DOCUMENT RESUME ED 368 588 SO 022 834 TITLE Columbus and the Age of Discovery. Activity Guide. INSTITUTION WGBH-TV, Boston, Mass. SPONS AGENCY Xerox Corp., Rochester, N.Y. PUB DATE 92 NOTE 37p. AVAILABLE FROMWGBH, Columbus and the Age of Discovery, Box 2222-CG, South Easton, MA 02375 ($4). PUB TYPE Guides Classroom Use Teaching Guides (For Teacher) (052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Controversial Issues (Course Content); *Instructional Materials; Learning Activities; Political Issues; Secondary Education; Sccial Studies; *Teaching Guides; Television; *World History IDENTIFIERS *Columbus (Christopher); *Columbus Quincentenary ABSTRACT This seven part teacher's guide is designed to accompany the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) television series, "Columbus and the Age of Discovery," and also may be used without viewing the programs. The guide features seven units that reflect the themes of the television series. The units are:(1) "Columbus's World";(2) "An Idea Takes Shape";(3) "The Crossing";(4) "Worlds Found and Lost";(5) "The Sword and the Cross";(6) "The Columbian Exchange"; and (7) "In Search of Columbus". The focus of the units is on activities that are related to the subjects covered in the programs. The activities are designed to help students understand the world that produced Christopher Columbus, the cultures that existed in the Western Hemisphere before he arrived, the motivations behind his voyages, the resulting exchange, and the legacy of his encounter. In addition to the scven units and seven activities, the guide offers extensive reading and resource lists and student handouts that support the activities. The National Council for the Social Studies Position Statement on the Columbian Quincentenary also is included. (DB) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** UAL ommurneeNT OF IDUCATION Othm ot Educawnal RmseecIt and wpromeme. EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) t'hse 00Curneof has beim reproduced es I mewed from tho person or orpmszatan empnehfta it 0 MMOr ChtmOss have boon made to prePtove newoduohOn quehty Points 01 umaw os opinions matted in this docu . moot do not neoessanty represont *Mast (*RI toomOon or pato.. "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MAT IAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY j;Pac QSS TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." if .L1 1)1y,, h\ \X ( 1 I I 6. turr n _ XEROX Dear Educator: Five hundred years ago, Columbus made his historic voyages to the Americas; his experiences continue to fascinate and to enlighten us. This is why Xerox is proud to sponsor two major quincentenary programs: the television series Columbus and the Age of Discovery and the "Seeds of Change" exhibition at the Smithsonian. By combining the informative and entertaining television series Columbus and the Age of Discovery with this Teacher's Guide, we hope that you and your students will it9-1- relive Columbus's extraordinary encounters in the New World. To further your learning about Columbus and the impact of his voyages, we invite you to visit the "Seeds of Change" exhibition, open until May 1993. As the corporate underwriter of these two noteworthy programs, it is our hope that you will use this material to stimulate and encourage your students in their quest for knowledge and the pursuit of new discoveries. VAL) if111--f-S141-1714- J--.1 Ordering Information Off-Air Taping Rights ytcwGiAr- -.Is's.1,a Additional copies of this All programs in this series teacher's guide are available may be recorded and shown t*.t.A1 for $4 (to cover postage and for educational use within Ak handling). Please send seven days directly after checks payable to WGBH to broadcast. Videocassettes are also availab'.e. For infor- ;SI... WGBH mation about videocassettes, Columbus and the Age contact of Discovery Box 2222-CG The WGBH Collection South Easton, MA 02375 P.O. Box 2053 (617) 963-8666 Princeton, NJ 08543 (800) 828-WGBH For information about Fax: (609) 452-1602 the student newspaper -,;i\ ' supplement. see the The WGBH Collection is Resources section on distributed for WGBH by Films for the Humanities pages 28-29. and Sciences. Columbus wrote this letter to Luis de Santangel, keeper of the privy purse to the Spanish crown, on the return from his first voyage. stalviv Copyright © 1992 WGBH Educational Foundation3 12/0wAttrit 0" BEST COPY AVAIF" 1 . *,. Contents 2 Using This Guide 18Activity:The Faces of Columbus 3 Stormy Waters 19Activity:Test Your Columbus IQ Or, Can a Series about Columbus 20Activity: Mesoamerican Cultures Be "Politically Correct"? (And Does It Need to Be?) 21Activity: Columbus's Letter 4 Unit 1: Columbus's World 22Activity: Reading Pictures 6 Unit 2: An Idea Takes Shape 23Activity: Judging Columbus 8 Unit 3:The Crossing 94Activity:Through the Looking Glass 10Unit 4:Worlds Found and Lost 26Suggested Readings 17Unit 5:The Sword and the Cross 28Resources 14Unit 6:The Columbian Exchange 30NCSS Position Statement 16Unit 7: In Search of Columbus 32Answers to Test Your ColumbLs IQ 33Credits Replicas of Columbus's three ships, built by the Spanish Royal Navy, sail west. -JJ :IV 4fit _41:5;i1;',1;-ifi8q , At4 Yr: Lty 4)>. e " ,of". r 71..14*Erith BEST COPY AV LE Using This Guide The Columbus Quincentenary has been met by a host of conflicting voices.The issues raised by the controversy will not be easily resolved. Educators can take this opportunity to let students hear all the voices and discover for themselves the many perspectives on this issue. About the Series special have seven-day off-air taping designed to help your students under- As you can read in the article on the rights: you can tape the programs and stand the world that produced facing page, the producer of Columbus use them in the classroom within Columbus, the cultures that existed in and the Age of Discovery has been seven days after broadcast. For infor- the Western Hemisphere before he listening to these voices for the past mation about videocassettes, see the arrived, the motivations behind his ten years. The seven-part series that inside front cover. voyages, the resulting exchange, and resulted from his exploration of the the legacy of the encounter. topic premiered in October 1991 and About the Guide In addition to the seven activity- will be rebroadcast this fall. This teacher's guide is designed to based units, this guide offers extensive However, before the full series work with the three-hour special, the reading and resource lists to guide you sails again, PBS will broadcast a three- seven-part series, and on its own. The and your students as you dive into hour special, Columbus' Magnificent guide is broken up into seven units sometimes murky water. We have Voyage, on Sunday, October 11, at reflecting the themes of the series. included both traditional and alternative 8:00P.M.This recut, renarrated Each unit includes a synopsis of the books and organizations. We have also program will take the broad scope of accompanying program with discus- reproduced the Columbian the seven-part series and focus more sion questions. The three-hour special Quincentenary Position Statement from closely on Columbus, the world will focus mostly on material from the the National Council for the Social around him, and the incredible voyage first four programs. Studies (NCSS), which offers guidelines that led to the bringing together of The focus of the seven units is for studying Columbus and the two very old and very different on activities. These activities are Quincentenary. worlds. related to the subjects covered in the As the NCSS states, Columbus's Following the broadcast of this programs, but do not require viewing voyage is too significant to be ignored three-hour special, the original seven- them. If you are viewing the three- or to be treated trivially. The world we part series will be rebroadcast begin- hour special, you can still use any of know today would not have come to ning Thursday, October 15 at 8:00 the activities in the seven units, be without the chain of events set in P.M. on many public television sta- depending on what subject areas you motion by that initial contact. And tions. Call your local public television are studying. Some of these activities understanding and dealing with our station to confirm the broadcast dates are supported by reproducible student common future as a global society and times in your area. Both the handouts found on pages 18 through begins with understanding what has seven-part series and the three-hour 25. In general, the activities are happened in the past. Stormy Waters Or, Can a Series about Coulmbus Be "Politically Correct" (And Does It Need to Be?) by Executive Producer Zvi Dor-Ner ,4.f.7.1112. Columbus and the Age of Discoveryis This opinion is shared by African part of the 500th anniversary of 1 Americans, whose forebears were Columbus's arrival on these shores. brought initially to the Caribbean, This anniversary is under immense then to North and South America, as political scrutiny. slaves. For them, the Quincentenary This is a relatively new phenom- is an occasion to mourn the freedom enon. In 1984, when the U.S. Con- that was lost when their ancestors gress appointed a commission to were captured and forced to work on prepare for what was seen then as a the plantations of the :.meticas. They celebration, it was given a long, want their suffering remembered. awkward name that also declared its Columbus and the Age of Discovery politics. It was and still is called has never intendeu to choose among the Christopher Columbus these attitudes. We do not endorse Quincentenary Jubilee Commission. one at the expense of another.