!

Captain James Cook was a famous English explorer. He was the first person to lead a journey around the world. He explored the Pacific Ocean. He found Australia and Hawaii. He used science and mathematics to help him. He drew many maps of the oceans.

Early Life
Cook was born on 27th October 1728 in Yorkshire, in the north of England. He became a sailor and in 1755 he joined the Royal Navy. During the 1760s, he helped draw maps of the coast of Canada.

The Endeavour
In 1769, Cook sailed to Tahiti, an island in the Pacific Ocean. People asked him to watch Venus as it moved between the Earth and the Sun. This would tell people the distance between the Sun and Earth. But they also asked him to look for a new continent in the Pacific Ocean. He left Plymouth in England on 26th August 1768. He arrived in Tahiti on 11th April 1769. There were many scientists on the ship. He recorded the movement of Venus on 3rd June 1769. On 7th October, the Endeavour reached New Zealand and Cook explored the islands there. But his soldiers fought with the local people there, the Maori. Then the Endeavour sailed west. On 20th April 1770, men on Cook's ship saw the eastern coast of Australia. They were the first Europeans to find Australia. On 29th April Cook landed at Botany Bay. They explored the coast, but the Endeavour hit some rocks. It took two months to repair the ship. Then the ship sailed to Java, but 30 men got sick and died. On 13th July 1771, the Endeavour returned to England.

The Resolution
Cook explored the South Pacific again, from 1772 to 1775, on a ship called the Resolution. Cook found more islands and drew more maps. He sailed close to Antarctica. When he returned to England, he became very famous.

Death
Cook returned to the Pacific Ocean in 1776 on the Resolution. He discovered more islands, including Christmas Island (he found it on 25th December 1777) and Hawaii. Then he tried to look for a sea route to the north of North America (The Northwest Passage) but he could not find it. He returned to Hawaii. On his first visit, the people of Hawaii thought Cook and his men were gods. They looked after Cook and his men. But on his second visit in February 1779, things did not go so well. The people of Hawaii threw rocks at Cooks men. Then they took a small boat from the Resolution. Cook tried to get it back but the people of Hawaii attacked Cook and his men. Cook and four other men were killed. Eventually, the Resolution returned to England without its captain.

!
CLIL360 2014 All rights reserved. May be photocopied for use in the classroom. Images from Wikimedia Commons and are in public domain.