Europe

Ages 4–6 · 14 minutes · Geography

Learn about some famous inventions that were created by Europeans

In this lesson, students will take a trip through Europe and learn about some of the things that were invented by Europeans, such as the ice cream cone, eyeglasses and the space suit. They will also learn about the directions on a compass.

Part of

The 7 Continents

Standards alignment

Common Core State Standards

D2.Geo.2.K-2 — Individually and with others, students… Use maps, graphs, photographs, and other representations to describe places and the relationships and interactions that shape them.
D2.His.2.K-2 — Individually and with others, students… Compare life in the past to life today.
D2.Geo.6.K-2 — Individually and with others, students… Identify some cultural and environmental characteristics of specific places.
D2.Geo.3.K-2 — Individually and with others, students… Use maps, globes, and other simple geographic models to identify cultural and environmental characteristics of places.

Alabama

SS10.1.8 — Identify land masses, bodies of water, and other physical features on maps and globes.
SS10.1.8.1 — Explaining the use of cardinal directions and the compass rose
SS10.1.6.3 — Identifying past and present types of technology
SS10.2.6 — Identify states, continents, oceans, and the equator using maps, globes, and technology.
SS10.K.9 — Differentiate between land forms and bodies of water on maps and globes.

Alaska

1 — use maps and globes to locate places and regions;
Maps show where things are located. One can map the shapes and kinds of land and water in any area.
1 — know that places have distinctive geographic characteristics;

Arizona

1.G1.1 — Use, explore and construct maps, graphs and other geographical representations to support content focus. • Key concepts include but are not limited to physical features (rivers, lakes, mountains, landforms, desert) and human features (dams, cities, parks, hospitals, schools, railroad tracks, farms, factories, houses)
1.H1.1 — Explain how ideas and innovation can contribute to a community by utilizing primary sources (artifacts, photographs, newspapers, speakers) and secondary sources (biographies, stories, articles). • Key examples include but are not limited to farming by irrigation, architecture, writing and inventions as they support content focus
1.G3.2 — Compare places past and present as it relates to content focus.
2.G1.1 — Use and construct maps, graphs, and other geographic representations of familiar and unfamiliar places in the world; and locate physical and human features. • Key physical features include but are not limited to seven continents, oceans, lakes, rivers, mountain ranges, coasts, seas, and deserts • Key human features include but are not limited to equator, hemispheres, North and South Pole, cities, states, countries, regions, and landmarks

Arkansas

G.1.1.1 — Show relationships between familiar places using map keys, legends, compass rose, and directional words
G.1.1.9 — Discuss how the products that are consumed connect the local community to other parts of the country and rest of the world such as clothes, toys, and food.
G.1.K.9 — Discuss products and traditions that connect people around the world (e.g., where products are made, celebrations, dance, art, food, toys).
H.1.1.3 — Compare present day families, objects, and events with those in the past using visual representations, news stories, and artifacts (e.g., daily life tasks, food, clothing, transportation, communication, recreation).

California

1.2.1 — Locate on maps and globes their local community, California, the United States, the seven continents, and the four oceans.
3 — Students explain how the present is connected to the past, identifying both similarities and differences between the two, and how some things change over time and some things stay the same.
4 — Students use map and globe skills to determine the absolute locations of places and interpret information available through a map's or globe's legend, scale, and symbolic representations.
K.6.3 — Understand how people lived in earlier times and how their lives would be different today (e.g., getting water from a well, growing food, making clothing, having fun, forming organizations, living by rules and laws).

Colorado

SS.1.2.1 — Use geographic terms and tools to describe places and spaces.
SS.K.2.1 — Recognize that geographic tools represent places and spaces.
SS.P.2.1 — Develop spatial understanding, perspectives, and connections to the world

Connecticut

GEO.K.2 — Use maps, graphs, photographs and other representations to describe places and the relationships and interactions that shape them.
HIST.K.1 — Compare life in the past to life today.
GEO 1.3 — Use maps, globes, and other simple geographic models to identify cultural and environmental characteristics of places.
GEO.K.3 — Use maps, globes, and other simple geographic models to identify cultural and environmental characteristics of places.
HIST 1.1 — Compare life in the past to life in the present.

Delaware

G.1.K-3a — Students will understand the nature and uses of maps, globes, and other geo-graphics. Grade K and Grade 3
Maps show where things are located. One can map the shapes and kinds of land and water in any area.
H.4.K-3a — Students will develop an understanding of the similarities between families now and in the past, including: • Daily life today and in other times • Cultural origins of customs and beliefs around the world
K-3a — Students will use the concepts of place and region to explain simple patterns of connections between and among places across the country and the world. Grade 3

Florida

SS.K.G.1.3 — Identify cardinal directions (north, south, east, west).
SC.K2.CS-PC.2.1 (Discontinued after 2024-2025) — Identify and describe how people use many types of technologies in their daily work and personal lives.
SS.1.G.1.2 — Identify key elements (compass rose, cardinal directions, title, key/legend with symbols) of maps and globes .
SS.K.G.1.2 — Explain that maps and globes help to locate different places and that globes are a model of the Earth.
SS.K.G.3.2 — Identify basic bodies of water.

Georgia

SS1G3.a — Locate all of the continents: North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Antarctica, and Australia.
SSKH3.a — Now, long ago

Hawaii

SS.1.1.13.3 — Use maps and map features to describe places
SS.1.2.13.2 — Describe some physical features of continents and oceans in the world
SS.1.3.17.1 — Investigate historically significant events, people, and observances in history
SS.1.3.17.3 — Compare life in the past to life today
SS.K.3.13.3 — Examine physical characteristics on maps and globes using positional words

Idaho

1.SS.2.1.2 — Use directions on a map: East, West, South, and North.
1.SS.2.1.4 — Identify continents and large bodies of water on a globe or a map.
1.SS.2.1.1 — Explain what maps and globes represent and how they are used.
2.SS.2.1.2 — State the cardinal directions and how to use a compass rose.

Illinois

SS.K.G.3 — With guidance and support, identify characteristics of print and digital maps, graphs, and other cultural representations of familiar places.
SS.K.H.1 — With guidance and support, compare life in the past to life today, including the points of view of diverse groups of people.
SS.1.G.1 — With guidance and support, construct and interpret print and digital maps and other cultural representations of familiar places.
ESS2.B-P1 — Maps show where things are located. One can map the shapes and kinds of land and water in any area.

Indiana

1.G.1 — Identify the cardinal directions (i.e., north, south, east, and west) on maps and globes and at the classroom/school. (E)
1.G.2 — Identify and describe continents, hemispheres, oceans, cities, and roads on maps and globes. (E)
1.H.1 — Identify continuity and change between past and present in community life using primary sources.
K.G.2 — Identify maps and globes as ways of representing Earth and understand the basic difference between a map and globe, including the difference in water/oceans and land/continents.

Iowa

SS.K.17. — Compare life in the past to life today.
SS.K.13. — Create a route to a specific location using maps, globes, and other simple geographic models.
SS.K.16. — Distinguish at least two related items or events by sequencing them from the past to the present.

Kansas

Maps show where things are located. One can map the shapes and kinds of land and water in any area.
Benchmark 4.1 — The student will recognize and evaluate continuity and change over time.
Make observations (firsthand or from media) to collect data that can be used to make comparisons.
Benchmark 2.4.1 — The student will recognize and evaluate continuity and change over time.

Kentucky

Maps show where things are located. One can map the shapes and kinds of land and water in any area.
2.G.GR.1 — Examine geographic features of places in North America, using a variety of geographic data, including maps, photos and other geographic tools.
K-2-ETS1-3 — Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.

Louisiana

1.24 — Create and use maps or models with cardinal directions, keys, and scale.
K.18 — Use maps and models to describe relative location. For example: locating objects and places to the right or left, up or down, in or out, above or below.

Maine

Make observations (firsthand or from media) to collect data that can be used to make comparisons.
SL.3.K.a — Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.
W.1.K.b — Gather information from provided sources and/or recall information from experiences in order to answer questions with guidance and support from adults.

Maryland

identifying continents and oceans near and far from Maryland on maps and on a globe.
applying cardinal directions on maps, globes, GPS, and Google Earth.
explaining how life today is similar and different than in the past using evidence from a variety of sources.
identifying continents and oceans near and far from Maryland on maps and globe.
identifying goods and ideas that make their community special and come from both near and far.

Massachusetts

1.T2.2 — Identify and use language for cardinal directions (north, east, south, west) when locating and describing places on a map; use a map to identify the location of major cities and capitals (e.g., Boston, Massachusetts, Washington D.C., Mexico City, Mexico) and investigate factors that explain why these locations became important cities.
1.T2.1 — Explain that a map represents spaces and helps one identify locations and features.
1.T2.4 — Locate and explain physical features (e.g., continents, oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains) on maps and construct maps and other representations of local places.
1.T2.5 — Demonstrate understanding that people from different parts of the world can have different ways of living, customs, and languages.
1.T2.3 — Explain that a city that is called a capital is the center of government for a state or nation.

Michigan

1–G1.0.3 — Distinguish between landmasses and bodies of water using maps and globes.
P1.1 — Use appropriate strategies to read and interpret basic social science tables, graphs, graphics, maps, and texts.
1–G1.0.2 — Describe places using absolute location or relative location.
K–G1.0.1 — Recognize that maps and globes represent places.

Minnesota

1.4.2.4.2 — Compare and contrast buildings and other technologies from earlier times and today. For example: Places in earlier times—Pompeii, Athens, Rome. Building technologies—arches, domes, glass. Communication technologies—scrolls, books, emails; Transportation technologies—chariot, train, car.
0.3.2.3.1 — Identify the physical and human characteristics of places, including real and imagined places. For example: Physical characteristics—landforms (Rocky Mountains, Mount Everest), ecosystems (forest), bodies of water (Hudson Bay, Indian Ocean, Amazon River), soil, vegetation, weather and climate. Human characteristics—structures (Great Wall of China, Eiffel Tower), bridges (Golden Gate Bridge), canals (Erie Canal), cities, political boundaries, population distribution, settlement patterns, language, ethnicity, nationality, religious beliefs.
2.3.1.1.2 — Locate key features on a map or globe; use cardinal directions to describe the relationship between two or more features. For example: Key features—city, state, country, continents, the equator, poles, prime meridian, hemisphere, oceans, major rivers, major mountain ranges, other types of landforms in the world. and report information within a spatial context.

Mississippi

1.G.1.1 — Identify the seven continents and five major oceans.
1.H.2.2 — Identify forms of technology and illustrate changes in how it was made and used from its conception to the present (e.g., telephone, assistive technology devices, etc.).
K.G.3.4 — Identify cardinal directions (e.g., north, south, east, west).
1.G.3.1 — Demonstrate map skills through vocabulary.
K.G.3.2 — Explain that maps and globes help identify location and physical features of the Earth.

Missouri

1.EG.5.A.d — Use a compass rose to identify cardinal directions on a map.
1.EG.5.B.a — Locate a place by pointing it out on a map and by describing its relative location.
2.EG.5.B.b — Name and locate regions of the world.
2.EG.5.C.a — Identify and describe physical characteristics of the world.

Montana

SS.G.K — The geography content standard for kindergarten is that each student will use maps, and other representations, to describe place characteristics.
SS.H.K — The history content standard for kindergarten is that each student will distinguish between past, present, and future time.
SL.K.4 — Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.

Nebraska

SS 1.3.1.a — Identify the four cardinal directions.
SS 1.3.1.d — Distinguish between continents and oceans.
SS K.3.1.c — Identify geographic tools as representations of local and distant places.

Nevada

Maps show where things are located. One can map the shapes and kinds of land and water in any area.
SS.K.9. — Compare life in the past to life today within the community.
Make observations (firsthand or from media) to collect data that can be used to make comparisons.

New Hampshire

SS.GE.2.1.2 — Introduce spatial information on maps and other geographic representations, e.g., map key, compass rose. (Themes: C: People, Places and Environment)
SS.GE.2.1.3 — Identify major physical and human features in the United States and on Earth, e.g., cities, oceans, or continents. (Themes: C: People, Places and Environment, G: Science, Technology, and Society)
SS.CV.2.3.1 — Explain that the world is divided into different countries. (Themes: A: Conflict and Cooperation, B: Civic Ideals, Practices, and Engagement, E: Cultural Development, Interaction, and Change)
SS.GE.2.1.1 — Identify the characteristics and purposes of globes and maps. (Themes: C: People, Places and Environment, F: Global Transformation)

New Jersey

6.1.2.Geo.SV.1 — Use maps to identify physical features (e.g., continents, oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains).
6.1.2.Geo.SV.3 — Identify and describe the properties of a variety of maps and globes (e.g., title, legend, cardinal directions, scale, symbols,) and purposes (wayfinding, thematic).
6.1.2.HistoryCC.3 — Make inferences about how past events, individuals, and innovations affect our current lives.

New Mexico

1.16 — Create geographic representations to identify the location of familiar places and demonstrate how these representations can help us navigate from one place to the next, provide directions, or trace important routes.
Make observations (firsthand or from media) to collect data that can be used to make comparisons.
SL.K.NM.3 — Demonstrate familiarity with stories and activities related to various ethnic groups and countries;
Maps show where things are located. One can map the shapes and kinds of land and water in any area.

New York

1.5a — Maps and map tools, such as legends and cardinal directions, can help us navigate from one place to the next, provide directions, or trace important routes.
E.3.1 — Geography can be divided into six essential elements which can be used to analyze important historic, geographic, economic, and environmental questions and issues. These six elements include: the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical settings (including natural resources), human systems, environment and society, and the use of geography. (Adapted from The National Geography Standards, 1994: Geography for Life)
1.9c — People use tools, technologies, and other resources to meet their needs and wants.
K.6 — Maps and globes are representations of Earth’s surface that are used to locate and better understand places and regions.

North Carolina

K.G.1.1 — Use maps, globes, and/or digital representations to locate places in the classroom, school, community, and around the world.
K.H.1.3 — Compare life in the past to life today within the home, community, and around the world.
1.H.1.1 — Explain how the experiences and achievements of people throughout history have helped contribute to the changes in various local communities and communities around the world over time.
K.G.1.2 — Identify physical features of places using maps, globes, and/or digital representations.
K.G.1.3 — Identify locations in the classroom, community, and around the world with positional words.

North Dakota

Maps show where things are located. One can map the shapes and kinds of land and water in any area.
1.R.2 — Ask and answer questions about a variety of texts, genres, photographs, or illustrations before, during, and after shared reading or other text-listening experiences to compare, contrast, predict, or infer.
K.R.6 — Identify photographs, illustrations, and labels during or after a shared reading or other text-listening experience.

Ohio

K.5 — Terms related to direction and distance, as well as symbols and landmarks, can be used to talk about the relative location of familiar places.
1.4 — Maps can be used to locate and identifyplaces.
2.3 — Science and technology have changed daily life.
K.6 — Models and maps represent real places.

Oklahoma

1.2.2 — Identify cardinal directions and use them to identify specific locations on a map.
K.2.2 — Identify basic cardinal directions and relative location terms.
1.2.3 — Identify the difference between continents and oceans.

Oregon

K.18 — Compare and contrast past and present events or practices.
2.14 — Use and apply cardinal directions to locate and identify features on maps (such as oceans, cities, continents).
K.15 — Distinguish between past and present.
K.SL.4 — Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.

Pennsylvania

Maps show where things are located. One can map the shapes and kinds of land and water in any area.
3.5.K-2.Y — Discuss how the way people live and work has changed throughout history because of technology.
3.5.K-2.C — Explain ways that technology helps with everyday tasks. Contrasting the lifestyles of earlier societies with their own will provide ample examples.
3.5.K-2.I — Compare simple technologies to evaluate their impacts.

Rhode Island

SS1.1.2 — Reading maps and understanding directions Explain how to read a map for various purposes such as identifying addresses and sharing directions
SS2.1.2 — Physical features of the globe Explain global physical and geographical features
Maps show where things are located. One can map the shapes and kinds of land and water in any area.
SS2.1.1 — Understanding maps and globes Explain maps and globes, geographical concepts pertaining to them, how to read them, and their uses

South Carolina

K.G.1 — Identify a map, various map features, and explain the purpose of maps.This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into the purpose of maps and begin to recognize how the parts of maps are used to gain information (e.g., map title, map key/legend). This indicator was also developed to encourage the use of positional words used to describe locations on maps.
1.E.2 — Explain how goods and services change over time. This indicator was designed to encourage inquiry into the goods and services relevant to one's own life, such as cell phones and computers, and how their relevance is affected by an individual's changing wants and need. (This indicator was also designed to promote inquiry into the relationship wants and needs and their relationship to goods and services...).
1.G.1 — Identify various types of maps, map features, and the purpose of maps. This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into a variety of maps (e.g., maps of malls, roads, schools, zoos, and the world) and the purpose of different types of maps. Further, inquiry is made into map features (e.g., map title, map key/legend, and compass rose) and how they are tools in geographic inquiry.
K.G.2 — Utilize sources of geographic information (e.g., digital sources, maps, or photographs/images) to define and identify cultural and/or natural features.This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into natural features, such as mountains, oceans, and rivers and cultural features, such as buildings, restaurants, roads, and stores.
ELA.1.C.9.1 — Listen to others to ask and answer questions on a topic.

South Dakota

K.G.1.1 — Recognize that maps and globes represent places
1.G.1.3 — Distinguish between landmasses and bodies of water using maps and globes
Make observations (firsthand or from media) to collect data that can be used to make comparisons.

Tennessee

1.12 — Use cardinal directions on a map.
1.25 — Compare ways people lived in the past to how they live today, including: forms of communication, modes of transportation, and types of clothing.
SSP.05 — Develop historical awareness by: • Sequencing past, present, and future in chronological order • Understanding that things change over time
SSP.06 — Develop geographic awareness by: • Identifying geographic symbols on maps and globes • Understanding relationships between people, places, and resources
2.12 — Identify and locate the four hemispheres (i.e., Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western), equator, prime meridian, North and South Poles, and the seven continents.

Texas

K.3C — identify and use geographic tools that aid in determining location, including maps and globes.
1.15C — identify the contributions of scientists and inventors such as Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and Garrett Morgan.
K.12A — identify examples of technology used in the home and school;
2.4A — identify major landforms and bodies of water, including each of the seven continents and each of the oceans, on maps and globes; and

Utah

1.3.2.c — Identify the compass rose and cardinal directions on a map and on a globe.
1.3.2.b — Locate physical features (i.e. continents, oceans, rivers, lakes), and man-made features (equator, North and South poles, countries) on a map and on a globe.
2.4.1.d — Identify examples of technology that people use (e.g., automobiles, computers, telephones).
K.3.2.d — Identify cardinal directions on a map.

Vermont

D2.Geo.2.K-2 — Individually and with others, students… Use maps, graphs, photographs, and other representations to describe places and the relationships and interactions that shape them.
D2.His.2.K-2 — Individually and with others, students… Compare life in the past to life today.
D2.Geo.3.K-2 — Individually and with others, students… Use maps, globes, and other simple geographic models to identify cultural and environmental characteristics of places.
D2.Geo.6.K-2 — Individually and with others, students… Identify some cultural and environmental characteristics of specific places.

Virginia

1.6.b — The student will apply history and social science skills to develop geographic skills by using cardinal directions on maps.
1.6.c — The student will apply history and social science skills to develop geographic skills by locating Virginia, the United States, continents, and oceans on maps and globes.
Skill.1.b — The student will apply history and social science skills to the content by applying geographic skills to identify and understand geographic features.

Washington

G1.1.2 — Be able to identify large continental land masses on a map or globe.
G1.2.1 — Apply basic mapping elements to read and construct maps of their communities and the world.
G3.K.1 — Describe how the things we use in our lives come from different locations.
G1.1.3 — Be able to identify major bodies of water on a map or globe.

Washington, D.C.

2.4 — Identify and locate the seven continents and five oceans using maps, and describe major geographic features around the world.
K.20 — Explain the concept of relative location using directional words.
2.2 — Compare different kinds of maps, with a focus on physical and political maps, and identify key parts of a map (e.g., title, legend or key, scale, compass or cardinal directions).
K.27 — Identify products that we use in our daily lives, where they come from, and how they connect us to local and global communities.
1.18 — Compare the features of a city, county, state, country and continent.

West Virginia

SS.1.10 — Reflect an understanding of cardinal directions, map symbols in a legend, geographic landforms (e.g., mountains, lakes, rivers), and location by interpreting simple maps.
SS.K.10 — Identify the difference between bodies of water and land masses on maps and globes, and demonstrate directions (e.g., left/right, up/down, near/far and above/under).
Use maps, graphs, photographs, and other representations to describe places.
Compare the past to the present.
SS.K.16 — Investigate the past and explore the differences in other people, times and cultures through stories of people, heroes, pictures, songs, holidays, customs, traditions or legends.
SS.2.10 — Identify the continents and oceans on a map and globe.

Wisconsin

SS.BH4.a.e — Describe specific types of technology and demonstrate how they are used on a daily basis for social or cultural purposes.
SS.Geog1 — Wisconsin students will use geographic tools and ways of thinking to analyze the world
SS.BH4 — Wisconsin students will examine the progression of specific forms of technology and their influence within various societies
SS.Geog1.b.1-2 — Identify physical and human characteristics of a place using maps, graphs, photographs, and other representations.

Wyoming

SS2.4.2 — Identify tools and technologies, including those of Indigenous Tribes of Wyoming, that made or make life easier and sustainable (e.g., cars for getting one place to another, washing machines for washing clothes, flashlights to see in the dark, and usage of bison and natural resources). 2.MD.7 – 8 K-2-ETS1-1 – ETS1-3
SS2.5.1 — Spatial Use a map, globe, and mental mapping to identify familiar areas and simple patterns and create maps using various media. 2-ESS2-2
SS2.5.3 — Human Place and Movement Use the human features of a community to describe what makes that community unique (e.g., cultural, language, religion, food, clothing, political, economic, population, and types of jobs in an area) and why others move to or from that place. RL.1.2, RL.2.3 RI.1.3, Rl.2.2, RI.2.10 W.K.2, W.K.7 W.1.1, W.1.7 W.2.1 W.2.7 SL.K.4, SL.1.4, SL.2.2 K-2-ETS1-1