History and Social Sciences - Global Learning: Virginia Standards of Learning

Standard(s) of Learning

USI.1 The student will demonstrate responsible citizenship and develop skills for historical and geographical analysis, including the ability to

a) identify and interpret primary and secondary source documents to increase understanding of events and life in United States history to 1877;

d)
interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives;

f) analyze and interpret maps to explain relationships among landforms, water features, climatic characteristics, and historical events;

g) distinguish between parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude.

USI.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of European exploration in North America and West Africa by

a) describing the motivations, obstacles, and accomplishments of the Spanish, French, Portuguese, and English explorations;

b)
describing cultural and economic interactions between Europeans and American Indians (First Americans) that led to cooperation and conflict with emphasis on the American Indian concept of land;

c) identifying the location and describing the characteristics of West African societies (Ghana, Mali, and Songhai) and their interactions with traders.

NOTE: The Virginia Board of Education adopted the revised 2008 History and Social Science Standards of Learning at the January 10, 2008, meeting. Full implementation of these documents is scheduled for the 2010-2011 school year, as outlined in Superintendent’s Memorandum Informational Number 49. In the revised SOL, United States History I will be taught through 1865 and U.S. History II will encompass 1865 to the present.

Content

Explain the following reasons European countries were in competition to extend their power into North America and claim the land as their own: Puritans
•    Economic — Gold, natural resources, and trade
•    Religious — Spread of Christianity
•    Competitions for empire and belief in superiority of own culture.

Explain the following obstacles faced by early explorers of North America:
•    Poor maps and navigational tools
•    Disease/starvation
•    Fear of unknown
•    Lack of adequate supplies.

Identify the following accomplishments of early explorers of North America:
•    Exchanged goods and ideas
•    Improved navigational tools and ships
•    Claimed territories (see individual countries below).

Identify the regions explored by the following explorers and the country they represented:
•    Spain
      - Francisco Coronado claimed southwest United States for Spain.
•    France
      - Samuel de Champlain established the French settlement of Quebec.
      -Robert La Salle claimed the Mississippi River Valley.
•    England
      - John Cabot explored eastern Canada.

Describe the voyages of discovery along West Africa made by Portuguese explorers.

Summarize the following cultural interaction between the American Indians (First Americans) and Europeans:
•    Spanish
      - Conquered and enslaved American Indians (First Americans)
      - Brought Christianity to the New World
      - Brought European diseases
•    French
      - Established trading posts
      - Spread Christian religion
•    English
      - Established settlements and claimed ownership of land
      - Learned farming techniques from American Indians (First Americans)
      - Traded.

Describe the following examples of cooperation between the American Indians (First Americans) and the Europeans:
•    Technologies (transportation of weapons and farm tools)
•    Trade
•    Crops.

Describe the following examples of conflict between the American Indians (First Americans) and the Europeans:
•    Land
•    Competition for trade
•    Differences in cultures
•    Disease
•    Language difference.

Explain how the following West African societies became powerful from 300 to 1600 A.D. and controlled trade in West Africa:
•    Ghana
•    Mali
•    Songhai.

Explain how African people and their goods played an important role in arousing European interest in world resources.

Explain how West African empires impacted European trade as the Portuguese carried goods from Europe to West African empires, trading metals, cloth, and other manufactured goods for gold.

Sample Resources

Below is an annotated list of Internet resources for this organizing topic. Copyright restrictions may exist for the material on some Web sites. Please note and abide by any such restrictions.

Explorers. Education Technology-KSU. <http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/explorer.html>. This site provides links to many research/informational sites, as well as lesson plans and other activities.

“Lesson Planning Article. Lessons of the Explorers!” Education World. <http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson162.shtml>. This Web site offers an investigation of explorers that will determine their impact on our world. Included are a dozen simple and successful classroom activities.

Virginia Standards of Learning Assessments for the 2001 History and Social Science Standards of Learning. United States History to 1877. Test Blueprint. Virginia Department of Education, 2003/04. <http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Assessment/HistoryBlueprints03/2002Blueprint3USI.pdf>. This site provides assessment information for the course in United States History to 1877.

Xpeditions Atlas: Maps Made for Printing and Copying. National Geographic. <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/>. This site offers many maps suitable for use as handouts.

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