Today we begin the third and final big piece of this "Modern Europe" unit with a focus on the age of exploration. This amazing documentary film (that was originally a book), Guns, Germs, & Steel, will take you on a higher level analytical journey in which you will see exploration through the lens (view points) of multiple cultures around the globe while answering some important questions and reconnect to some of the most important things you've been learning in here since August! Yes, this footage from around the world is matched with helpful reenactments that make the learning clear, and it includes time spent with communal hunting & gathering societies, ancient agri-cultures, early urban cultures, and empires! This is where our work together starts to gel into a cohesive story! This will take some focus and endurance, but I will pace you through this extensive film lesson in small parts and with clear instructions. Stay with me, and in the end it should all make very good sense and you will have learned and reinforced some important concepts.
Now, for getting started with the work ...basically, we want to have a clear understanding of what we're viewing and really great, detailed notes to be able to use once we're finished. So, that's what we usually call a "Claim & Evidence"; however, for a 3-part film with an 8-part thesis that could be tricky. So, to make this do-able, I've prepared a page just for the thesis in flow chart form...you can either print it from Google Classroom or you can copy that handout of boxes, arrows, and answer bank onto a sheet of your own paper; as you view, plug the number for each answer from the answer box into the correct oval or rectangle in the flow chart, erasing and changing the #s for corrections as you watch more and more. Much later, when we're completely finished and we've had a chance to discuss it, you will then write in the full answer in words. Until then, it's easier to make changes by just using the numbers. Your evidence will be on a separate sheet of your own paper entitled "Guns, Germs, & Steel Evidence," and like usual, you'll take detailed notes there. So, you're going to juggle the thesis flow chart page and your Evidence notes page while watching.
Today view and take evidence notes from the first 20 minutes of part 1 of Guns, Germs, & Steel while also seeing which parts of the flow chart can be filled in (using #s).
