Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Crossing Panama for Spain in 1513 and seeing the Pacific Ocean.

Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.

What children learn in Level 34

Vasco Núñez de Balboa was from Spain. He came to the Caribbean to farm, but he owed lots of money. To get away, he hid in a barrel on a ship sailing toward Panama!
Panama is an isthmus: a narrow strip of land that joins two bigger lands. American Indians there told Balboa about a great sea on the other side of the mountains.
In 1513, Balboa led Spanish soldiers and American Indian guides through thick jungle, swamps, and steep mountains. The trip took more than three weeks.
From the top of a mountain, Balboa saw a huge ocean: the Pacific! He was the first European to see it from the Americas. He called it the South Sea, waded in, and claimed it for Spain.
Balboa made friends with some nations and fought others. His discovery showed that another ocean lay on the far side of the Americas.

Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies:

SS3H2.b — Describe the accomplishments of: John Cabot (England), Vasco Núñez de Balboa (Spain), Hernando de Soto (Spain), Christopher Columbus (Spain), Henry Hudson (The Netherlands), and Jacques Cartier (France).