Learning Activities:
The teacher will write two questions on the board "What were the geographical, economic, technological, personal and political factors that led to the Age of Exploration? Who was most adversely affected by European Exploration?" Students will formulate an answer in their journals. Teacher will present the handout entitled "Contact: Europe and America Meet 1492- 1673". The teacher will also present the graphic organizers that accompany the reading selection.
Students will complete the graphic organizer labeled "geographic factors, economic factors, technological factors and political factors. The students will provide detailed feedback for each. Then, students will read the Native American journals primary source documents. The teacher will show a PowerPoint Presentation of Native Americans suffering from disease. Students will then read the summary regarding Native Americans and European contact. The teacher will present two PowerPoint Presentations. The first is a mini lesson regarding the cause and effects of the Columbian Exchange. The second presentation is entitled "European Exploration and the Columbian Exchange." The teacher will place the slide shows on the screen via the video projector. The students will have copies of the two slide shows in printed handout form. Once the two presentations have been read, the students will answer the cause and effect comprehension questions located on the last slide of each presentation. Students will then complete a graphic organizer that asks students to assess the effects of contact on the Native Americans and Europeans between 1492 and 1673. The students will complete a personal narrative worksheet. The task is to write about whether or not European contact was beneficial for Native Americans or not. The answer has to be written with details and examples from documents to support point of view. The students will then watch a video from www.unitedstreaming.com which will give them information regarding the effects of disease on native populations. The students will take notes on the video.