Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 8 to 9
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.62

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		germy, scurvy, navigator, astronomer, expedition, replenish, mutiny, prisoner, discovery, tiring, inland, route, waterway, continent, voyage, command
	content words:		Ferdinand Magellan, New World, Far East, King Charles, Spice Islands, San Antonio, On September, Antonio Pigafetta, Atlantic Ocean, South America

Print Ferdinand Magellan

Print Ferdinand Magellan (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)

Quickly Print - PDF format

	Quickly Print: PDF (2 columns per page)
	Quickly Print: PDF (full page)

Quickly Print - HTML format

Quickly Print: HTML

Proofreading Activity

Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on Ferdinand Magellan

Leave your feedback on Ferdinand Magellan (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Other Languages
Spanish: Fernando de Magallanes

Ferdinand Magellan
By Sharon Fabian

¹     In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan set sail on the adventure of a lifetime. When he started out, he knew it would be an adventure, but he didn't know that it would become one of the most famous adventures in history.

²     Magellan was well prepared for a sailing adventure. He had grown up in Portugal, a country famous for voyages of discovery to the New World. He had already made several voyages to India and the Far East, sailing all the way around the continent of Africa.

³     Then Magellan moved to Spain and asked the king to send him on an expedition. His friend, the astronomer Ruy de Falero, would help plan the expedition. King Charles I of Spain put Magellan in charge of a voyage to the Spice Islands. He would command 270 men in five ships. His ships were the Trinidad, the San Antonio, the Concepcion, the Victoria, and the Santiago. On September 8, 1519, Magellan and his crew set sail from Seville, Spain. Luckily for us one member of the crew, Antonio Pigafetta, kept a diary. That is how we know the whole story of how Magellan's expedition was the first ever to sail all the way around the world.

⁴     This is the route they took; across the Atlantic Ocean, around South America through the Strait of Magellan at its southern tip, across the Pacific Ocean, between Asia and Australia, around Africa at the Cape of Good Hope, and back to Spain, with stops at the Spice Islands along the way.

⁵     At each stop along the way, the crew would search for supplies. Food and water were always at the top of the list. Water would go bad on the ship, becoming bad tasting and germy, so fresh water was a must. They would also hunt and fish to replenish their food supply. While they were docked at an island, they might enjoy a feast of fresh seafood. The meat and fish helped to keep the men from starving, but did not prevent many of them from getting scurvy, a disease caused by their poor diet which never had enough fresh fruits and vegetables.

Paragraphs 6 to 11:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

Copyright © 2009 edHelper