History · Unit 11
The Age of Exploration
Explorers, new routes and empires
European ships reached the Americas, rounded Africa and crossed the Pacific within a single lifetime, driven by a search for trade routes rather than by curiosity.
The unit covers the voyages, the empires that followed, and the Columbian Exchange - the transfer of crops, animals and diseases between hemispheres that reshaped diets everywhere and killed a large majority of the Americas' population.
This unit breaks down into 20 short steps and 120 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 3. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.
- Steps
- 20
- Questions
- 120
- Difficulty
- 1-3
What this unit covers
- The Explorers
- Trade Routes
- Empires and Impact
- Reaching the Americas
- The Columbian Exchange
Where this fits
Follows the Renaissance. It supplies the context for The Age of Revolutions and for much of The Modern World.
Where people slip
Disease did the vast majority of the killing, often before most Europeans arrived in a given region. Conquest followed collapse more frequently than it caused it.
How the unit is structured
The Age of Exploration runs as 20 short steps that unlock in order. 15 are practice rounds and 5 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 3 as you progress.
Challenge rounds
Example questions
30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 120 in the unit altogether.
Empires and Impact
- Build the sentenceLevel 1
1. Put the words in order to make a true sentence.
Answer: Portugal built a colony in Brazil
Portugal built a colony in Brazil.
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
2. Which two European countries built the first large overseas empires during the Age of Exploration?
- Spain and Portugalcorrect
- China and Japan
- Egypt and Greece
- Russia and Sweden
Spain and Portugal led early exploration and built large overseas empires.
- Guess the numberLevel 2
3. In what year did Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided newly explored lands between them?
Answer: 1494 CE
The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed in 1494 to divide new lands between Spain and Portugal.
- Match the pairsLevel 2
4. Match each explorer to the land they claimed or reached for their country.
Answer: Hernan Cortes = Mexico (Aztec lands); Francisco Pizarro = Peru (Inca lands); Pedro Cabral = Brazil; Vasco da Gama = India
Cortes reached Mexico, Pizarro reached Peru, Cabral claimed Brazil, and da Gama reached India.
- Choose all that applyLevel 3
5. Which of these were bases or possessions held by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the 1600s? (Choose all that apply.)
- Batavia (on Java)correct
- The Cape of Good Hope stationcorrect
- Ceylon (Sri Lanka)correct
- Goa
- Macau
The VOC ran Batavia on Java, founded the Cape of Good Hope supply station, and took Ceylon, while Goa and Macau remained Portuguese.
- Fill the blankLevel 3
6. Under the Spanish ____ system, colonists were granted the labor of Indigenous people in return for supposedly protecting and converting them.
- encomiendacorrect
- caravel
- viceroy
- armada
The encomienda system gave colonists control over Indigenous labor and tribute, and in practice it often amounted to forced labor.
Reaching the Americas
- Build the sentenceLevel 1
7. Put the words in order to make a true sentence.
Answer: Columbus reached the Americas
Columbus reached the Americas in 1492.
- Fill the blankLevel 1
8. Europeans called the two American continents the 'New ____', a place unknown to them before.
- Worldcorrect
- Castle
- Ocean
- Island
The Americas became known as the 'New World' because they were new to Europeans.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
9. Which statements about the 'New World' are true? (Choose all that apply.)
- The Americas were new to Europeanscorrect
- Indigenous peoples already lived therecorrect
- The Americas had no people at all
- Columbus was the first human ever to arrive
The Americas were new to Europeans, but Indigenous peoples had lived there for thousands of years.
- Fact or fibLevel 2
10. Columbus believed he had reached the Indies in Asia, not lands unknown to Europeans.
Answer: True
Columbus thought he had reached the Indies, which is why he called the local people 'Indians'.
- Guess the numberLevel 2
11. In what year did Christopher Columbus, sailing for Spain, first reach islands in the Caribbean?
Answer: 1492 CE
Columbus reached the Caribbean in 1492, mistakenly believing he had found a western sea route to Asia.
- Match the pairsLevel 3
12. Match each Spanish explorer to the region he is known for reaching.
Answer: Vasco Nunez de Balboa = Pacific Ocean; Juan Ponce de Leon = Florida; Hernando de Soto = Mississippi River; Francisco Coronado = North American Southwest
Balboa crossed to the Pacific, Ponce de Leon explored Florida, de Soto reached the Mississippi River, and Coronado pushed into the North American Southwest.
The Columbian Exchange
- Fill the blankLevel 1
13. ____ , which is used to make chocolate, came to Europe from the Americas.
- Cacaocorrect
- Rice
- Coffee
- Tea
Cacao, the source of chocolate, is native to the Americas.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
14. Which of these foods first came from the Americas? (Choose all that apply.)
- Tomatocorrect
- Pineapplecorrect
- Wheat
- Onion
Tomatoes and pineapples are native to the Americas, while wheat and onions came from the Old World.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
15. What was the Columbian Exchange?
- The movement of plants, animals, and diseases between the Americas and the rest of the world
- A famous sea battle between Spain and Portugal
- A type of coin used by explorers
- A trade in silk between China and Rome
The Columbian Exchange was the movement of plants, animals, and diseases between the Americas and the rest of the world.
- Picture questionLevel 2
16. 🌽 This American crop spread worldwide after 1492 and became a staple food in parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia. What is it?
- Maize (corn)correct
- Wheat
- Rice
- Barley
Maize, or corn, originated in the Americas and became a vital food crop across the Old World after the Columbian Exchange.
- Build the sentenceLevel 3
17. Put the words in order to make a true sentence about the effect of American treasure.
Answer: Spanish silver raised prices across Europe
The flood of silver from the Americas contributed to a long rise in prices in Europe, sometimes called the Price Revolution.
- Odd one outLevel 3
18. Three of these crops originated in the Americas. Which is the odd one out?
- Bananascorrect
- Sunflowers
- Pineapples
- Peanuts
Sunflowers, pineapples, and peanuts are native to the Americas, while bananas originated in the Old World, in Southeast Asia.
The Explorers
- Guess the numberLevel 1
19. In what year did Christopher Columbus first sail across the Atlantic and reach the Americas?
Answer: 1492 CE
Columbus reached islands in the Americas in 1492.
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
20. In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean. Which country paid for his voyage?
- Spaincorrect
- Portugal
- England
- France
Columbus sailed for Spain, whose rulers Isabella and Ferdinand funded his 1492 voyage.
- Match the pairsLevel 2
21. Match each explorer to what they are known for.
Answer: Christopher Columbus = Crossed the Atlantic in 1492; Vasco da Gama = Reached India by sea; Ferdinand Magellan = Expedition first sailed around the world; Bartolomeu Dias = First rounded the tip of Africa
Each of these explorers led a famous ocean voyage during the Age of Exploration.
- Choose all that applyLevel 3
22. Which of these were Portuguese achievements during the Age of Exploration? (Choose all that apply.)
- Rounding the Cape of Good Hopecorrect
- Reaching India by seacorrect
- Claiming Brazilcorrect
- Conquering the Aztec Empire
Portugal rounded Africa, reached India by sea, and claimed Brazil, while the conquest of the Aztec Empire was a Spanish achievement.
- Fact or fibLevel 3
23. In the early Age of Exploration, sailors could measure their latitude fairly well but had no reliable way to find their longitude at sea.
Answer: True
Latitude could be read from the Sun or stars, but reliable longitude had to wait for the accurate clocks of the 1700s.
- Fill the blankLevel 3
24. The triangular ____ sail, adopted from Arab sailors, allowed ships to tack against the wind rather than depending on a following wind.
- lateencorrect
- square
- spinnaker
- gaff
The triangular lateen sail let ships sail into the wind, a key advance that made long voyages of exploration practical.
Trade Routes
- Fact or fibLevel 1
25. Portuguese sailors found a route to Asia by sailing south around the continent of Africa.
Answer: True
By sailing around the southern tip of Africa, the Portuguese opened a sea route to Asia.
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
26. Valuable goods such as pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg were the main prize of which trade?
- The spice tradecorrect
- The wool trade
- The salt trade
- The paper trade
The spice trade drove much of the exploration, as spices were rare and valuable in Europe.
- Build the sentenceLevel 2
27. Build the phrase often used to sum up three common motives of explorers.
Answer: God gold and glory
The phrase 'God, gold, and glory' captures three motives: spreading Christianity, gaining wealth, and winning fame for one's nation.
- Guess the numberLevel 2
28. In what year did Vasco da Gama's ships first reach India by sailing around Africa?
Answer: 1498 CE
Vasco da Gama reached India by sea in 1498, opening a new trade route.
- Match the pairsLevel 2
29. Match each sailing tool or ship to what it did.
Answer: Compass = Shows which direction is north; Astrolabe = Measures the height of the stars; Caravel = A small, fast sailing ship; Map = Shows coasts and routes
Explorers used the compass, astrolabe, caravel, and maps to travel across the oceans.
- Fill the blankLevel 3
30. Around 1557 the Portuguese established a lasting trading base at ____ on the south coast of China.
- Macaucorrect
- Hong Kong
- Canton
- Nagasaki
Macau became a long-lived Portuguese trading foothold for commerce with China and Japan.
Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.
How you practise
This unit mixes 17 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.
- Build the sentence
- Choose all that apply
- Fact or fib
- Fill the blank
- Guess the number
- Listen and choose
- Match the pairs
- Multiple choice
- Odd one out
- Picture question
- Put in order
- Sequence recall
- Sort into groups
- Spell it
- Tap the pairs
- True or false
- Type the answer
Practise The Age of Exploration
120 questions across 20 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.
Play this unitRead about The Age of Exploration
Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.
- What Was the Mongol Empire? Conquest, Trade, and a Vast Eurasian RealmLearn how Genghis Khan and his successors built a vast Eurasian empire that reshaped warfare, trade, travel, and politics.August 17, 2026 · 6 min read
- What Was the Age of Exploration? How Europe Mapped the World and Changed ItBetween 1400 and 1600 European ships found sea routes to Asia and stumbled on two continents. What made the voyages possible and the exchange that followed.September 14, 2026 · 4 min read
- What Was the Plague of Justinian? The First PandemicIn 541 AD bubonic plague reached Constantinople and killed perhaps a fifth of the eastern Roman Empire within two years. Where it came from, and what it did.September 15, 2026 · 5 min read
- What Was the Ottoman Empire? A Clear History GuideLearn how a small frontier state became a major empire spanning southeastern Europe, western Asia, and North Africa.August 17, 2026 · 6 min read
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