New
New
Year 1

Viking navigation and expansion

I can explain how the Vikings navigated over long distances to far away places.

New
New
Year 1

Viking navigation and expansion

I can explain how the Vikings navigated over long distances to far away places.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The Vikings used the sun, moon and stars to navigate, and also followed the path of birds and other animals.
  2. Some archaeologists have found wooden 'sun-shadow' boards that might have been used by the Vikings to navigate.
  3. The Vikings used these techniques to travel long distances.
  4. The Vikings sailed far down the rivers of Europe to trading ports and met with traders from the Middle East and Asia.
  5. They even travelled as far as Iceland, Greenland and North America.

Keywords

  • Archaeologist - an archaeologist digs up and studies objects from the past

  • Evidence - evidence is something that proves an idea or fact to be true

  • Stars - the stars are balls of gas in space that give off light and heat

  • Port - a port is a place where boats load and unload, and trade happens

Common misconception

Pupils may think that archaeologists only dig up bones, like dinosaurs or extinct creatures.

Archaeologists work with all sorts of objects from the past, many of the items in museums have been dug up by an archaeologist.

Having a globe in the classroom can be a great way to show the locations of the places pupils will encounter in the lesson. Use a globe to visually show the great distances that the Vikings navigated around the world.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which people sailed in longboats?
Polynesians
Ancient Greeks
Correct answer: Vikings
Q2.
Who were the Vikings?
Correct answer: seafarers from Europe
soldiers from Europe
fighters from Europe
Q3.
Which word means travelling along a route?
exploring
Correct answer: navigating
journeying
Q4.
What did Vikings use to move their longboats?
shields
Correct answer: oars
scary carvings
Q5.
What was special about the bottom of a longboat?
It was wooden.
It was curved.
Correct answer: It was flat.
Q6.
What did Vikings do with their shields before a raid?
clean them
Correct answer: hang them over the side of the longboat
hold them up above their heads

6 Questions

Q1.
Which people dig up objects from the past?
historians
Correct answer: archaeologists
students
Q2.
Archaeologists think the Vikings used to help them navigate.
computers
Correct answer: sun-shadow boards
maps
Q3.
Vikings had no maps. How did they navigate their longboats?
They asked for directions.
Correct answer: They used clues from nature.
They let the wind take them.
Q4.
Vikings went on journeys to reach ports. Why did they do this?
so they could live there
so they could farm there
Correct answer: so they could trade there
Q5.
How did Vikings navigate at night time?
Correct answer: They used the positions of the stars.
They didn't travel at nighttime.
They went slower in case they crashed.
Q6.
The Vikings travelled to lots of different ports in the east and west.
Correct answer: true
false

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