Dinner Party (Explorers)
![Picture](/uploads/2/7/2/8/27285551/1429645329.png)
Description
Each learner researches information about an important explorer of the Early Modern Era. Learners create an electronic resume with biographical information, a picture (painting or drawing) of the explorer, and a map of his major voyages. On the dinner party date, learners bring with an explorer name tag, a food that was indigenous to the region to which the explorer traveled, their resume, and five questions to ask other explorers during the dinner party. As an entire class, learners produce a seating chart with an explanation of how/why explorers are sitting. During the dinner, learners take on the persona of their explorer and conduct conversation by way of "similarly, I...", "differently, I...", or asking how/why questions to fellow explorers.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of the project, learners will be able to:
Technology
Assessment
Learners were assessed on the following content and skills:
Each learner researches information about an important explorer of the Early Modern Era. Learners create an electronic resume with biographical information, a picture (painting or drawing) of the explorer, and a map of his major voyages. On the dinner party date, learners bring with an explorer name tag, a food that was indigenous to the region to which the explorer traveled, their resume, and five questions to ask other explorers during the dinner party. As an entire class, learners produce a seating chart with an explanation of how/why explorers are sitting. During the dinner, learners take on the persona of their explorer and conduct conversation by way of "similarly, I...", "differently, I...", or asking how/why questions to fellow explorers.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of the project, learners will be able to:
- Identify and explain the 5 primary reasons for exploration during this era.
- Identify significant explorers, the areas to which they traveled, and explain the long-term significance of their actions (including Prince Henry, Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Ferdinand Magellan, John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, Francisco Pizarro, Vasco de Balboa, Marco Polo, Batholomeu Dias, Juan Ponce de Leon, Hernando Cortes, James Cook, and Zheng He).
- Describe changes that arose from interactions between explorers and indigenous peoples.
Technology
- Internet: research information about a specific explorer and food origins
- Adobe InDesign: create a 1-page resume on a specific explorer (in color, with graphics)
Assessment
Learners were assessed on the following content and skills:
- Explains and describes methods for grouping similar characteristics of explorers
- Uses graphic design program to create a resume of the explorer
- Uses MLA formatting for a sources cited page
- Verbally presents information about a significant explorer
- Discusses similarities and differences of the explorers
- Identifies foods native to the Americas (New World) compared to those of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania (Old World)
- Quiz/Test on the Era of Exploration
Instructional Artifacts
During the project, learners used whiteboard markers to mark foods that were discovered in credible literature to be indigenous to different regions visited during the time of exploration on the laminated world map on the wall of the classroom. There were four major regions the food origins were grouped into: the Americas (new world; red), Europe (green), Afro-Asia (purple), and Oceania. ![]()
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