Bring It Home
What were they looking for?
Goal:
Goal:
When explorers went on their travels, they were looking for things to bring home. They would buy or trade for these things. Click on each item below to learn more about the biggest items that were bought and traded for in foreign lands.
People love food! They have always loved to cook good tasting food, even long ago. Explorers looked for herbs and spices to make their food taste better. Exotic spices, like cinnamon from Asia, were very popular. These herbs and spices were shared and traded. That is how we have them in the Americas today.
People also love to drink tea. Tea is made from plant leaves. Tea leaves that grow in different parts of the world have different flavors. Explorers found their favorite tea leaves in the distant lands of India and China. These tea leaves were brought to the Americas. We enjoy tea in the Americas today.
Everyone loves dessert! Sweet food was a passion for explorers, too! Sugarcane is a plant grown in tropical climates like Florida. It was not something people back home had. Explorers from other countries discovered that the sap from sugarcane in the Americas would make their food sweet and delicious. They came here to trade with people in the Americas to have the sugarcane to make their food taste sweet.
Explorers found a beautiful, soft fabric called silk being made in China. Silk is made with the soft cocoons of silkworms. It was expensive to make. Silk became the favorite material for wealthy people’s clothing. Explorers would trade for this material to bring it back home. Silk was brought to the Americas when people moved here.
Explorers looked for treasure everywhere they went. Gold is a precious metal that comes from the ground. It can be found in different places all over the world. Gold is useful in many ways. People can make jewelry and tools with it. Explorers looked for it in the new lands that they visited. Gold can be found in the Americas.
Many of the early explorers were simply trying to find new locations where they could buy and trade items. These explorers searched for new trade routes, the quickest ways to and from faraway locations. Along the way, they often stumbled across new lands like the Americas.
Question:
What items did the explorers want to buy and trade?
They wanted spices, tea, sugar, silk, and gold.