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Here's some examples of The Polar Bears' Explorer Reports for 1999. If you'd like your report up here, make sure you turn in your copy on disk or by e-mail. I'm very impressed with the quality reports I've seen so far. Good job, PB's! Introduction I am doing my report on Ponce de Leon. I want to learn about how he looked for the Fountain of Youth. About Ponce de Leon Don Juan Ponce de Leon, known as Ponce de Leon was a Spanish conqueror and explorer. I think he was a very brave conqueror and explorer. Some say he was born in 1460 and some say he was born in 1474. The place he was born in was Santava, Campos. Voyage with Christopher Columbus In the year of 1493, Ponce de Leon sailed with Christopher Columbus on Christopher Columbus' second Voyage to the new land, which was America. Ponce de Leon fell in love with America. Sailing to Puerto Rico Ponce de Leon sailed to Puerto Rico in 1506 with two hundred men and found out it had lots of gold. The natives in Puerto Rico were very friendly. The natives helped Ponce de Leon's men set up a port on the island. The natives also found gold for Ponce de Leon. In return, Ponce de Leon protected the natives from the Catibs that attacked the natives. Leaving and Returning to Puerto Rico Ponce de Leon left Puerto Rico and returned again in 1508 and brought along 50 men. On this voyage, his ship went through a horrible storm and went on the rocks two different times. The crew was forced to throw over most of their supplies to keep the ship above water. Becoming Governor Being replaced as Governor In 1511 King Ferndinand ordered Ponce de Leon to be replaced as a governor by Diego Columbus. Life for Ponce de Leon would have been hard if he had stayed in Puerto Rico, since most of his power over the island was taken over when he was replaced as governor. A lot of people say he was happy that he was replaced because he had more time to explore. Fountain of Youth Ponce de Leon thought that there was a fountain that made people young forever. At this time Ponce de Leon began his search for the Fountain of Youth. One reference says he was the first to look for the Fountain of Youth and the other reference says he was one of the first. Coming to " La Florida" People believe that Ponce de Leon searched for the Fountain of Youth, not only to be young, but to find gold and silver which was supposed to be at the fountain. It was during the search for the Fountain of Youth, that he had found a land that he named "La Florida" which means land of flowers. Going to Cuba to Look for the Fountain of Youth Since Ponce de Leon couldn't find the fountain, he turned back to Cuba. The reason why he turned back to Cuba was because someone told him that the Fountain of Youth was in Cuba, but he never found it. Finding the Yucatan Peninsula Around June 26, 1513, Ponce de Leon had spotted more land. It was the Yucatan Peninsula. Ponce de Leon gave the island of Beniny it's name and hoped it would have the magic waters to make him young. There was no fountain, but Ponce de Leon was given credit with finding the Empire of Mexico. He arrived October 10, 1513. Landing on Eleuthera Instead of sailing back to Puerto Rico, he decided to go back into the Gulf of Mexico. Here Ponce de Leon landed on the island of Eleuthera. Again, not finding the Fountain of Youth, he got discouraged and went back to Puerto Rico. Death A battle started and Ponce de Leon was shot in the stomach with a poison arrow. Ponce de Leon's men were able to take him to Cuba, but he did not recover and died from his injuries. After he died, he was buried in the same place he died, Puerto Principe, Cuba. Conclusion Ponce de Leon is famous because of his search for the Fountain of Youth, although he never found it. Since Ponce de Leon never found the Fountain of Youth, people still search for the fountain that might make people young forever. By AM Christopher Columbus (Top) Introduction My explorer report is on Christopher Columbus who thought you could travel to Asia from Europe by going west. This reports shows what really happened to Columbus when he traveled west and what he found. Christopher Columbus- Life Before His First Voyage Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. He was the son of Domenico Columbus, who was a wool weaver and Susanna Columbus, who was the daughter of a wool weaver. He had two brothers Bartholomew and Diego. Christopher Columbus did not want to be a wool weaver. He wanted to go to sea like other men in his town. For many years Christopher Columbus worked on ships sailing back and forth across the Mediterranean Sea. Sailors taught him how to sail and what to take on long trips. He loved the sea and the stories that the sailors told him. When Columbus was 25 years old, a ship he was on was attacked by pirates and the ship sank. He held on to a board until made it to shore. After that he went to work in Lisbon in a map store with his brother Bartholomew. We worked there for eight years and learned many new things. He learned how to speak different languages and read many books. Columbus started to think about sailing across the Western Ocean. No one had ever tried to sail across the Western Ocean. People called the Western Ocean "the Sea of Darkness." No one knew how big this sea was and were scared to cross it. Christopher Columbus was not scared. He decided to cross the sea when he was 33 years old. Columbus met a woman and then married her. Her name was Dona Felipa the mother of Diego Columbus. Dona Felipa's father was a sailor and explorer. Columbus liked to talk to him about sailing and his travels. Columbus Ask For Help With His Journey Columbus did not have money. So he decided to ask the King for help. He asked King John II of Portugal first. Columbus showed the King lots of letters from a famous geographer named Toscanelli who said you could reach Japan by sailing west. The King said he would not give him money and laughed at his proposal. Columbus went to Spain and met some Franciscan monks who listened to his plan to sail the ocean. They offered to help him and ask for money from people. One person said he would help, but when he asked if it was ok with the King and Queen of Spain they said no that they would help him. Columbus went to see King and Queen of Spain in May 1486. He told them about his plan. He told them he would bring back gold and spices and he would spread Christianity to the people who lived in the Indies. Columbus's First Journey To The New World In April of 1492, Columbus and the King and Queen of Spain had worked out all of the agreements. Columbus was ready to sail to the New World. He started to get men together so they could sail before winter came. He choose a man named Pinz'on who was considered to be the best sailor in that part of Spain. Columbus had his doubts about Pinz'on because he was rich and arrogant. Columbus wondered if Pinz'on would do what he was told. But Columbus knew that Pinz'on knew how to sail and he would be good to have along on the voyage. To get the men he needed, Columbus promised them houses with roofs of gold and fame and glory. Finally, he got 90 men to sail with him. Most of the men were Spaniards. Columbus's ships were very beautiful one of them had a long narrow point and black and red stripes it was called the Santa Maria. The Santa Maria was the largest ships .The Nina was the smallest and the Pinta was the fastest ship. Columbus took gifts to give the people he found in the Indies. He took things like bells, sissors, knives, coins, beads, needles, pins and mirrors. He also had three letters from the King and Queen of Spain to take to the Indies. On August 2, 1492, after all the ships were ready, Columbus got all of the men together and they went to church to pray for a safe trip and they vowed to do what they were told to do by Columbus. Now they were ready to sail. The ships left Palos, Spain and started their trip. On September 6, 1492 the winds and tides took the three ships to the Western Ocean. Many of the sailors were scared, but Columbus told them not to worry, they would cross the ocean in a short time. He did not know it would take 69 days to cross the ocean. They sailed about 140 miles a day using maps and compasses and a lot of guessing they continued to sail even when they were not sure they were going in the right direction. Columbus And His Crew Columbus was very hard on his crew, and they tried to throw him over board.
But Columbus was to smart to fall for their tricks .He was very careful from now on
because they could try to throw him over board again. One of Columbus Captains got thrown
over board by the crew. The New World When Columbus set foot on the new land he and two other men were caring flags and were going to claim it for the King and Queen and Spain. Behind the trees the men heard and saw movement. It was the people of San Salvador. They crept behind Columbus and the other two men and scared them. Columbus named them Indians since he thought he was in the Indies. The Indians were covered in paint and had gold rings in their noses. The only problem was that they didn't speak English. They did seem to understand that Columbus was the leader. The Indians just stared at the white men and thought they were Gods that dropped down from the sky. Columbus kept a journal of his journeys. In it he wrote about the Indians. He said they were nice looking and peaceful. He also wrote that they would make "good Christians and good servants." The Indians were kind and gave gifts to Columbus and his crew. Two days after Columbus arrived in San Salvador, he left looking for the island of gold. He thought that he was in the areas that Marco Polo wrote about. He also wanted to look for Japan. He still thought he was in the right direction to find Japan. He traveled and placed crosses on the islands and gave them names. Everywhere Columbus went he ask about gold. He was told about a place named Babeque. It was not real, just a place the Indians had made up, but Columbus thought it was real and looked for it. What Columbus did find was tobacco. This would someday make Spain a lot of money. For weeks Columbus sailed all of the islands trying to believe this was the same area that Marco Polo had found. In his heart he knew the area was different, but he wanted to believe it was the same. He sailed to Haiti and thought it was beautiful. Columbus thought the women looked Spanish. Columbus said that Haiti was a "large and splendid island". He named it Hispaniola, which meant little Spain. One calm night, Columbus left a sailor in charge of the Santa Maria. The sailor decided that nothing was going on so he left a twelve-year-old boy in charge of the ship. The ship hit some coral reef and sank. After the Santa Maria sank, the Indians tried to make the crew happy. They brought them gifts of gold. Columbus thought there must be a big gold mine. Having this gold made Columbus think that it was all in Gods plan for the Santa Maria to sink. He thought God wanted him to build a fort on the island. He choose 39 men to stay and to live in Hispaniola. Columbus named the fort La Navidad. La Navidad means Christmas in Spanish. The Trip Home January 4, 1493 Columbus started sail home and he brought back six Indians and parrots, fruit, and golden rings. The trip home was not easy but the two ships made it back to Spain. Pinz'no wrote a letter to the King and Queen asking to tell them about the voyage and asking to tell them about the trip in person. But the King and Queen told him no, they wanted Columbus to tell them. Pinz'no died shortly after he arrived home. Some say he died of a broken heart since Columbus got all the attention. When Columbus got back to Spain he was treated as a hero. He was given many feast and parades. The King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella waited for him in Barcelona. He wrote and told them about his trip and what he had found. He signed a new signature to his letters it was like this: .S. .S.A.A. X M X :Xpo FERENS./ No one knew what this meant or what the letters were. Some said it was a combination of Latin and Greek initials and maybe meant "I am Christopher, servant of the Most High Savior, Christ, Son of Mary-". But no one knows for sure since Columbus did not tell any one. The people of Spain cheered Columbus everywhere he went. They were very interested in Columbus's travels. They were most interested in the Indians he brought back to Spain. Some of the people even pinched the Indian to see if they were real. When Columbus did see the King and Queen they ask him questions for more than and hour. He gave the King and Queen the gifts he had brought back. The King and Queen treated Columbus as he was a member of the royal family. These were going to be the greatest days for Columbus. Columbus's Second Voyage On October 7, 1493 Columbus and seventeen ships along with twelve hundred men set sail. Everyone wanted to go with Columbus to find gold. Columbus was the only one who knows how to get to Navidad. He gave the Captains a map in case the ships became separated. Columbus was very happy because they made it without any bad weather and they were safe. When Columbus got to Navidad, no one came to meet them. They knew some kind of problem must have been going on. They did not see the 39 Spaniards they left behind. Guacanagari, who was the chief of Hispaniola told Columbus that there had been fighting among themselves. Many of the men did not believe Guacanagari and wanted to punish him. The Indians did not like the Spaniards any more. Columbus spent five months looking for gold on the islands. He became so sick that he had to go back to the new area he called Isabella. He was so surprised to see his brother Bartholomew. The King and Queen had given Bartholomew three ships filled with the food and supplies he needed. Bartholomew told Columbus that he should be harder on the Indians. So he decided to punish them. The Indians fought back but the Spaniards had better weapons and defeated. Hundreds of Indians were captured by Columbus. Columbus was upset that he had not found gold so he decided to sell the Indians as slaves. He sent five hundred of the Indians to Spain. One third of the Indians of Hispaniola died during this time. Columbus and the other Spaniards treated the Indians really bad. In March of 1496 Columbus started back to Spain. The sea was very hard and many of the sailors died. When he got there, no one cheered him. Columbus asked for more ships to return to the New World. The King and Queen said they would send more ships and three hundred men. On one wanted to sail with him. So the King and Queen gave pardons to criminals to get them to go with Columbus. Columbus Third Voyage Eight ships sailed back to the New World in 1498. His trip was hard and three ships were almost destroyed. This time Columbus went to a new continent, but he did not know it. In this new area, Columbus and his men saw the Indians wearing pearls. Columbus did not even notice the pearls he still wanted gold. Columbus started to have bad health again. He went back to Hispaniola and found that his other brother Deigo was there. They were having trouble ruling the island. Columbus and his brothers were not good leaders. They did not know how to treat people. Some of the Spaniards returned to Spain and told how they were being treated. The King and Queen sent an inspector to Hispaniola. They wanted him to find out what was going on. He found that many people were waiting to be hanged. The inspector took over the island and arrested Columbus's brothers. He was going to take Columbus and his brother's back to Spain. Chains were put on them. Columbus was so upset. He wanted the inspector to be punished. But the King and Queen did not punish him. Columbus's Last Voyage The King and Queen gave Columbus four old ships and a hundred and thirty five men. They told him he could not go the Hispaniola and that he was not to bring back any more slaves. He was only to find gold and Spices. On May 9, 1502 Columbus set out on his fourth voyage. This time he took along his youngest son Fernando. When Columbus got close to Hispaniola he felt that a bad storm was coming. He asked the Governor if he could come to Hispaniola. The Governor laughed at him calling Columbus a fortuneteller. But a bad hurricane did come. Five hundred people were killed. Columbus's four ships had not been badly damaged during the hurricane. Columbus's ships had gone to Panama. The men now saw animals they had not seen on the other islands. Columbus never gave up his hunt for gold. He found some in Panama. There was lots of trouble with the Indians. The sailors and the Indians fought all the time. Columbus and his men had to escape from the Indians. Columbus had to leave one of his ships. Then a big storm came and lasted two days. Columbus and the men were sick with malaria. When the storm went away they made it to Jamaica. In Jamaica Columbus had the men build forts. They had a hard time in Jamaica. The lived off of fish and hunting. But they were not happy and started stealing from the Indians. The Indians refused to help Columbus and his men for the stealing. Columbus tricked the Indians with an eclipse of the moon. He told them to give the sailors food or the moon would go away forever. When the eclipse started to happen, the Indians gave the sailors food. After about a year of living in Jamaica a ship came from Hispaniola to help them. Soon after Columbus went to Hispaniola he sailed for Spain. Most of the sailors did not want to go on another long voyage. Columbus's Last Days In September of 1504 Columbus made it back to Spain. He was now 53 years old and was still sick. Columbus wanted to see the King and Queen of Spain, but they said no. The queen was sick and dying and the King did not want Columbus to bother her. When Queen Isabella did die, Columbus was very sad. He thought of her as a good friend. Columbus was so sick he did not go to her funeral. Even in his dying days, Columbus thought he had found the islands that Marco Polo had found. He never knew Japan was ten thousand miles away from Spain. He still thought was twenty four hundred miles. In the end Columbus 's mind started to play tricks on him. He imagined he was fighting great wars. He even wrote the King asking for more money. Christopher Columbus died on May 20, 1506. Columbus's last words were "Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit". He was not given a hero's funeral. It was very small. Closing Christopher Columbus was a good explorer but he wasn't a very good man because he treated the Indians cruelly. I think it is a shame how he treated them. His voyages did help us understand the New World. But the way he treated people made other people think it was all right to be mean. He didn't do a lot of things but he did do some right things in his life. I would like to see Columbus Day be changed to New World Day or Indians Day. If Columbus was not so interested in gold, he might of realized that he had not found the land Marco Polo had written about. By KP
Introduction My explorer report is on Matthew Henson one of the great Arctic explorers. Matthew was only twelve years old when he walked from his home in Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland to get a job as a cabin boy on the merchant ship Katie Hines. Which to me was a very scary thing to do, I'm only allowed to walk to the park near my home. Walking to another state is out of the question! But, back to the story, at first Captain Childs really didn't want to take such a young person on board. But when Matthew told Captain Childs he was a orphan, he decided to let him stay and made Matthew his cabin boy. Childhood Matthew Henson was born on August 8, 1866, in Maryland. When Matthew was four his parents moved to Washington, D.C. to get better jobs. Then his parents died and Matthew and his brothers and sisters had to move in with an uncle. Captain Childs was kind to Matthew and taught him to become an good seaman. Captain Childs also instructed Matthew in math, which is one of my worst subjects, history, geography and the Bible, which I read also. They traveled to China, Japan, North Africa and the Black Sea. When Captain Childs died Matthew Henson gave up the sea and found a job as a clerk back in Washington, D.C.. Adulthood It was here in Washington, D.C. where Matthew met Robert Peary. Peary was an officer in the U.S. Navy Corps of Civil Engineers, and had already made a trip to Greenland. Peary had brought back some Arctic furs to sell and met Henson at the furrier. Henson and Peary became quick friends with a sense of adventure. Peary offered Henson a job as his personal assistant, and Henson happy to get to sea and travel jumped at the chance to see more of the world. Peary found that Henson skills as a mechanic, navigator and carpenter extremely useful. Explorations In 1891, Peary was interested in becoming the first man to reach the North Pole. He asked Matthew Henson to travel with him. This was the chance Matthew had been waiting for and he jumped at the chance to go. It caused some friction between Henson and his girlfriend Eva Flint. He married Eva and left her two months later to join Peary aboard the ship Kite headed for Greenland. The exploration party consisted of Henson, Peary, Dr. Frederick Cook, Mrs. Peary and four others. The ship struggled through the icy waters near Greenland to Wolstenholm Sound where the party set up a base camp. Henson built a two room house that served as the headquarters for the explorers. The house was finished at the same time as Henson's twenty-fifth birthday. So Mrs. Peary gave a big party to celebrate both events. Some of the men in the expedition hated Henson. They also disliked Peary because he respected and admired Henson who was black. They even hated the Eskimo people. But Henson quickly learned their language, Arctic survival skills and local culture. What he learned he shared with Peary which in the end helped them reach the North Pole. This first trip led Henson to spend the next eighteen years with Peary exploring the Arctic. By this time Henson's wife said "Forget you! I want a divorce". And she got one in 1897. Famous Expedition Finally on July 6, 1908, the USS Roosevelt left New York for last time to attempt to reach the North Pole. Henson was forty and Peary was fifty, success or not they were both too old to continue exploring the Arctic. It was now or never! On September 5, 1908 the USS Roosevelt reached Cape Sheridan. They spent the winter there because the nights were six months long and the spring days were six month long. Henson used his carpentry skills to build sleds. And he trained less experienced members of the group how to handle the sled dogs. At Cape Columbia they built several igloos for this would be the base camp. While traveling across the ice "leads" appeared in different areas on the ice. This is where sections of thin ice break away and nothing is left but freezing water and you could drown to death in minutes. Along the way Peary fell in the leads twice and Henson once, they were rescued by their friends Seegloo and Ootah. Henson and Peary were only 174 miles from the North Pole. The drove forward at a reckless pace. Henson used his ability to reach a destination through "dead reckoning" led the trail. After five days on April 6, 1909 they reached the North Pole at the top of the world. They did a sounding, by dropping a rope through a hole in the ice, the rope ran out at 9,000 feet. This surprised Henson and Peary as they hadn't thought the ocean would be so deep at the North Pole. They started their return to the base camp at Cape Columbia. They made it in record time, four hundred and thirteen miles in sixteen days. When they arrived Henson and Peary went to their igloos and collapsed in exhaustion. Conclusion Henson died on March 9, 1955, and was buried in a small plot in the Bronx. To me this was very interesting, to go off by yourself at such a young age and know what you want to do and make it happen. It's so exciting! I don't know if I would have the courage or be that daring. In 1987, President Reagan granted permission for Henson and his wife to be buried next to Robert Peary and his wife in Arlington National Cemetery. On Matthew Henson's tomb is written a quote from his biography: "The lure of the Arctic is tugging at my heart. To me the trail is calling. The old trail. The trail that is always new." By PM (Top) (Explorer Guide) (Reference) (Home) (Weekly News) (PB Kidz) |
