The Last Vestiges

Today, as I was setting up the room, I found this.  One of my classes had apparently slid it under the wall so that it would escape total destruction.  It is the last vestige of the Saian culture, which has been completely destroyed and replaced by the Eropan culture.

The bellwork today wrapped up the colonization simulation.  In case there is any question about what I was going for, I'm going to spell it all out right here.  If I'm reposting anything from Thursday or Friday, sorry.

Students created their own cultures.  These were represented by flags, chants/cheers, and altering their style of dress.  The chants/cheers represent their language, arts, and customs.  The flags represented their government, values, etc...

The play-doh represented the natural resources found on that continent.

I had two groups per continent.  This was to represent that the continents were very large, containing different people groups.  The flags were made out of the same color construction paper, symbolizing the similarities.  But they were still different - representing the differences within each continent.

The Eropans had superior weapons.  They came and attacked the people living on each continent.  The native groups had the choice between fighting and surrendering.  Most chose to fight, and it was rigged.  They lost before they even had a chance to fight.

This was meant to signify the advanced weaponry used against the various groups - be it the Aborigines, the Aztecs, or the Indians of India.

We discussed whether  or not it was "fair."  I asked whether or not the Eropans were ethnocentric for what they did.  I would submit the answer is yes.  They believed their culture was best - so much better than the others,  in fact that the other cultures didn't even deserve to live in many cases.

If you want extra credit for reading and discussing the blog with an adult, discuss the colonization simulation one last time.  Compare it to what happened to the Banananovians.  How is the similar?  How is it different?

When you're done, find a piece of paper and write two sentences from your discussion, and have the adult you discussed it with sign the paper.


We're not there yet, but we're nearing the end of the marking period.  If you're missing anything, you can download it HERE.  (If I'm missing anything, let me know.)