Choose a place you have never been. Now, take out a piece of paper, and draw it. That is what life was like for early explorers. They had no Atlases, mapQuest, or Google Earth to help them find their way. All they had to go on was what previous explorers had to say. Take a look at the maps below dated from approximately (A) 1467, and (B) 1689.

(A)

A world map from 1467 showing Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Source: Ptolemy World Map, Nicolaus Germanus, Wikimedia

(B)

A world map from 1689 showing Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and partial mapping of North America and Australia. Source: World Map 1689, Gerard van Schagen, Wikimedia

These are maps of the world at that time. Compare them to the modern world map, found here.

A current World map featuring continents and oceans. Source: World-map-2004-cia-factbook-large-2m, Central Intelligence Agency, Wikimedia

What are the differences you see? Write down your impressions in your notes.