Watch Explorers of the World

Name: Explorers of the World
Released: April 9, 2001

2001
1 Season

Explorers of the World is a documentary series produced by Schlessinger Media that explores the life and expeditions of famous explorers from around the world throughout history. The series aims to provide viewers with a comprehensive guide to the greatest explorers who have made significant contributions to human understanding of the world.

The series is presented in an episodic format, with each episode focusing on a different explorer and their adventures. The explorers featured in the series include Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, and Captain James Cook. Each episode provides an in-depth look at the life and work of the explorer, detailing their early life, motivations for exploration, and key expeditions.

The content of the series is tailored towards younger audiences, with the aim of introducing them to the importance of exploration and discovery throughout history. Each episode is designed to be educational and engaging, featuring a mix of live-action footage, animations, and interviews with historians and experts. The series presents complex historical concepts and ideas in an accessible and engaging manner, allowing young viewers to learn and understand the significance of exploration and discovery throughout history.

One of the key features of the series is the use of maps and illustrations to help viewers understand the context of the journeys undertaken by the explorers. Maps are used to show the routes taken by the explorers, and illustrations are used to depict the landscapes and cultures encountered along the way. This helps to bring the stories to life and make them more relatable and engaging for young viewers.

The series also places a strong emphasis on the impact of exploration on society and culture. Each episode explores the effects of exploration on the world, from the introduction of new foods and resources, to the development of trade routes and cultural exchange. This helps to contextualize the exploration and provide a broader understanding of the impact that these explorers had on the world.

Another important feature of the series is its focus on the challenges faced by the explorers during their expeditions. The series explores the physical, logistical, and psychological challenges faced by the explorers as they ventured into unknown territories. This helps to highlight the bravery and resilience of these explorers, and the risks that they took in order to advance our knowledge of the world.

Overall, Explorers of the World is an engaging and informative series that provides young viewers with an accessible introduction to the world of exploration and discovery throughout history. With its use of maps, illustrations, and expert commentary, the series offers a comprehensive guide to some of the greatest explorers who have shaped our understanding of the world.

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Seasons

13. The Vikings

April 9, 2001

Sailing 500 years before Columbus, the Vikings are credited with being the first Europeans to reach the New World. Join our two young hosts as they speak with Leif Erikson as he recounts the history of the Age of Vikings. Discover why the Vikings decided to leave their European homes in search of fertile lands, timber and adventure. Learn how the technology of their ships enabled them to voyage to new lands. Hear the tale of Erik the Red and his quest to settle a new colony in Greenland. Then, listen as Erikson describes the Viking attempts to settle in Vinland, which many historians now believe to be in modern-day Newfoundland. Part of the multivolume Explorers of the World Video Series. Grades 5-8.

12. Spanish Explorers

April 9, 2001

Following Columbus's initial voyages of exploration, Spain established a pattern of conquest and settlement in the New World, fueled by a desire for wealth and colonies. In the name of Spain, many adventurers set out to explore and conquer the remainder of the unclaimed and uncharted Americas. Join our young hosts as they discover the world of the conquistadors who, in their exploration for a shorter path to the East, found personal wealth and an empire with boundless treasures for Spain. Hear the story of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, who traveled across North America from Florida to California. Learn of Francisco Vazquez de Coronado's exploration of the American Southwest, Juan Ponce de Leon's discovery of Florida, Vasco Nunez de Balboa's trek through the jungles of South America to claim the Pacific Ocean for Spain and Hernando de Soto's discovery of the Mississippi River. Students will enjoy these accounts of the Spanish conquistadors' expeditions contained in this exciting video dramatization. Part of the multivolume Explorers of the World Video Series. Grades 5-8.

11. Portuguese Explorers

April 9, 2001

Portugal, despite its small size, became a pioneer in the exploration of international sea routes through the vision of its leaders, the support of its merchants and the courage and perseverance of its explorers. Follow along with our two young hosts as they are given a chance to meet and speak with Prince Henry the Navigator, who, though he never left Portugal, inspired the first European exploration of the African coast. Discover how his leadership encouraged explorers like Gil Eanes to travel and map areas where no European had been before. Listen to Bartolomeu Dias describe his exploration around the southern tip of Africa, and hear Vasco da Gama speak about his voyages to India. Learn about the seafaring voyages of brave Portuguese explorers in this exciting video dramatization. Part of the multivolume Explorers of the World Video Series. Grades 5-8.

10. Marco Polo

April 9, 2001

Discover the story of Marco Polo, the most famous European to travel to Asia in the 13th century. His book, The Travels of Marco Polo, helped to inspire countless other European explorers, including Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama. Follow along with our two young hosts as they are given a chance to meet and speak with this famous explorer as he describes the fascinating tales of his adventures to the East. Polo details his relationship with Kublai Khan, the great Mongol ruler who allowed him to travel throughout China to collect information about the land and its people. Viewers will hear about how the account of Polo's travels was written -- exaggerations and all -- in a jail cell in Genoa, Italy. Students will enjoy hearing Marco Polo speak and answer questions about all this and more in this exciting video dramatization. Part of the multivolume Explorers of the World Video Series. Grades 5-8.

9. Lewis & Clark

April 9, 2001

In the early 1800s, President Thomas Jefferson chose Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the land beyond the western boundaries of the United States. Their goals: to search for the elusive Northwest Passage through North America, to open communications with Indian nations, to claim and clarify new borders and territories, and to return with maps and detailed observations of the natural resources that they sighted along the way. Join our two young hosts, who speak with Lewis & Clark as they tell the story of their journey to the Pacific Ocean and back. Hear about Sacagawea, the Shoshoni woman who played a large role in the expedition as an interpreter and guide. Part of the multivolume Explorers of the World Video Series. Grades 5-8.

8. History of Exploration

April 9, 2001

People have explored since the dawn of time, seeking wealth, power, colonies, information and the attainment of other goals. This program takes a closer look at the major reasons that inspired people to explore throughout the ages and the innovations that supported advancements in exploration. Discover the motivations of early explorers, whose bravery in exploration provided a foundation for the successes that would occur during the European Golden Age of Discovery. Learn about the development of some important tools of navigation, and see why these improvements enabled explorers to travel over land and sea more successfully. Part of the multivolume Explorers of the World Video Series. Grades 5-8.

7. Henry Hudson

April 9, 2001

Henry Hudson was an accomplished navigator and explorer. During his four voyages, Hudson never found the elusive shorter route from Europe to Asia that he was seeking, yet his contribution to charting previously unexplored territory was enormous. Join our two young hosts as they meet and speak with Henry Hudson, and listen as Hudson describes his expedition along the eastern coast of North America and his voyage into what is now known as Hudson Bay. In this exciting video dramatization, discover the truth about this English explorer whose discoveries influenced the colonization of the New World. Part of the multivolume Explorers of the World Video Series. Grades 5-8.

6. French Explorers

April 9, 2001

When France sent explorers to the New World, it was searching for wealth, colonies and a route to the East. Follow along with our two young hosts as they learn how the French established New France and claimed most of present-day Canada. Hear about Giovanni da Verrazano, the first European to sail into present-day New York Bay, and Jacques Cartier, who discovered the St. Lawrence River. Hear about Samuel de Champlain, who established the first permanent settlement in North America at Quebec; Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette, who traversed the Mississippi River Valley; and Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who claimed the land at the mouth of the Mississippi for France. Part of the multivolume Explorers of the World Video Series. Grades 5-8.

5. Ferdinand Magellan

April 9, 2001

Ferdinand Magellan sailed West in search of a passage to the trading lands of the East and became the first person to lead an expedition to circumnavigate the globe. Join our young hosts as they listen to Magellan describe his discovery of a new passage at the southern tip of South America and his experience in crossing Earth's largest ocean. Learn about his discovery of a new chain of islands, the Philippines, and how he proved that the Indies could be reached by sailing West. Find out why Magellan renounced his Portuguese citizenship and set sail as a Spanish subject. Discover the way in which his crews conspired to mutiny on several occasions, and learn how Magellan met his untimely death in battle in the Philippines. Plus, find out how we discovered the true story of Magellan's great voyage, even though most of his journals were destroyed. Part of the multivolume Explorers of the World Video Series. Grades 5-8.

4. English Explorers

April 9, 2001

During the Age of Exploration, England's advancement initially lagged behind the other European powers. However, it quickly became involved in the race to colonize and reap the benefits of the new world. Join our two young hosts as they are introduced to Sir Walter Raleigh, who tells the stories of the great English explorers. Learn about the voyages of John Cabot, credited with making the first European landfall in North America after the Vikings. Discover the story of Sir Francis Drake, the first European to travel in his own ship all the way around the world. Students will also enjoy listening as Raleigh describes his attempts to organize the first English settlement in North America. Part of the multivolume Explorers of the World Video Series. Grades 5-8.

3. Cortes & Pizarro

April 9, 2001

Within a period of 15 years, the Spanish conquistadors Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro gathered untold riches while conquering two native empires, the Aztec and the Inca. Follow our young hosts as they discover how Cortes was able to capture and destroy the great capital city of the Aztec. Then, hear from Pizarro as he describes his various expeditions in search of the vast wealth of the Inca. In addition, examine the sophisticated civilizations of the Aztec and Inca, and discover how European diseases decimated each empire's population and ultimately led to their destruction. Part of the multivolume Explorers of the World Video Series. Grades 5-8.

2. Christopher Columbus

April 9, 2001

Follow along as our two young hosts are given a chance to meet and question one of history's most famous explorers -- Christopher Columbus. Listen as Columbus describes why he believed that a shortcut to Asia could be found by sailing West, and how he was able to keep his crew from mutinying after his first voyage lasted much longer than he had expected. Learn about the goals, successes and failures of all four of Columbus's voyages to the New World, and find about his technique of using the prevailing winds to cross the Atlantic. Learn more about the Taino, the native people of the Caribbean, and their encounters with Columbus and his crew. Discover how Columbus's questionable tactics led to the downfall of this native group. Students will enjoy learning the truth of this often-romanticized explorer and hearing Columbus discuss and defend his actions in this exciting video dramatization. Part of the multivolume Explorers of the World Video Series. Grades 5-8.