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Teacher
Resources
This
page contains specific resources developed for teachers using
this Exploration.
Entire
Unit | History Quiz | Zheng
He | Timbuktu | Cahokia
Focusing
Event for Entire Unit:
Brainstorm
with the class things they know about ancient civilizations (location,
religious beliefs, rituals, artifacts, contributions)
This
can be done in multiple ways:
1.
Sticky notes with students writing individually on a limited
number of post-it notes, categorizing, posting with others eventually
contributing to a class fact storming map
2. Inspiration Software: electronic concept map
3. Chalkboard, whiteboard
4. Preprinted graphic organizers to fill in
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Exploration
1: Check Your Knowledge
Accessing
Prior Knowledge
1. Ask the students to take a few minutes and see how many questions
they can answer on the Check
Your Knowledge tab. You could first treat the questions
as a non-graded pop quiz (5 -7 minutes) and spend most of the
time discussing the answers.
Pay close attention to the closing statement and use it as a
rationale for doing the exploration.
2.
You could also allow students to find the answers using key
websites.
Resources
for Inventions and Inventors
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Exploration
2: Zheng He
Focusing Event:
 Look
at the pictures of the two ships on the Zheng
He exploration page or click the picture to the left.
Without
any directions, have your students make predictions about the
ships. Who sailed these ships? Which ship was older? Which ship
was part of a larger fleet? What country was each ship from?
What is the same about the ships and what appears different?
As the students to justify their predictions (What clues guided
their predictions? Are their predictions based on prior knowledge?).
Read
as a class the Essential Questions and then allow the students
to do some investigating on their own. They should read the
selections and follow a few of the links provided in order to
be able to complete one of the “Extending the Investigation”
activities.
Extending
the Investigation:
1.
Using the resources below and this printed map, trace the voyages
of Zheng He in one color and then use another color to draw
the explorations of some of the other early explorers (before
1492). Compare and contrast their voyages. Why do you think
the Chinese halted their explorations?
(Links
will open in a new window; close that window to return to this
page)
Map
Age of Discovery
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/
explorer_map_shepherd.jpg
Hispanic
exploration
http://www.neta.com/~1stbooks/0dchron.htm
The
Age of Exploration Timeline
http://www.mariner.org/age/histexp.html
2.
From what you learned about the Chinese culture and explorations
of Zheng He, what do you think life would have been like here
in the United States if Zheng He discovered America before Columbus?
Write a brief description of the differences you would expect
to find in America today if the Chinese discovered America.
Write this description as if it were a diary entry.
3.
Investigate the reasons for exploration and discovery. Compare
and contrast the differences in rationale between the Spanish,
Portuguese, English, Chinese and other cultures. Why did some
opt to turn xenophobic while others wanted chose to conquer
the world? Is it political? Religious? Cultural?
(Links
will open in a new window; close that window to return to this
page)
European
voyages
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/
columbus.html
Spanish exploration
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h436.html
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Exploration
3: Timbuktu
Focusing
Event:
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Spend
some time looking at the image on the Timbuktu
Exploration page or click the picture. Ask the students
to analyze what they see in the picture (for example…writing
in another language, a king with a crown, a scepter, water,
a gold ball etc).
Make
predictions about this image. What cultural influences do
you see? What would you guess the significance of the image
might be? Now introduce the students to the ancient civilization
of Timbuktu. |
Extending
the Exploration:
1.
Using the map resources websites
on the Timbuktu Exploration page, locate Timbuktu on a map and
describe its geographical setting and historical significance.
2.
Using the Mansa Musa resources
websites listed on the Tibuktu exploration page, identify
Mansa Musa and explain his historical significance as you create
a biography page for a book called “Famous Kings and their
contributions”.
3.
Identify the kingdoms that flourished in this region and the
trade that Timbuktu took part in.
4.
Take a look at the
History Channel timeline and examine the major events in
Timbuktu’s history and compare them to what was going
on in the rest of the world. What do you think led to Timbuktu’s
rise and fall? Create a Multimedia presentation that points
out the important historical events that lead to Timbuktu’s
rise and fall.
5.
Using the resources on the Timbuktu
Exploration page, imagine that you are traveling with Mansa
Musa on the road to Mecca. Describe the pilgrimage in a letter
to your parents including what you see, hear and experience
along the road. What was the significance to you of this pilgrimage?
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Exploration
4: Cahokia
Focusing
Event: Ancient Civilizations in the Americas
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Ask
students to look at the images at the beginning
of the Cahokia Exploration and try to place them. These
are all images of different ancient ruins (or graphic replicas)
of ancient civilizations in the Americas. What appears similar
or different about these? |
Extending
the Exploration:
1.
Using either Timeliner
software (by Tom Snyder), Word or Inspiration,
create a timeline which maps the Aztec, Mayan, ancestral Puebloans and Cahokia
civilizations. Include important features of the civilization
and even images of artifacts found at these ruins.
2.
Compare the different cultures of the ancient American civilizations.
What were the similarities and differences in religious beliefs,
cultural contributions, rituals, and extinction of these primitive
people? You can either make these comparisons in a presentation
format, webpage, or use the Civilization
Comparison Worksheet (Microsoft Word format).
Resources
Teacher
Video Resources are available on United Streaming (http://www.unitedstreaming.com/logins/login_www.cfm?
unique=FC2E8EB8-BCD4-3197-329590F5A6E572D6)
and there is a 30 day trial membership available.
These
are the video clips from United Streaming that could be referenced.
- Great
Age of Exploration (1400-1550), The (30:55) FULL VIDEO
- The
Great Age of Exploration: Part One (12:57)
- The
World in 1400 (01:13)
- The
Renaissance (02:18)
- Trade
with the Far East (02:57)
- Prince
Henry the Navigator (01:53)
- The
Shipyards of Portugal (01:23)
- Exploring
the Coasts of Africa and India (00:49)
- The
Slave Trade (00:27)
- The
Voyages of Columbus (01:49)
- The
Great Age of Exploration: Part Two (13:11)
- Columbus's
First Voyage 1492-1493 (02:12)
- Columbus's
Later Voyages (01:27)
- The
Conquests of Mexico and Peru (01:51)
- Exploration
and Colonization (02:09)
- Assessing
the Great Age of Exploration (01:08)
- Video
Quiz: The Great Age of Exploration (02:42)
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