Hands on History! In this lesson your students will learn how early explorers were able to sail to America by building an Astrolabe. This lesson has been classroom tested for 30 years. The lesson is in both color and b/w because I know how hard it can be to find a color printer

Included

Lab instructions

Complete list of early explorers with dates

Brief history of the astrolabe

Material list

Complete Answer key

The lesson is colored coded-blue for teachers and the answer key is red to make it easier for you.

Students will love learning how to make an instrument that can be used to determine the distance of an object above the horizon. The procedure calls for the students to copy, cut out, and assemble the paper model. Terrific lab to teach how to use the Sun to find your latitude. I have used this lesson with history and with science teachers with great success. Questions with answer keys are included to check for student understanding.