Polynesians could travel long distances of up to 1,700 miles (2,700 km) using their huge canoes powered by oars and sails. They created maps of ocean swells and winds with twigs and memorized directions based on the positions of stars, ocean currents, and the flight patterns of birds. They spread to the Society Islands of French Polynesia, including Tahiti, around the year 1000. They were the first people to successfully make voyages of such great lengths across the open ocean.
Look at the image of a Polynesian canoe. Read the passage.
Skillful Navigators
The Polynesians built huge canoes, some more than 100 feet (30 meters) long. These canoes, powered by oars and sails, could travel long distances across the ocean.
To navigate more precisely, the Polynesians created maps of ocean swells and winds using twigs. They also memorized directions from one island to another, navigating by the positions of stars at night, the ocean currents, and even the flight patterns of birds.
Historians today believe that the Polynesians first spread from Samoa and Tonga to the previously unsettled Society Islands of French Polynesia, including Tahiti, around the year 1000. This migration would have required an ocean journey of 1,700 miles (2,700 km), a voyage that would have taken weeks. The Polynesians were the first people in the world to carry out voyages of this length.
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The Polynesians developed long-distance navigational skills. Describe how they were able to travel long distances and at least one effect of these skills by the Polynesians.
A complete answer will include the following information:
3-4 sentences in paragraph form
describe how far the Polynesians could travel
how was this distance possible
identify what they used for navigational tools
explain the effect of these long-distance voyages
You may use the sentence starters below to help you, or you may write your own original 3-4 sentences.
Polynesians could travel _____________________________ using __________. They created _________ and memorized _______________________________. They spread to __________________________. They were the first people to _____________________________.
(4 points)
make it look like a sixth grader wrote it
1 answer