Students will investigate the background and motivation of the Spanish conquest of the New World and its ramifications. They will apply modern research techniques to reach into the past and explore the major method of diffusion during the Renaissance of sea trade and the technology of global exploration. Students read grade appropriate material. They describe and connect the essential ideas, arguments, and perspectives of the text, and they relate text structure, organization, and purpose.
Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays.
Writing exhibits awareness of audience and purpose. Essays contain formal introductions, bodies of supporting evidence and conclusions. Students successfully use the stages of writing process. This unit would be best after studying the early civilizations of the Americas. Team sizes can be enlarged to either fit the number of students in a class or shorten the project time.