5th+Grade+Unit+2-+European+Exploration

· Europeans exploration to the Western Hemisphere was motivated by a variety of reasons (Gold, God & Glory). · European exploration to the new world greatly impacted the Native American’s way of life. · European culture clashed with the Native American’s spiritual, environmental and governmental belief systems and overall way of life. · Students will be able to explain how events in Europe motivated individuals to explore the unknown. · Students will be able to explain the impact of European exploration on both the new and the old world. · Students will compare and contrast Native American life before and after the arrival of the European Explorers. · Students will examine and look through both a Native American and European lens to understand and compare both perspectives. · Students will be able to analyze the cultural interactions between Native Americans and European explorers, and explain the negative and positive effects of these interactions.
 * __ Essential Questions: __**
 * Why explore?
 * What drives and motivates exploration?
 * Were the Americas discovered or conquered?
 * How and why would life never be the same after European exploration to the new world?
 * __Enduring Understandings:__ **
 * __ Unit Objectives: __**

Hi fifth grade team - I thought this essential question would be great to add to this unit - __ Whose "story" is it? __

__**A few activities/ideas:**__

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 * Explorers Map**:

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 * Cortez vs. the Aztecs primary source activity**: Each group gets only one account of the interaction between the Spanish and the Aztecs - they must use this account to help answer the question: "How did Cortez and an army of about 600 conquer an empire of over 20 million Aztecs? After each group shares their evidence, we debrief by reading/discussing the Epilogue together as a group.


 * Roanoke Performance-Based Assessment**: I have the students read the information taken from the text, __Mysteries of History__ about Roanoke. Then, in groups they create a theory about the Colony's disappearance and present their findings in letter form.