​Exploration

by Tamara Myshak

All people are explorers. Throughout history people have always wondered what is beyond the mountain, ocean, sea, river, or even planet.

As curious and inquisitive living beings, we are always exploring. We climb the mountains, we sail across the seas and oceans, we explore the farthest places of the globe, we explore the bottoms of the oceans and the heavens above.

Most explorers certainly like the adventure of going to a new place, meeting new people and cultures, taking on new challenges; they take a risk overcoming difficulties or experiencing extreme weather conditions: the arctic cold or the desert heat.

There are a lot of famous explorers of the past. Vasco da Gamma and Christopher Columbus for example explored new trade routes to transport goods cheaper than their competitors. Nowadays explorers have been in search of riches and treasure: gold, silver and diamonds.

Scientists learn about nature and new parts of the world. They hope to find a new species of animal or type of plant.

Many explorers want to test their personal limits and be the first in the world to do something. These types of explorers include the men who raced to be the first to the North and South Poles, the top of Mount Everest, and to the Moon.

Family history explorers do genealogical research. They do research on people’s family tree, their ancestors and forefathers.

Nature explorers or naturalists explore firsthand the world around them. They identify planets and constellations with field glasses or a telescope, gather edible plants and flowers as snacks or garnish, catch frogs in the reflecting pond or butterflies in the meadow, distinguish species of trees by their distinctive leaves.

What would you like to explore?