Earliest
Americans
and
Exploration
Earliest Americans and Exploration
$160 per month
1 session per week
Teacher
Project
This course introduces students to a few of the many groups that had an influence on American history. Students will choose one group to learn more about - A Native American group, a West African Group, or a European society. They will collect material to construct a visual presentation about the location and culture of that people through a map and examples of artwork or artifacts of that population. Write captions to point out what they have learned about the people from what they have left behind. Then, in a report, draw conclusion about the group's culture and technological knowledge. They will present their visual presentation and report in the last session.
Subjects
History
Ages
13 - 18 years old
Sessions
Session 1: Peopling the Americas
LESSON OBJECTIVES:
Students will analyze the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Inca, Hohokam, Anasazi, Adena, Hopewell and Mississippian culture groups.
Students will describe the means of survival of the earliest people in the Americas.
Students will identify the effects of agriculture on the hunting and gathering peoples of the Americas.
Students will analyze the different theories of how early people came to the Americas.
Students will summarize some of the achievements of the early civilizations in the Americas.
Students will be introduced to their first course project.
HOMEWORK:
1) Complete Section 1 Assessment on page 7.
2) Read pages 8 - 13 in course textbook.
3) Start your course project.
Session 2: Native American Societies Around 1492
LESSON OBJECTIVES:
Students will review their homework.
Students will identify Kashaya Pomo, Kwakiutl, Pueblo, Iroquois, kinship and division of labor.
Students will describe the different environments of California that led to its diverse Native American population.
Students will analyze the different cultural groups of California, Northwest Coast, Southwest, and Eastern Woodlands.
Students will contrast how food production differed among Native American societies.
Students will summarize how trade linked different Native American cultural groups.
Students will analyze the work activities and layout of a typical Native American village.
Students will compare the similarities and differences that existed among Native American family structures.
HOMEWORK:
1) Complete Section 2 Assessment on page 13.
2) Read pages 14 - 19 in course textbook.
3) Continue working on your course project.
Session 3: West African Societies Around 1492
LESSON OBJECTIVES:
Students will review their homework.
Students will identify savanna, Islam, plantation, Songhai, Benin, Kongo and lineage.
Students will examine how Islam and the Sahara Highway affected West African cultures.
Students will describe the impact the arrival of Portuguese traders had upon West African cultures.
Students will compare the three African kingdoms of Songhai, Benin and Kongo.
Students will compare how the government in Benin was similar to that of Askia Muhammad.
Students will describe West African culture.
HOMEWORK:
1) Complete Section 3 Assessment on page 19.
2) Read pages 20 - 26 in course textbook.
3) Continue working on your course project.
Session 4: European Societies Around 1492
LESSON OBJECTIVES:
Students will review their homework.
Students will identify Prince Henry, King Isabella, hierarchy, nuclear family, Crusades, Reformation and joint-stock company.
Students will describe the relationship between men and women in European society.
Students will describe the impact the arrival of Portuguese traders had upon West African cultures.
Students will explain how religious changes in Europe helped spur exploration of new lands.
Students will summarize changes that occurred in Europe during the 1400's.
Students will identify Portugal's main motive in exploring the African coast.
HOMEWORK:
1) Complete Section 4 Assessment on page 26.
2) Read pages 27 - 33 in course textbook.
3) Continue working on your course project. Be ready to present your Cultural Project in the next session.
Session 5: Transatlantic Encounters
LESSON OBJECTIVES:
Students will review their homework and present their cultural project.
Students will identify Christopher Columbus, Taino, colonization, Treaty of Tordesillas and Columbian Exchange.
Students will summarize the main activities that Columbus undertook after arriving in the Americas.
Students will describe the impact Columbus' arrival have upon the inhabitants of the Caribbean.
Students will identify the factors that led to the use of African slaves in the early Spanish colonies.
Students will explain why Spain and Portugal had been willing to go to war over the issues of overseas exploration.
Students will describe how the Columbian Exchange has enriched each hemisphere.
Students will examine the Atlantic Population Shift from 1492 to Early 1800's.
