Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain

Click on the link to learn about Christopher Columbus and play the game Rags to Riches

First:  read the information about Columbus

Second: play the rags to riches game- If you win a million dollars, show me!  If not, play until you win.

Third: play the Christopher Columbus Game.  Once you have played the game and have taken the quiz at the end, there will be a certificate.  Show me the certificate so I can see that you finished.

Watch Columbus videos    Create a T-Chart with hero in one column and villain in the other.  As you watch, take notes.  After watching the videos, continue researching online.  

     

Merchants of the Great Exchange

I will again be looking over your essays in class.  Meanwhile, you should be playing Merchants of the Great Exchange.  The simulation takes you through a series of journeys and trades at ports in the eastern parts of the world.  As we study reasons for exploration by Europeans, it is important to note that profit played a huge role.
Click on the following link to play:  Merchants of the Great Exchange

Did Pre-Columbian Native Americans deserve respect?

When Christopher Columbus and other Spanish explorers arrived in the New World, they discovered many civilizations.  Their initial reaction to Native Americans was to assume that they did not have culture, but rather were more like animals and savages than true civilizations.  As a result, Europeans believed that enslaving, taking land, and forcing their religion on the Native Americans would better their situation.  Because Europeans did not recognize or respect Native American cultures, things did not go well.

Your job today is to answer the question, "Did Pre-Columbian Native Americans deserve respect?".
Using your research notes, you will craft a five-paragraph essay to persuade the reader that Pre-Columbian Native Americans either had culture or did not have culture.

Click on the following link to find the outline for the essay.  You can copy it to your Google account to type:  outline

Click on the following link to see an example of how to write the essay:  Example

Click on the following link to see a scoring guide for the essay:  Scoring Guide

Remember, you should have a finished essay on Tuesday, so that you and I can fix any mistakes you may have in your work!

Pre-Columbian Culture Grid

When we study civilizations, it is helpful to examine their culture.  Culture can be divided into  categories in the following way:

Political:  Way of making and enforcing rules/laws.  This can include villages, nations, leaders, governments, and law-making process.

Economic:  How we get what we need and want.  In modern times, this could be going to work, getting paid, and using the money to buy groceries.

Geography:  Landforms, waterbodies, climate, natural resources, etc.  This includes anything that is naturally found in a region.

Social:  Traditions, families, religion, beliefs, values, etc.

Today, we will be studying the many cultures of Native American tribes that existed in North America before the arrival of Columbus- hence the name Pre-Columbian!
In class, we will work together to create a culture grid for the Pacific Coast region, then you will pick a culture area (Great Plains, Eastern, West and Southwest) to complete a culture grid of your own.  In each area of the grid you will have to make at least one inference (a conclusion based on evidence and reasoning) based on what you know about the culture area.  You should have an explanation for every inference you make.
If you were absent today, or you misplaced the grid I gave you in class, click on the following link below to print and complete:   Culture Grid

The culture grid will be due on Monday.

Physical Map of North America

Today, we will be doing a little geography!  In class you should have received a map and instructions for filling it out.  If you were absent or lost the map, click on the following map and print it out.  It is due tomorrow.
Map of North America

Archaeology: Missing Mayans

Click on the following link, collect clues, then write your answer to the question- use evidence to support your answer!

Why did the Mayan city of Copan collapse?

Use archaeology to discover how a great civilization disappeared!

Evaluating Sources

As we’ve seen in the Lunchroom Fight and Snapshot Autobiography lessons, different people often have different accounts of what happened in the past. One question that historians face all the time is who to believe? What makes one account more trustworthy than another?
Today, you will be looking at Primary and Secondary sources to evaluate which might be more reliable?  But be careful, just because a document is a primary source, does not mean it is better!


If you were gone today, or misplaced the assignment, click on the link below, then copy the assignment to a Google Doc and share your answers with me!
Evaluating Sources

Snapshot Autobiography Project

What is history? Many people describe history as the study of the past, a huge collection of names, dates, and facts that you are expected to memorize. The goal of this assignment is for you to discover other meanings of history and to recognize why it is important to study history. In this project, you will think about the meaning of history by describing and illustrating several events from your own life, finding a witness to provide another description of one of those events, and thinking about the similarities and differences between the two descriptions.

Part I: Snapshot Autobiography 

1) Take blank, regular size piece of paper and fold it so that it forms 3 panels (like a letter you’d mail). Counting front and back, you should have 6 panels.

2) The first panel is the cover for your Snapshot Autobiography.
      • Give your autobiography a title, for example, “Snapshots from the Life of Kathy.”
      • You may illustrate it if you wish.

3) On the back panel write a brief “About the Author” section. Include your name, place and date of birth, and anything else you want people of know about you. You may include a self-portrait if you like.

4) This leaves four panels. In the first of these panels, write about your birth. In the other three panels, you are going to write about important events that have shaped you as a person. This means that you are selecting a total of three important events (besides your birth) from your life.
          • You will be interviewing another person about one of these events, so make sure to pick at least one event that someone else knows about.
          • For each of these three events, write a narrative (story) describing what happened. Make sure you describe it from start to finish. Pretend that someone who doesn’t know you will be reading your story and trying to understand it. Be sure to include details!
         • Illustrate each event with a small, hand-drawn picture.

Part II: Homework: Snapshot Biography – Another Perspective 
Now is your chance to talk to somebody else who remembers one of the important events you chose.
1) Select one of the events you wrote about.
2) Find somebody who remembers that event. For example, a parent, grandparent, sibling, or friend who will be familiar with the event you described.
3) Ask the person you chose to tell you their version of the story. In order to make sure that you are getting their version, ask them an open question about the event, for example, “Mom, do you remember when Jane and I started being friends in fifth grade? Can you tell me what you remember about when we met?”
      • Take careful notes of the interview. Pay attention to which parts of their story are different from your own.
      • Make sure to thank the interviewee for their participation in this project!

Name of the person being interviewed: ____________________________________
Relation to you: ____________________
Event from Snapshot Autobiography they will be corroborating (cross-checking): ______________________________________________________________________

 Interview Notes ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________
What do the two stories have in common? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________
What is different about the two stories?
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________

Today, we will begin our journey through historical investigation.  We will start with an activity involving a lunchroom fight.  I know...   what does that have to do with history?  Think of it this way, when we study history, we look at events (like a lunchroom ruckus!).  There are always two sides to the story- or sometimes a lot more-  so we investigate the lunchroom fight by interviewing several kids who were there to get their perspectives.  What we discover is everyone saw it happen through their own personal lens, so we get different opinions about what started the fight and who was at fault.

This first activity is good practice for studying events like the Battle of Lexington where both sides claim the other fired the first shot.  As historians, we need to corroborate the stories of what happened to come to a fair and reasonable conclusion.

No homework for this one, everything will be done in class!