Math in the News

Christopher Columbus requesting funds for his

voyage from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain

Christopher Columbus is known for discovering America, but that wasn’t his original plan. He was looking for sugar, spices, and other riches east of Japan. He believed that he could reach those places by traveling west.

In this issue of Math in the News, we discover the routes Christopher Columbus traveled during his four famous voyages. We use map data to draw some conclusions.

Math in the News

Watch this video to learn more about Christopher Columbus and his dreams, triumphs, and disappointments. http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/history-kids/christopher-columbus-kids/

Math in the News

This is a map of Columbus‘ first voyage. It took him 40 days to reach San Salvador, an island in the Bahamas. If he traveled 150 miles a day, how many miles in total did he travel?

Math in the News

Columbus made three more voyages to the New World. Here is a map of all four voyages.Can you calculate the number of miles he traveled during voyages 2 through 4?

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The map on the right is Columbus’ third voyage. This trip took longer because Columbus was waylaid in the Doldrums, an area with little wind off the coast of Africa. What other ways was the third voyage different from the other three?

Math in the News

The bottom map shows Columbus’ final voyage, which he completed in 21 days. If this trip was about 3,500 miles, how many miles did he travel each day?

Columbus was considered a master of the seas. Can you see why?