dangerous expeditions.’ The Bering Strait, the Bering Sea, Bering Island, Bering Glacier and the Bering Land Bridge have since all been posthumously named in his honor.