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INTRODUCTION
After the Crusades, European monarchs
faced many difficulties. Muslim
empires had taken over many land routes that had been essential to European
trade with the East. In the Mediterranean, the Italian city of Venice held a monopoly on trade in spices and eastern
luxury goods between the Muslim ports and the rest of Europe. Other European countries, not
wishing to be beholden to either one needed to find a new way to acquire
these goods. In addition to these
problems, maintaining their power at home was no small task either. Ambitious, wealthy nobles, the
Catholic Church, peasants, townspeople and Muslims who controlled North Africa were all threatening monarch’s control
over their country.
As a result, they all faced two problems:
How could these kings and queens acquire enough money to support their
armies, who, in turn protected their wealth and also find a way to bypass
trade through the Middle East and Italy?
What was their solution? Commissioning explorers
to find new trade routes and new lands to expand their wealth and power.
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TASK
You
have been commissioned as an explorer (one that you will be assigned in
class). Based on the actual travels
of that particular explorer you will create a memorandum addressed to your
monarch describing the success or difficulties you have faced in
accomplishing your task and how you recommend the monarch use your findings
to their advantage in solving their problems. You must address issues such as the
natives, the terrain, the feasibility of traveling the route, possible uses
for the lands, etc.
Your
final product, a written memorandum will be presented to the monarch.
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EVALUATION
Grade A
Showed a
complete and detailed understanding of the topic and task
Successfully
discussed similarities and differences in detail
Richly
supported the task using relevant facts and examples
The paper
was typed and checked for spelling and grammatical errors
Grade B
Showed a
good understanding of the topic and task
Successfully
discussed similarities and differences
Included
relevant facts and examples to support opinions and perspectives
The paper
was typed and checked for spelling and grammatical errors
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Grade C
Showed a
satisfactory understanding of the topic and task
Completed
most aspects of the task
Included
some facts and examples to support opinions and perspectives but not in
depth
The paper
was typed and checked for spelling and grammatical errors
Grade D
Showed
little understanding of the topic or task
Attempted to
address task but provided little relevant information
Included
little facts and examples
The paper
was typed and had minor spelling and grammatical errors
Grade F
Did not
address the topic or task
Included no
relevant facts and examples
Paper not
typed and many spelling and grammatical errors
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STANDARDS
Social Studies: Standard 2
The student will use a
variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major
ideas, eras, themes, developments and turning points in world history, and
examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.
Social Studies: Standard 3
The student will use a
variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the
geography of the interdependent world in which we live- local, national,
and global- including the distribution of people, places, and environments
over the Earth’s surface.
English Language
Arts: Standard 1
Students will read, write,
listen, and speak for information and understanding.
English Language
Arts: Standard 4
Students will read, write,
listen, and speak for social interaction.
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CONCLUSION
Having successfully
completed this assignment, you are now able to:
- Analyze a topic forming an opinion based on
the facts about the topic
- Research a topic using the Internet as a
source
- Create a written work that synthesizes the
analysis and research on the topic.
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