Learning Activities:
This is an inquiry based lesson. The students will become responsible for their own learning. This lesson will begin in the Media Center. The teacher will be assisted by the school librarian. Students will bring notebooks and journals to the library media center. The media specialist will load the MSN Encarta encyclopedia onto each computer. Students will use the online encyclopedia as well as the Internet (teacher will assign appropriate websites. Students will not use Google, Yahoo or any other search engine during this process) to identify the viruses of Smallpox, Influenza and Measles. The students will classify information using a three column graphic organizer for details regarding each virus. Students will use Internet as well as MSN Encarta to identify the properties of bacteria and viruses. The students will take detailed notes while researching information. Students will write any vocabulary words that are unfamiliar into journals. Then, students will use vocabulary and reading comprehension strategies in order to aid comprehension and research. Students will determine the differences between bacteria and viruses. Students will then use Internet and primary source documents provided by instructor in order to determine the cause and effects of disease from Europe to North America. Students will identify methods of transmission of viruses from Europeans to Native Americans. Teacher will then collect each journal and notebook from students in order to determine success with taking the appropriate notes and vocabulary strategy. Students will then watch a video from www.unitedstreaming.com which will give detailed analysis of the concepts of infectious disease. Students will take notes on the video.
The students will be presented with a list of resources (textbook, handouts and primary source documents) which will give students the informational background necessary to determine the relationship between The Columbian Exchange with the continents of Europe and North America.
Overview:
Native Americans are people who are indigenous to the continent of North America. These Native people lived, cultivated agriculture and created a culture that was enjoyed by various tribes throughout the region prior to the arrival of the Europeans in the fifteenth century.
Historians and scientist have debated long and hard concerning the beginnings of human history. Archeological data suggests that the large supercontinent Pangea, broke apart which spawned the seven continents that exists today. In addition, as far as the continent of North America is concerned, scientists and historians agree that ancient ancestors of modern Native Americans crossed a land bridge that connected Northeast Asia to the continent of North America. Historians and scientists agree that these people migrated to the continent of North America prior to the arrival of the last Ice Age.
Native American cultures developed differently across the continent. . Due to necessity, they were skilled at using natural resources and adapting to differing climate regions within the continent. As European settlers began to arrive on the continent in the fifteenth century, Native Americans were faced with many different challenges. Native people had to learn to coexist with Europeans. Trade networks were established and many Native Americans began adopting various types of European technologies. Many more faced generations of upheaval and disruption as Europeans, and later British settlers who became Americans and Canadians, took Native American lands and tried to destroy their ways of life. The purpose of the unit is to teach students about the impact of European colonization on the lives of the indigenous Native American populations on the continent of North America.