Crossroads Unit2

Unit II: Contact: Europe and America Meet: 1492-1673

1848-1880


Content and Concepts:

1. European explorers were looking for a water route to the Indies when they discovered the North American Continent.
2. European explorers thought they had discovered a "new world," but it was actually another old world with its own distinct culture.
3. Present-day maps have a special language that enables us to read many kinds of maps and to learn a great deal about the world around us.
4. European society in the fifteenth century was undergoing extraordinary changes that contributed toward the Age of Exploration.
5. Explorers faced many conflicts before, during, and after their voyages.
6. The explorers set off a cultural exchange that brought ideas, technology, and diseases that overwhelmed and changed forever the lands and people they invaded.

Teacher's Rationale:

After completing Unit I, students have a good understanding of the people and culture of pre-Columbian North America. Unit II will demonstrate how that culture was changed, both negatively and positively, with the arrival of European explorers in the fifteenth Century. Students will be introduced to the explorers by reading biographies. Reading about the achievements of others will help students to see history as the lives and events of real people and to appreciate the contributions of all cultures. Biographies may help to increase a student's own aspirations and provide role models for their lives. They also serve as a useful vehicle for studying bias, fact vs. opinion, and characterization.

The classroom teacher, librarian, and art and music teachers will once again use an interdisciplinary approach to the study of this period of history. As with the previous unit of study, instruction in the language arts skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking will be an integral part of each lesson as students discover the interrelatedness of geography, history, and culture. Enrich-ment activities involving science and math concepts will further develop the content being covered in the unit.


Table of Contents:
Lesson 1: The World in 1492.
Lesson 2: Discovering the World of 1492.
Lesson 3: Meeting Explorers by Reading Biographies.
Lesson 4: The Treasures of Two Worlds
Exercise in Conflict/Resolution
Resources for Unit II