Who Was Christopher Columbus?

This worksheet is designed for students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 to build reading comprehension and historical understanding through an age-appropriate informational passage about Christopher Columbus. Learners read about Columbus’s 1492 voyage across the Atlantic, his goal of reaching Asia, his landing in the Caribbean, and how his journeys expanded European knowledge of geography, then respond to questions that check comprehension, recall, and interpretation.

Learning Goals

• Early Exploration Knowledge (Grades 3-5) – Students identify key facts about Christopher Columbus and his voyages.
• Informational Text Comprehension – Learners practice understanding nonfiction text, main ideas, and supporting details.
• Historical Thinking – Encourages students to consider Columbus’s assumptions, experiences, and historical context.
• Geography & Exploration Concepts – Reinforces basic understanding of travel routes, oceans, and world geography.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with elementary social studies standards.
• Mixed Question Types – Includes multiple-choice and short-answer questions to assess different levels of understanding.
• Clear, Age-Appropriate Content – Presents historical information in an accessible, student-friendly format.
• Low-Prep & Printable – Easy to use for classwork, homework, review, or homeschool instruction.

This printable worksheet helps students strengthen comprehension, fact recall, and historical reasoning while learning about early European exploration. By reading about Christopher Columbus and answering structured questions, learners practice analyzing informational text and identifying important historical details. Ideal for classroom or homeschool use, this activity provides a solid foundation for studying exploration, geography, and early world history.

This worksheet is part of our Columbus Day Worksheets collection.