Lesson video
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Hello, everyone.
How are you today?
I hope you're feeling really good.
My name is Ms. Afzal, and I'll be your teacher for this lesson, which I'm feeling really pleased about.
I think we've got quite an interesting topic ahead.
Our lesson is called "The Americas before the arrival of Europeans.
" This lesson comes from the unit of work "European conquest of the Americas: why was its impact so devastating?
" So, if you are ready to dive into this topic, if you have energy, focus, and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.
The outcome for today's lesson is: I can describe what North America was like before the arrival of Europeans.
I hope that sounds interesting to you.
We have some keywords in our lesson.
Let's go through them one at a time, saying them out loud.
My turn, your turn.
Native American, Indigenous, nation, empire, hunter-gatherers.
Good to hear those keywords.
And I'd like you to turn to someone and share with them, have you heard of any of these keywords before?
Do you have any idea what these keywords mean?
Pause here and share with someone.
Thanks for sharing your understanding of these keywords.
Let's find out what they mean.
Native Americans are members of any of the societies who originally inhabited North and South America and the Caribbean Islands.
Indigenous people are the original inhabitants of a specific area.
A nation is a community of people linked together by shared language, territory, ethnicity, or culture.
An empire is a group of countries or provinces ruled from the center by a person or group of people.
Hunter-gatherers are people who live off hunting, fishing, and harvesting wild food.
So these are our keywords: Native Americans, Indigenous, nation, empire, and hunter-gatherers.
Let's look out and listen out for them.
Let's think carefully about these keywords that will be coming up in our lesson today.
Our lesson is called "The Americas before the arrival of Europeans," and it has three learning cycles: European arrivals, Native American diversity, and the Iroquois.
So let's begin by exploring European arrivals.
Take a look at this map.
What do you think is missing from this map?
Pause here and share with someone.
Thanks for sharing.
Australia, Antarctica, and most of the Americas are not shown.
And here we can see a statue of Leif Erikson, the most famous explorer from Viking Greenland.
And he led the Viking explorers from Greenland, who became the first Europeans to arrive in North America.
Pause here and share with someone some detail you notice on the statue of Leif Erikson.
Thanks for sharing.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Identify the first group of people to live in the Americas.
Choose from this selection: A, Native Americans, B, Greenland Vikings, C, Christopher Columbus.
Pause here while you decide who were the first group of people to live in the Americas.
Well done if you said Native Americans.
These were the first people to live in the Americas.
Let's have another check for understanding.
In which two ways did Native Americans and Viking settlers interact in North America in the 11th century?
Choose from this selection: A, they never met one another.
B, traded together.
C, created joint settlements.
D, fought one another.
Pause here while you select which two ways Native Americans and Viking settlers interacted in North America in the 11th century.
Well done if you selected answer B, they traded together, and D, they fought one another.
These are two ways in which Native Americans and Viking settlers interacted in North America in the 11th century.
And now it's time for your first task.
I would like you to summarize the history of the first Europeans' arrival in the Americas.
You may use the following sentence starters in your answer: Before Columbus arrived in the Americas.
.
.
Once the first Europeans had arrived in the Americas.
.
.
However, European settlements in the Americas were abandoned because.
.
.
So pause here while you have a go at this task of summarizing the history of the first Europeans' arrival in the Americas.
I'll see you when you've finished your task.
It is good to be back with you.
How did you get on with summarizing the history of the first Europeans' arrival in the Americas?
Your answer may have included something like this: Before Columbus arrived in the Americas, Viking explorers from Greenland became the first Europeans to arrive in North America.
Once the first Europeans had arrived in the Americas, the Vikings created settlements and began to trade with Native Americans.
However, European settlements in the Americas were abandoned because Viking settlers came into conflict with Indigenous groups in the Americas.
Well done if you summarized the history of the first Europeans' arrival in the Americas like this.
Well done for having a go at this task.
And now we're onto our next learning cycle, Native American diversity.
There were many different Native American societies spread across the Americas before Europeans arrived.
And here's a map of the Americas, and here we can see some of the Native American societies.
There were Inuits, Iroquois, Aztecs, Maya, Inca.
Indigenous societies differed in structure and size.
Let's take a look at the Aztecs and the Iroquois.
Aztecs were led by an emperor, while the Iroquois were led by a council of 50.
In the Aztec societies, men dominated, whereas with the Iroquois, leaders were male but were appointed by women.
The Aztec population was greater than 5 million at its height, and the Iroquois population reached a maximum of 20,000.
The Aztec Empire included huge cities like Tenochtitlan.
And the Iroquois lived in villages and towns but not cities.
So we can see some real differences in structure and size between these different Indigenous societies.
Let's have a check for understanding.
True or false?
All Native Americans were part of one society.
Pause here while you decide, is this statement true or false?
Well done if you selected false, and now I'd like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of these two statements: A, Native Americans all shared the same culture and leaders.
B, there were many different Native American societies like the Iroquois, Aztecs, and Incas.
Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.
Well done if you selected statement B.
Indeed, there were many different Native American societies, like the Iroquois, Aztecs, and Incas.
This statement justifies your earlier answer.
Let's have another check for understanding.
Identify the two accurate comparisons between the Aztecs and Iroquois.
Choose from this selection: A, the Iroquois nation was much larger than the Aztec Empire.
B, the Aztecs and Iroquois were both led by emperors.
C, the Iroquois did not build large cities like the Aztecs.
D, Iroquois women had more political power than Aztec women.
Pause here while you identify the two accurate comparisons between the Aztecs and Iroquois.
Well done if you selected statements C and D.
Indeed, the Iroquois did not build large cities like the Aztecs, and Iroquois women had more political power than Aztec women.
These are the two accurate comparisons between the Aztecs and Iroquois.
And now it's time for your next task.
I would like you to provide evidence to support the following statement: Native American societies were not all the same.
You should refer to both the Iroquois and the Aztecs as part of your response.
So pause here while you have a go at this task, and be sure to provide evidence to support the statement "Native American societies were not all the same.
" Enjoy your task, and I'll see you when you're finished.
It's good to be back with you.
How did you get on with that task of providing evidence to support this statement, "Native American societies were not all the same.
" And did you refer to both the Iroquois and the Aztecs as part of your response?
You may have considered the following: The Aztec Empire was much larger than the Iroquois nation.
Over 5 million people lived in the Aztec Empire compared to just 20,000 in the Iroquois nation.
Well done for having a go at this task.
And now we're onto our final learning cycle, the Iroquois.
Here's a photo of a modern US coin celebrating the Iroquois Great Law of Peace.
Pause here and share with someone details that you notice on this coin.
Thanks for sharing what you noticed.
Let's have a check for understanding.
How can the structure of Iroquois society best be described?
Choose from this selection: A, a single nation of Native Americans.
B, a league of three Native American nations.
C, a league of five Native American nations.
D, a league of eight Native American nations.
Pause here while you decide how the structure of Iroquois society can best be described.
Well done if you selected answer C.
Indeed, it could be described as a league of five Native American nations.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Write the missing word.
After the Iroquois League was formed, the population of the Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Mohawk nations.
.
.
Complete the sentence by filling in the missing word.
Pause here while you do this.
Your answer may have included the words either grew, expanded, or increased.
Let's read through the sentence again using one of these words.
After the Iroquois League was formed, the population of the Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Mohawk nations expanded.
Here's an illustration of an Iroquois village.
Longhouses can be seen throughout the village.
Pause here and share with someone some details you notice in this image of an Iroquois village.
Thanks for sharing what you noticed.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Complete the sentence.
The Iroquois called themselves the Haudenosaunee, which meant, A, people of the longhouses, or B, people of the shorthouses.
Pause here while you decide.
Well done if you selected answer A.
Indeed, the Iroquois called themselves the Haudenosaunee, which meant people of the longhouses.
And now I'd like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of these two statements: C, several families usually shared each Iroquois house, or D, the Iroquois moved regularly, so did not stay in the same home for long.
Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.
Well done if you selected statement C.
Indeed, several families usually shared each Iroquois house.
This statement justifies your earlier answer.
Here we can see an illustration of the Three Sisters crop and an illustration of Native Americans hunting deer.
Pause here and share with someone any details you notice in these images.
Thanks for sharing what you noticed.
Let's have a check for understanding.
True or false?
The Iroquois obtained most of their food by farming.
Pause here while you decide, is this statement true or false?
Well done if you selected true.
And now I'd like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of these two statements: A, the Iroquois were successful hunter-gatherers.
B, corn, beans, and squash were the most commonly grown crops.
Pause while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.
Well done if you selected statement B.
Indeed, corn, beans, and squash were the most commonly grown crops.
This statement justifies your earlier answer.
And now it's time for your next task.
I would like you firstly to provide examples to support each of the following statements about the Iroquois.
The first one is done for you.
A, the Iroquois were a mixed Native American society.
They were made up of five different Indigenous nations: the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.
B, the Iroquois used various methods to acquire food.
C, the Iroquois lived in large homes.
So pause here while you provide examples to support statements B and C.
I'll see you when you're finished.
It's good to be back with you.
How did you get on with providing examples to support the following statements about the Iroquois?
Here is the first example that was done for you.
The Iroquois were a mixed Native American society.
They were made up by five different Indigenous nations: the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.
Let's see how you may have answered B.
The Iroquois used various methods to acquire food.
They were hunter-gatherers but produced most of their food by farming crops like corn.
And C, the Iroquois lived in large homes.
Longhouses were the most common form of Iroquois housing and could be up to 300 feet long.
Onto the next part of your task.
"The Americas were not empty before Europeans arrived.
" Write one paragraph to explain why this view is correct.
Pause here while you have a go at this part of your task.
So how did you get on with writing your paragraph?
You may have written something like this: The Americas were not empty before Europeans arrived because many different Indigenous societies existed.
For example, the Iroquois lived successfully in North America and grew in size after 1450.
The Aztec Empire was another Native American society and ruled over 5 million people by 1500.
This shows that there were many successful Indigenous societies already in the Americas before Europeans arrived.
Well done if you answered in this way.
Well done for having a go at this task.
In our lesson, "The Americas before the arrival of Europeans," we've covered the following.
Greenland Vikings were the first Europeans to arrive in the Americas.
There was a diverse range of Indigenous societies in the Americas before Europeans arrived there.
There were many differences in the size, structure, and culture of Native American societies.
Nations like the Iroquois were growing in size before Europeans arrived in the Americas.
Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.
I thought it was really interesting to explore some of the different Indigenous societies living and thriving in the Americas before the Europeans arrived there.
I hope you enjoyed this lesson.
I enjoyed teaching you, and I look forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.
Bye for now.
