Ancient History in the Oceania Islands
Overview
Topic #3 of 35
Percent of Year Complete, Before Topic: 5.7%
Percent of Year Complete, After Topic: 8.5%
Lessons to Complete: 5
Goal: Understand the many cultures in the many Oceania islands, the similarities between these cultures, and
Games: Minecraft, Civilization VI, and Humankind
The cultures of the Oceania Islands are not typically included in Ancient Civilizations. However, I think it is vital to touch on them briefly if we want to establish a base of knowledge to interpret history and understand the implications in the “Age of Discovery” that will be covered in Early Modern History.
Our journey of discovery that is Ancient History is divided into units:
- Oceania and East Asia
- Africa
- Asia/Middle East
- Meditteranean
- Europe
- Americas
It is organized into areas of the world because we are teaching the relationship between people and nations instead of memorizing historical facts.
It is important to remember that many people exist that we will not cover because we will run out of time. This is a great “rabbit trail” (as the author of Blossom and Root likes to say) to go down on your own – an opportunity to learn more on a topic that sparks curiosity.
Don’t dig into the specific facts; focus on understanding the general topic.
Learning Goals:
- Can identify the location of at least two Oceania Island Civilizations.
- Understand how big Oceania is.
- Identify some similarities between the different civilizations in Oceania.
- Know what art, music, natural resources, and food the ancient people would have had access to and how it impacted the development of civilizations in the Oceania Islands.
Vocabulary Words
- Oceania
- Maori
- Melanesia
- Solomon Islands
- New Zealand
- archipelago
- Micronesia
- deities
- Polynesia
- Samoa
- Maui
- Fiji
- Easter Island
- Rapi Nui
Unit Plan
Lesson 1 – Oceania Islanders Art and Food
Take the vocabulary above and write it down on flashcards. Then, write the definitions of the words (with the context of history) on additional flashcards.
Learn about food and art from the Oceania Islands and answer the questions.
You will get access to some things that will not be due until the end of our unit for the project.
Look at the Avatar/Character worksheet to collect information throughout the week.
Look at the gaming worksheet to see the information that you should watch for as you play and get the scenario setup details for Civilization VI and Humankind.
Lesson 2 – Get the Facts on the Oceania Islanders
Play a vocabulary game.
Watch the videos.
Read the text.
Answer the questions from the reading.
Lesson 3 – Primary Source Investigation
Play a vocabulary game.
Watch videos and review text that was not finished in Lesson 2.
Primary sources are vital in our understanding of ancient civilizations, but even more important in civilizations whose cultures were attacked by the people who declared they “discovered” lands inhabited for tens of thousands of years.
Look at the information on Mungo Man and see what it tells us about the early history of the Oceania Islands.
Complete the map assignment.
Lesson 4 – Historical Investigations
Play a vocabulary game.
Complete the historical investigation.
Lesson 5 – Gaming Through History
Finish the unit assignments and project.
Do the timeline in Minecraft.
Play the Maori in Civilization VI and discover the Oceania civilizations in Humankind.