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The Navigators: Race of the navigators

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Tall ship sails at sea
The Navigators: Race of the navigators

SUBJECTS:  History

YEARS:  3–4


Discover why two explorers during the early 1800s raced each other to the other side of the world.

This clip explains why explorers Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders raced across the world to investigate 'New Holland', now known as Australia.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Have you ever had to compete with a rival? Imagine racing a sailing ship across the world with no modern equipment for navigation (finding your way). Why would someone make such a difficult and dangerous journey? What dangers would they face? What were the rewards for explorers who took such journeys?
  2. 2.Listen for the different reasons that Flinders and Baudin set sail. What other differences do you notice between their voyages? Watch for the missing coastline on the old maps of Australia. Why do you think the maps look like this?
  3. 3.France and England were at war at this time. What if England had refused Baudin's 'passport of safe passage'? Do you think this would have stopped Baudin from sailing to New Holland? Talk with someone about why you think so. Imagine you could talk to Flinders and Baudin. What questions would you ask them to learn about the challenges they faced on their voyages?
  4. 4.Research another world explorer such as Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama or Christopher Columbus. Find out why they made their journeys. How do their journeys of exploration compare with Baudin's and Flinders's? Find out what tools and methods Baudin and Flinders used for navigation (finding their way). Make a picture to show what you learn. Explain it to someone else.

Date of broadcast: 23 Feb 2010


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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