Activity 1: Introducing the inquiry.

 Purpose: To spark students interest in Columbus’ contact with the new world.

Materials: Map: The World Known to Europe, 1492

 Procedures:

  1. Project Map: The World Known to Europe, 1492. As students, “What do you notice” What sticks out?
  • Students engage in discussion TC_Bubble

Student Responses: Students notice that the map shows European       knowledge of Asia and some of Africa but nothing else. That is,          Europe knows nothing about the “New World.” TC_Bubble

2. Introduce overarching question, “What was the impact of the                 European settler’s encounters with the “New World” ?

  • Work though how one would break down the question:
    • “European settler’s encounters” requires me to know something about Europeans motives and tactics.
    • “impact” requires me to know something about what changed as a result of the encounters. So I need to know something about things were before they came as well as after they came. This means the DATE of contact is important.

I also think of other questions: How did the attitudes of European colonizers shape the way they colonized the “New World”? What happened when European settlers came into contact with the people of the Americas? Why was the contact so significant TC_Bubble