Ocean Winds & Currents Geography Lesson: The Explorers' Highways, Grades 5-8

Why did sailing ships go out one way and come home another? Before any explorer set out, the ocean had already laid down roads. This lesson starts with the map. Students find the start (Lisbon) and the goal (the Caribbean) by continent and hemisphere, then follow the winds and currents leg by leg and learn ten features: the trade winds, the westerlies, the doldrums, the Equator, the Canary Current, the Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Gyre, the Canary Islands, the Azores and Lisbon.

What's inside

• 15 slides, with speaker notes on all 15
• Lesson plan, 2 pages
• Student worksheet, 2 pages
• Answer key, 1 page

Answer key included

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