Topic: Colonies

Target group

6th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

VIII. Great geographical discoveries. Student:

1. explains the causes and evaluates the impact of geographical discoveries on the socio‑economic and cultural life of Europe and the New World;

2. places in time and space discoveries of Krzysztof Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, and places in space the colonial estates of Portugal and Spain.

General aim of education

The student will learn about the impact of geographical discoveries on the socio‑economic life of Europe and the New World.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• who and when started the colonial conquests;

• about the greatest colonial powers and the lands in their possession;

• why it was extremely profitable to have colonies;

• why there was rivalry between colonial powers;

• which country became the largest colonial empire in history.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Introduction

1. The teacher states the subject of the lesson, explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

2. The teacher plays the recording of the abstract. Every now and then he stops it, asking the students to tell in their own words what they have just heard. This way, students practice listening comprehension.

Realization

1. Reading the content of the abstract. The teacher uses the text for individual work or in pairs, according to the following steps: 1) a sketchy review of the text, 2) asking questions, 3) accurate reading, 4) a summary of individual parts of the text, 5) repeating the content or reading the entire text.

2. On the basis of information presented on the timeline and news from available sources, students in pairs prepare a discussion on the conclusions of the investigation they carried out. They have to show causal relations among the events presented on the axis. Then the students present their discussions. Colleagues evaluate their work, taking into account the manner in which conclusions are presented and the clarity of justification.

3. The teacher together with the students sums up the current course of classes.

4. The teacher displays the map from Task 2. He reads out the task and, if necessary, helps student work out the answers.

5. Students in pairs solve the Exercise 1. The teacher checks if the task has been correctly completed and gives feedback to students.

Summary

1. The teacher asks a willing student to summarize the lesson from his point of view. He asks other students if they would like to add anything to their colleague's statements.

2. The teacher assesses the students' work during the lesson, taking into account their input and commitment. For this purpose, he may prepare a self‑assessment questionnaire.

Homework

1. Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

2. Make at home a note from the lesson, for example using the sketchnoting method.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Colonies

In the 14th century, Europeans began embarking on maritime expeditions the time of which is now called the Age of Discovery. These initiated the process of colonialism, i.e., conquests and takeovers of economically underdeveloped states. At the first stage of colonialism, until the early 16th century, it was limited mainly to expeditions led by Portugal and Spain. From the very beginning, the Portuguese dominated the trade on the coasts of Africa, today’s Brazil, and in the Indian Ocean basin. There, they founded numerous trading posts which brought them significant profits mainly due to sugar cane cultivation. Spanish colonists, supported by the Catholic Church, focused their conquests on the lands of Central and South America, creating two viceroyalties there, with capitals in Lima and Mexico. Unlike the Portuguese, they very quickly developed settlement there, building commercial and administrative centers, and even establishing monasteries and universities.

Another country to join the [colonial]pojecie‑ref={Colonialism} race were the Netherlands. Being well aware of the benefits of trading with colonies, the Dutch initially tried to develop their cooperation with the Spanish dominions in America. When it was interrupted, they started to profit from piracy, driving the Portuguese away from some of the dominions (Cape Province, Ceylon) and taking over their commercial models (the establishing of trading posts).

England joined the colonial expansion relatively late. Although its presence on the seas and oceans was visible as early as in the 16th century, it was only the conquest and founding of the colonies on the so‑called ‘sugar islands’ (Barbados and Jamaica) in the mid‑17th century that began the slow process of building the colonial empire. Britain turned into this empire only in the 19th century, when it had established dominions in almost every corner of the world.

The last major European player to join the colonial rivalry was France, when it founded its first overseas dominions in the 17th century in the territory of today’s Canada. However, it was not until the expansion to the Caribbean islands – Haiti, Martinique, and Saint Lucia, as well as to the dominions in the Far East, that it really began to count in the competition of the overseas powers.

Rivalry between European countries translated also into activities in overseas territories. In 1756, the Seven Years’ War broke out, which became the first conflict that had a global reach. Military actions took place in Europe, but also in North America, India, and the Caribbean islands.