Culture Clash: New World Meets Old
Teacher’s Guide
Grade Level: 6–8
Curriculum Focus: World History
Lesson Duration: Two class periods
Program Description
The Hunt for Society (5 min.)—Traces the physical and cultural development of early
humans—from hunter-gatherers to the first great civilizations. Mesoamerican Conflict
(4 min.)—See how the Maya, Inca, and Aztec civilizations maintained their power through
warfare. Peru’s Past (5 min.)—Profiles the Inca, who overcame their environment to create
great stone cities and an advanced civilization. Columbus: Secrets From the Grave (32 min.)
—Examines the many myths surrounding the man credited with discovering the New World,
separating truth from mere speculation.
Onscreen Questions
•
Why did early humans migrate to different parts of the world?
•
How did Aztec rulers help bring down their empire?
•
How did the Incas adapt to their mountainous environment?
•
Why might Christopher Columbus try to conceal his identity?
Lesson Plan
Student Objectives
•
Demonstrate understanding of basic facts about Christopher Columbus and different theories
regarding his background.
•
Discuss the different experts and resources involved in trying to solve the mystery of
Columbus’ background.
•
Write their own opinion about Columbus’ background, focusing on three pieces of evidence.
Materials
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Culture Clash: New World Meets Old video and VCR, or DVD and DVD player
•
Computer with Internet access
Culture Clash: New World Meets Old: Teacher’s Guide
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2
Resources on Columbus
Procedures
1. After watching Culture Clash, discuss basic facts about Christopher Columbus. Talk about what
is known and what is unknown about his life. (His country of origin and background are unknown.
What is known are facts about his life surrounding the voyage to the New World, as well as facts about
his marriage, his brothers, his son.) Which country funded his voyages to the New World? (Spain)
According to most history books, what is Columbus’ background? (He was the son of a poor
weaver from the Italian town of Genoa.)
2. Next, talk about some of the theories regarding Christopher Columbus’ background. For each
theory, discuss why Columbus might have hid this information. For example
•
He was a Catalan mercenary who had fought against the Spanish. If his secret was
revealed, the Spanish monarchs may not have financed his voyage.
•
He was Jewish, and changed his identity to escape the Spanish Inquisition.
•
His parents were not married, and he hid his past to escape the stigma of
illegitimacy.
•
He was, as he claimed, the son of a Genoese weaver, and hid his modest childhood
because he was ashamed.
3. Ask students to name the types of experts that the historian Charles Merrill consulted while
trying to solve the mystery of Columbus’ background. For each expert, talk about the materials
or resources analyzed. For example:
•
DNA expert (bones of Columbus, his son Hernando, and his brother Diego)
•
Forensic anthropologist (bones of Columbus, his son, and his brother)
•
Handwriting expert (Columbus’ personal letters and journals)
•
Forensic linguist or linguistics engineer (Columbus’ personal letters and journals)
•
Psychological profiler (history and known facts about Columbus’ life)
•
Specialist in Portuguese history (facts about Columbus’ marriage)
4. Have students name any historic materials that Merrill consulted in his research, such as
•
Columbus’ personal writings
•
Columbus’ son’s biography of his father’s life
•
Historical records in Genoa and Catalona
•
Facts about the Colom family of Barcelona
5. Tell students that their assignment is to write an essay offering their own opinion about
Columbus’ background. They should use at least three statements from experts or pieces of
evidence to support their opinion. Encourage them to use additional resources to supplement
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Culture Clash: New World Meets Old: Teacher’s Guide
3
what they learned in the video. They may want to begin with the Discovery site called “Explore
the Evidence”: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/columbus/evidence/explore.html.
6. Have students share their completed essays with the class.
7. Discuss the essays as a class. Which theory was most popular? What additional evidence would
help support or oppose this theory?
Assessment
Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students' work during this lesson.
•
3 points: Students demonstrated a strong understanding of the facts, mysteries, and theories
about Christopher Columbus’ background; wrote a clear, engaging essay supported by at least
three experts or pieces of evidence.
•
2 points: Students demonstrated a satisfactory understanding of the facts, mysteries, and
theories about Christopher Columbus’ background; wrote a competent essay supported by
three experts or pieces of evidence.
•
1 point: Students demonstrated a weak understanding of the facts, mysteries, and theories
about Christopher Columbus’ background; wrote an incomplete or inaccurate essay supported
by less than three experts or pieces of evidence.
Vocabulary
DNA
Definition: The molecule that carries genetic information in all living things; the chemical basis
of heredity (deoxyribonucleic acid).
Context: By comparing Columbus’ DNA with his brother Diego's, Lorente can find out if they
had different mothers.
forensic
Definition: Relating to or dealing with the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems.
Context: Professor Miguel Botella is an expert in forensic anthropology. His expertise enables
him to find secrets within bones.
hominid
Definition: One in the scientific family of bipedal, primate mammals including modern humans
and early humanlike ancestors.
Context: Many scientists believe that the earliest hominids, or members of the human family,
lived in Africa.
ice age
Definition: A period in Earth’s history when ice sheets covered vast regions of land.
Context: Earth’s last ice age ended about 12,000 years ago.
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Culture Clash: New World Meets Old: Teacher’s Guide
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linguist
Definition: One who studies human speech and language.
Context: Forensic linguists will try to unlock the code hidden within Columbus' writings to
reveal his mother tongue.
mercenary
Definition: A soldier paid to fight for a country other than his or her own
Context: Charles Merrill believes that Columbus was a Catalan mercenary who once fought
against Spain.
Mesoamerica
Definition: The region in present-day Mexico and most of Central America where civilizations
flourished before European contact.
Context: The Maya lived in the hot, dense rain forests of southern Mesoamerica.
Spanish Inquisition
Definition: From 1478 to 1834 a Roman Catholic judicial institution intended to root out religious
heresy, often through the use of torture and public execution.
Context: There is evidence that suggests Columbus was a Jew who secretly changed his identity
to escape the Spanish Inquisition.
Academic Standards
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
McREL's Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K–12 Education
addresses 14 content areas. To view the standards and benchmarks, visit
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp.
This lesson plan addresses the following national standards:
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World History: Era 1—Understands the biological and cultural processes that shaped the
earliest human communities
•
World History: Era 3—Understands how early agrarian civilizations arose in Mesoamerica
•
World History: Era 6—Global Expansion and Encounter: Understands how the transoceanic
interlinking of all major regions of the world between 1450 and 1600 led to global
transformations
•
U.S. History: Era 1—Understands the characteristics of societies in the Americas, Western
Europe, and Western Africa that increasingly interacted after 1450.
•
Historical Understanding: Understands the historical perspective.
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Culture Clash: New World Meets Old: Teacher’s Guide
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The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has developed national standards to provide
guidelines for teaching social studies. To view the standards online, go to
http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands/
This lesson plan addresses the following thematic standards:
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Culture
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Time, Continuity, and Change
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Individual Development and Identity
Support Materials
Develop custom worksheets, educational puzzles, online quizzes, and more with the free teaching tools
offered on the Discoveryschool.com Web site. Create and print support materials, or save them to a
Custom Classroom account for future use. To learn more, visit
•
http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/teachingtools.html
DVD Content
This program is available in an interactive DVD format. The following information and activities are
specific to the DVD version.
How To Use the DVD
The DVD starting screen has the following options:
Play Video—This plays the video from start to finish. There are no programmed stops, except by
using a remote control. With a computer, depending on the particular software player, a pause
button is included with the other video controls.
Video Index—Here the video is divided into four parts (see below), indicated by video thumbnail
icons. Watching all parts in sequence is similar to watching the video from start to finish. Brief
descriptions and total running times are noted for each part. To play a particular segment, press
Enter on the remote for TV playback; on a computer, click once to highlight a thumbnail and read
the accompanying text description and click again to start the video.
Curriculum Units—These are specially edited video segments pulled from different sections of the
video (see below). These nonlinear segments align with key ideas in the unit of instruction. They
include onscreen pre- and post-viewing questions, reproduced below in this Teacher’s Guide. Total
running times for these segments are noted. To play a particular segment, press Enter on the TV
remote or click once on the Curriculum Unit title on a computer.
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Culture Clash: New World Meets Old: Teacher’s Guide
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Standards Link—Selecting this option displays a single screen that lists the national academic
standards the video addresses.
Teacher Resources—This screen gives the technical support number and Web site address.
Video Index
I. The Hunt for Society (5 min.)
Although we do not know exactly where or when the first humans lived, scientists do have an
understanding of what they were like. Examine the lives of early hominids.
II. Mesoamerican Conflict (4 min.)
Explore the cultures of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec civilizations, the most advanced empires in
Mesoamerica.
III. Peru’s Past (5 min.)
The Inca created a flourishing and advanced civilization in the inhospitable Andes Mountains. Take
a closer look at the Inca Empire and its accomplishments.
IV. Columbus: Secrets from the Grave (32 min.)
Who was Christopher Columbus? Investigate the famous explorer’s origins with the help of
scientists, historians, and other experts.
Curriculum Units
1. The Earliest Known Humans
Pre-viewing question:
Q: Where and when do you think the first humans lived?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question:
Q: What were the early hominids like?
A: Early hominids were scavengers. The little meat they got usually came from animals killed by
other animals. Early humans survived mainly by eating plant foods, including nuts, seeds, and
fruit. Roughly 2.5 million years ago, hominids learned how to make tools out of stone. With these
they could cut meat from bones, dig up roots, cut wood, and scrape animal hides. Fire was perhaps
the most important tool that early humans had.
2. The Spread of Modern Humans 1
Pre-viewing question:
Q: How did the community where you live develop?
A: Answers will vary.
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Post-viewing question:
Q: How did farming help establish the first communities?
A: Early humans were hunter-gatherers, moving from place to place to follow their sources of food.
Once they could grow their own food they no longer had to travel as much. Farming increased the
amount of food people had, which allowed them to form communities for the first time.
3. Early Cultures of the Americas
Pre-viewing question:
Q: What do you know about early Mesoamerican cultures?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question:
Q: What were the Maya, Inca, and Aztec cultures like?
A: The Maya lived in the hot, dense rain forests of Southern Mesoamerica. They lived in separated
city-states that often traded and fought with one another. They built pyramids that rivaled those in
Egypt. The Maya also developed one of the most advanced writing systems in the Americas.
The Inca culture arose in the Andes Mountains of South America. The Inca created a wellordered society in which every citizen had a specific duty to the government. They imposed a
single language and taught it to conquered peoples. They created many beautiful and useful objects
out of gold, silver, and textiles. The Inca built impressive cities out of stone, developed irrigation
canals and created a large network of roads.
The Aztecs built the island city of Tenochtitlan, one of the most advanced cities of its time,
complete with aqueducts, massive temples, and wide avenues and canals. At its peak, the Aztec
Empire ruled nearly 10 million people.
4. The People of the Andes
Pre-viewing question:
Q: What do you think would be the hardest environment to live in and why?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question:
Q: What do you think was the most impressive aspect of the Inca civilization?
A: Answers will vary.
5. Cuzco and Machu Picchu
Pre-viewing question:
Q: What do you think is the heart of your community or country?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question:
Q: Describe the city of Machu Picchu.
A: Located northwest of Cuzco, Machu Picchu was the mountain retreat of Inca emperor Pachacuti.
It includes an area of well-built houses for the nobility, a district for scholars and artists, and,
farther down the mountain, houses and terraces for the farmers. The religious center of Machu
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Culture Clash: New World Meets Old: Teacher’s Guide
Picchu was the mound, a sacred stone that resembles a sundial. This is where offerings were made
to the sun god.
6. Questions About Columbus’ Past
Pre-viewing question:
Q: Have you ever pretended to be someone or something you are not?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question:
Q: What do you think is the real story of Christopher Columbus’ past?
A: Answers will vary.
7. The Origins of Christopher Columbus
Pre-viewing question:
Q: Do you believe Christopher Columbus was from Genoa, Italy?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question:
Q: What is the accepted theory about Christopher Columbus’ childhood?
A: It has generally been believed that Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy to a weaver and his wife.
It is said that in his youth Columbus worked in crafts, particularly in weaving. It was not until his
early twenties that he was said to have become a sailor. He then became a crewmember aboard a
Genoese trading ship and left Italy for good.
8. Studying Columbus’ Remains
Pre-viewing question:
Q: What do you think scientists will learn from Columbus’ remains?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question:
Q: Do you think that it is important that we know Columbus’ origins?
A: Answers will vary.
9. Challenging Columbus’ Genoese Origins
Pre-viewing question:
Q: Why might somebody keep their origins a secret?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question:
Q: What are some clues that Christopher Columbus might not have been from Genoa?
A: Charles Merrill claims a document written by Columbus has been mistranslated to say his heart
is in Genoa. Columbus also wrote that he began sailing at a young age, which contradicts
historians’ accounts that he didn’t go to sea until in his 20s. It is also unlikely that someone of
humble Genoese origins would have been able to marry into a noble Portuguese family, as
Columbus did.
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Culture Clash: New World Meets Old: Teacher’s Guide
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10. Columbus’ Possible Catalan Origins
Pre-viewing question:
Q: What do you think would happen if it was proven that Columbus was not Italian?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question:
Q: Do you think Christopher Columbus was Spanish?
A: Answers will vary.
11. A New Approach to DNA Analysis
Pre-viewing question:
Q: How would you go about researching the history of a secretive person?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question:
Q: Do you think the U.S. lab will have better results with Columbus’ bones?
A: Answers will vary.
12. Columbus’ True Origins
Pre-viewing question:
Q: What kinds of evidence would you use to prove somebody’s origins?
A: Answers will vary.
Post-viewing question:
Q: What evidence indicates that Columbus was Catalan in origin?
A: Analysis shows that Columbus’ brother Diego is much older than the Genoese theory says, and
it indicates the brothers were not part of the Genoese weaver’s family. Columbus’ handwriting also
revealed that Columbus was well educated, something a person from a Genoese weaving family
would not be. Additionally, Columbus’ mother tongue could be Catalan. However, the DNA tests
were inconclusive and the mystery remains.
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.