Highlights from Age of Exploration Unit (Sept-Oct)

• The Vikings

This was an exciting lesson in which we searched for "clues"around the room to help us determine who may have been the first Europeans in North America. (These were actual clues that historians used - they revealed evidence of Viking activity and settlement in Newfoundland around the year 986 B.C.). Each clue fit into one of the following categories: archaeology, literature, anthropology, and zoology. In addition to discussing what the actual clues implied, we discussed these overarching categories of "clues" and how they help historians and scientists piece together the past.

• Christopher Columbus - with book "Follow the Dream"
• Journey of Magellan's crew - "The Straits of Ma-Jello" activity (see older post for pictures!)
• The Fall of Tenochtitlan - viewed models and paintings of the city, drew pictures, discussed events surrounding the fall of the Aztec Empire with Cortez
• The impact of germs - bread experiment with normal hands, dirtied hands, and cleaned hands (the students had memorable reactions to the disgusting mold, to say the least!)
• Possible pros and cons of Spanish conquests in the New World
• Flags on the map - illustrating general areas of exploration and settlement for Spain and France, ways that France tried to get her share of the New World's riches and land

This lesson generated a stimulating discussion on the ethics of European exploration and settlement.

• Acting out the story of the Lost Colony - drawing and writing about what may have happened to them
• Our Early American Timeline - putting it up for the first time!