Warm-Up/Opening:

• Class enters to music of Maya violin and drum song. (2 minutes). ​Teacher will open class by explaining how Yucatecan Maya musicians Marcelino Poot Ek, Pedro Ek Cituk, and Esteban Caamal Dzul perform this traditional 19th century War of Castes song "Aires Fandango," which combines the European Columbian Exchange product the violin with the Bombo and Torola drums and tonality of the Mayas. This is an auditory/musical representation of how products and cultures traveled, transferred, and transmuted in the process of the Columbian Exchange.  This is an ideal activity to engage students with different learning styles and to introduce the new unit. Warm up ends with teacher handing out pre-quiz papers to students. ​

Motivator/Bridge:​

• Class begins with pre-quiz on Columbian Exchange. (5 minutes). The pre-quiz is a six question multiple choice and short answer formative assessment which will assess students' previous knowledge of the subject as well as their personal connection with the subject. The last question on the quiz asks students to "List at least three essential dishes or ingredients used when you get together with extended family that are part of your family’s traditional ethnic cuisine." This activity will help students to know what they need to do to learn in the unit as well as integrate multicultural perspectives with the learning process. ​Teacher collects pre-quizzes at the end of this time and assesses them briefly during the video.
• Class watches introductory video on the Columbian Exchange. (2 minutes) The Crash Course World History Video is an excellent resource which provides a concise introduction to the categories of the Columbian Exchange which students will study through this and the following lesson: people, diseases, animals, and plants. A transcript will be handed out to students for whom it would be helpful (the cultural deaf student, ESL students, and/or student with learning disability).
• Class listens to teacher provide bridge from introductory material to group work. (3 minutes) Having assessed the pre-quizzes briefly during the video in order to gauge previous student knowledge, the teacher will hand back the quizzes and now introduce the group work which will be the bulk of the lesson. The students will already be broken up into heterogeneous, diversified groupings, in which they will be seated. Students will use teacher provided material on various categories of Columbian Exchange products to do collaborative research which will be presented to the whole class near the end of the lesson. The teacher will then hand out the in-class Columbian Exchange chart to all students, the Research Guide to all students, and the scaffolded group project graphic organizers to those students who need them.​
• Class listens to and records the teacher provided objectives. (2 minutes)  ​

  Teacher will present, both in written form on the board and orally, the following set of objectives:  Cognitive Objectives : students will be able to
  1. accurately identify, understand, and organize the plants, animals and microbes originating from the new and old worlds while working in groups 2. apply their understanding of the plants, animals, and microbes of the Columbian Exchange to their knowledge of geography by placing their group’s id’s on their relevant location on a world map 3. evaluate the similarities and differences between their previous knowledge concerning the plants, animals, and microbes of the Columbian Exchange and the historical  reality of each as they plan a brief writing assignment 4. analyze these similarities and differences in a short writing assignment (or modified assignment based on individual need) that allows them to consider the results of global interaction and cultural change. Affective Objectives: students will be able to 1. effectively work in groups as they cooperate to achieve learning objectives 2. be a part of a heterogeneous grouping that requires understanding and give and take 3. present material orally and concisely to class members 4. listen effectively as class members present orally 5. openly and fairly consider cultural change as a historical factor incorporating both positive and negative elements

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Developmental/Procedural Activities:​

• Group work: students work in their groups/pods to research animals, plants, and microbes of Columbian Exchange (20 minutes) The groups (see lesson component page for break down of groupings) will research 4 to 8 items using excerpts from Wikipedia articles to determine the origins, and pre- and post- 1492 impact of those items. Teacher will mingle and help groups during this time. ​
• Group presentation: groups work together to place their id’s on the map based on their origin; one member of the group orally presents the most significant/interesting id to the whole class. (10 minutes) During the group work time, when an item's origin has been determined, a group member will go to the board where a teacher-created bank of map markers with sticky putty are located and remove that item's marker and place on the map in the location of its origin. One group member has volunteered to give a one minute presentation on which item their group felt was the most surprising or important. The teacher will take the remaining few minutes to help the class draw conclusions about trends that the six groups sets of items created. This will the class up well to draw further conclusions about the limited positive and extensive negative consequences of the Columbian exchange in the following days lessons that focus on the (often forced) migration of people as a part of the Columbian exchange. ​
• Complete Columbian Exchange Chart: during group work and while viewing map/listening to oral presentation, students will fill in where each id originated. (throughout class). Using their pre-quizzes, knowledge from the video, teacher introduction, research packets, groups work, and other group presentations, students will complete a chart with about 40 of the more important  plants, animals, and diseases from AfroEurAsia and plants and animals from the Americas exchanged after 1492.

Adaptations:​

Adaptions will fall along similar lines as Differentiated Instruction (Free Technology Toolkit for UDL in All Classrooms, n.d.; Johns Hopkins University, 2010; Keesee, 2011; UDLCAST, 2012; Sabornie & deBettencourt, 2009; Snowman, McCown, & Biehler, 2012; Stowe, 2000) such as use of scaffolding with graphic organizers for students with language or learning needs, use of technology for students with physical needs, use of physical movement to counter the fact that the students are restive at the end of the school day, and music/video/physical maps to help students of various learning styles. There will be a total of three scaffolded graphic organizers, including one for the group project, one for the exit journal, and one for the captain’s log.  Each of these will help students, such as the student in the class who has a learning disability who reads two grade levels below the class and possibly also the student with ADHD and the student of another language background who has not reached the level of native speakers, be able to gain the same information as the rest of the students due to the organization already present in the organizers. The deaf student will have access to headphones connected to music and video as well as a transcript of the YouTube video.  All students, except not the student with MS if he or she is not able or wanting to walk that day, will be working in groups and moving up to the board to place their id’s on the map as a way to combat the restiveness of students at the end of the day.  Also, the fact that the lesson includes music, a short video, short lecture, group work, written work, and placing id’s on the board means that the lesson is differentiated to meet students of various learning styles’ needs. As Snowman, McCown & Biehler (2012) remind, it is essential to “be flexible and learn to use a variety of teaching and assessment methods so that, at some point, every student’s style is addressed” (Snowman et al., 2012, p. 126).   

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Assessment: 

The pre-quiz, the group work and presentations, the exit journals, and the homework assignment all provide different ways of informally assessing students' learning and retention. ​

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Summary/Closure: 

• Exit journal: students complete a short paragraph explaining the most unexpected id from the Columbian exchange from their personal, cultural heritage. (5 minutes) After each group is done placing their id's and presenting briefly, the teacher will hand out students exit journals, notebooks designated for written reflection on each days learning. The teacher will write the following prompt on the board: "What items from the Columbian Exchange were you most surprised to learn that they were imported only after 1492? Are any of the traditional meals or ingredients from your own ethnic culinary traditions representative of the Columbian exchange?" For students who need scaffolded learning a graphic organizer with six smaller questions will be provided.

 

Sponge/Generalization/Extension Activity:

Students will be encouraged, particularly those who show an aptitude or inclination, to watch the rest of the World History Crash Course Video on their own, or read about the work of historian Alfred Crosby in the Smithsonian (link to the right)​. 

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Review/Reinforcement (Homework): ​

• Class listens to teacher provide explanation of Captain's Log homework assignment. (1 minute) The teacher will hand out the Captain's log assignment and its corresponding graphic organizers for students who would benefit. This assignment has two parts for each day of the Columbian exchange lesson. The first days assignment asks the student to imagine they are creating a captain’s log in May 15, 1503. "You are a Spanish ship captain, recently returned from the new world. In the Americas you saw an amazing array of flora, fauna, peoples, and technology. Now as you prepare to leave the Andalusia port of El Puerto de Santa Maria and return West for a second time, news of your voyage spreads. Soon scheming investors have slipped you lucrative proposals for their restaurant ideas.  Which will you choose—the ice cream shop, the pizzeria, or the taco stand? Each investor has given you a list of ingredients, some available close to home, some only on your up coming voyage.  Ice Cream Split: milk, sugar, vanilla, chocolate, strawberries, bananas, cherries, and peanuts. Pizza: wheat flower, corn meal, cheese, pork sausage, oregano, basil, sugar, tomatoes, green peppers and anchovies. Taco: chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, corn, avocado, cilantro, chili peppers, rice, beans, cheese, and sour cream.  Use your notes from class to chart out your course." Students will then write a paragraph length narrative describing their journey to gather their ingredients. The following day's assignment will ask them to assess the negative impact that such a trip might have on the people and environment of the Americas, Africa and Eurasia. Including the assignment on the same sheet gives students a preview of what the next days lesson will ask them to consider.​

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Lesson Procedure