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The Pack contains associated resources for the learning experience, typically in the form of articles and videos. There is a teacher Pack (with only teacher information) and a student Pack (which contains only student information). As a teacher, you can toggle between both to see everything.
Here are the teacher pack items for The Search for Wealth:
Overview In this experience, students read a section from the poem “In 1492” by Jean Marzollo and reflect on the role of gold and wealth in the journey undertaken by Columbus. Then they examine the 3 Gs—Gold, God, and Glory—as motivation for European exploration of the Americas, and they identify the Spanish colony of St. Augustine. Next they learn about the French and early British colonies and examine the significance of Jamestown. Finally, they learn about mercantilism and explain it in their own words. If you have access to leveled readers that include biographies of European explorers or stories of Jamestown, assign them to the students in parallel to this experience. Estimated duration: 35–45 minutes Vocabulary words: Objectives
Scientists have found evidence that people have lived in the Americas for at least 23,000 years. Over time, many different Indigenous peoples developed communities and cultures across North, Central, and South America. Some built large civilizations, including the Maya, Aztec, and Inca.
For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples lived throughout the Americas before sustained contact with Europeans began in the late 1400s. When European explorers arrived, they encountered lands and peoples that were already home to many established societies. Europeans sometimes referred to the Americas as a “New World,” even though the lands were not new to the people who already lived there.
In this lesson, you will learn about one reason Europeans explored and settled in the Americas.
Objectives
You may be familiar with the poem “In 1492” by Jean Marzollo. The poem describes the journeys of Christopher Columbus. Read a few lines from it:
In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.
…
Columbus sailed on to find some gold
To bring back home, as he’d been told.
He made the trip again and again,
Trading gold to bring to Spain.
According to the poem, why did Spain support the trips made by Columbus?
The poem mentions the word gold twice. In the next scene, students will learn about the “3 Gs”—gold, God, and glory—a common way of summarizing some of the economic, religious, and political motivations for European exploration and colonization of the Americas. You can enrich the literary experience by reading and analyzing the entire poem with students. If you do not have access to a leveled reader that includes the poem, you can find a copy of the entire text in your school library or on the Web. Use the poem as a springboard to remind students that many Indigenous peoples and established societies were already living throughout the Americas when Columbus and other European explorers arrived. European exploration and colonization brought major changes for Indigenous peoples, including disease, warfare, enslavement, forced displacement, and loss of land. Encourage students to also recognize the ways Indigenous peoples responded, resisted, adapted, and continued their communities and cultures.
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