The attached lessons are to take place over the course of two weeks within our second Unit in my World History class when we discuss the Age of Exploration. Leading up to these lessons we will have discussed the motives for Europeans wanting to travel east during this time period. By looking at both Japan and China within this context we cover the following Kansas State Standards for History, Government, and Social Studies:
1. Societies are shaped by identities, beliefs, and practices of individuals and groups.
2. Societies experience continuity and change over time
3. Relationships among people, places, ideas, and environments are dynamic
Through this activity students will be analyzing primary sources from the time period.
Both these lesson sets have an overview given by the teacher of what is going on in China and Japan leading up and during this time period. In China is covers the ascension of the Ming dynasty following the decline and fall of the Yuan dynasty. Into the efforts of the Chinese to explore during this time period with the voyages of Zheng He and the role commerce played in the Ming dynasty. With the Qing dynasty the discussion of commerce continues ending with the shift towards isolation by discussing the letter send to King George III from Emperor Qianlong. This overview ends with a discussion of the cultural prosperity seen in isolation which leads into the activity which allows students to dig into specific cultural developments during this time in China. There is a sheet that goes with these sources that help students break down and analyze the sources. Generally, this lesson is designed to take place over a 48 minute hour and a block period of 88minutes but can be modified to fit within a single block period of 88 minutes.
The overview of Japan covers the Sengoku period through the Great Unifiers (Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa). Within the overview are time period sources like paintings, armor, and maps for class discussion. The last part of it discusses the changes once Japan is unified under Tokugawa Ieyasu including the impacts of Europeans, ultimately resulting in Japan’s isolation and cultural development. The accompanying activity is like the one for China but looks at the cultural development in Japan. There is a sheet that goes with these sources that help students break down and analyze the sources. Generally, this lesson is designed to take place over a 48 minute hour and a block period of 88minutes but can be modified to fit within a single block period of 88 minutes.
The overall assessment for this unit is a culminating essay that focuses on how global interactions shape the world during the Age of Exploration and Expansion. With this prompt in mind both these lessons could be used to discuss the impact of Europeans arrival in the east and how that prompted both China and Japan to close to most western interaction and thus develop their culture.
Couldn't get the files to upload so I put them in a Google Drive folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1F24GKpCFChC-j82r7ePkG8Ea500sYdzk?usp=sharing