A webquest to explore the most important and fascinating era in Western history

Imagínate…

You are a scholar and scientist living 450 years ago in Seville, the great port of Southern Spain.

It is a time of great change, great discoveries, new worlds, and new peoples.

Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand rule all of Spain and the newly discovered lands across the Atlantic Ocean.

A New World

Rumours abound that the piles of corpses are reaching to the sky.

the church is threatening to go to war about the massacre of native peoples in their newly conquered lands.

The Queen cannot sleep at night as she questions the price of the shiploads of glittering gold being sent to Spain from the Americas.

How is she to find out what is really happening?

A letter arrives for you…

It is from the Queen!

You, don Alvarez de Pila de Aldea, have been entrusted with a mission …

You are to travel to these new lands, in secret. The King wants you to find out more about the

conquistadores so that he and the Queen can control them.

The Queen wishes to know about these new peoples – are they human or beasts? What is their civilization? Their language?

The King and Queen want to know what is happening now that the Spanish people are settling in this new land. Are the tales of cruelty and injustice true?

What business opportunities are there in this new land for the Spanish Crown?

What recommendations can you make as to what the King and Queen should do?

You write back to the queen accepting the task

Realizing the task will need more minds, you begin to recruit your friends…

Doña Maria Isabella Perez (historiadora)

Don Federico Gomez(antropológio) Doña Angela Rosalinda Reverte

(sociologista) Don Guillermo

Casibandido(empresario)

Your friends assemble their teams…They meet and plan what they need to do

to fulfill the Queen and King’s behest:First they devise the questions they must

ask to gain the information they need.Then they assign specific tasks to each

member of their group, as time is of the essence. It will be necessary that they travel incognito, as scientists, so as not to alarm the conquistadores.

A journalist hears of their journey in a bar in Seville…

Don Ignacio Fernando de Paz (periodista) sneaks on board the ship with his assistants and a troubadour, who will make sure the people hear what he discovers.

Los Historiógrafos

Consult daily to discuss their task. They deliver a document to don Alvarez before they arrive in the New World.

This document contains all the things they have decided they need to discover about the conquistadores.

Los hombres de negocio Make eager plans as to what new

products they may find… They listall their goals and questions for donAlvarez

Los antropólogos

Have heard many strange stories about the native peoples and wish to find out…

Los periodistas

Are sure that much has been hidden from the people of Spain and the monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand. What might they uncover?

Los nativos Horrified to find these invaders are

here to stay, some natives are invited to make the long and difficult journey back to Spain to tell their story to the Spanish King and Queen…

Your exploration should have helped you answer some of your questions. You need to make your recommendations to Queen Isabella and

King Ferdinand urgently. A ship is leaving for Spain tomorrow with a man you can trust on board. You must send your report with him so that it reaches the King and Queen as soon as possible.

What will you say? Remember, the Queen will take your

recommendations very seriously.

Possible Recommendations…

What can you tell the queen to do? Prioritizing – what is most important

now? What could be changed to improve

the situation… Alternative possibilities for the

conquerors and conquered… What of the future? Justify your decisions &

recommendations

Little do they know…

With spies from other countries everywhere, the Queen has taken the precaution of providing you with a different method of delivering information, like magic.

As you discuss and decide your questions your groups can send these to the King and Queen instantaneously.

They will receive information that you gather and send also and will be able to act quickly on your recommendations.

Wiki space

La evalucación de la reinaGrade Descriptor

Achieved An acceptable range of questions were generated. Includes some of the required information to answer these. Visual presentation is reasonable, with clear and captioned graphics. Written information is clear and demonstrates a reasonable understanding of topic. A recommendation for future action is made. Biography generally complete.

Merit A variety of searching questions were generated. Includes most of the required information to answer these. Visual presentation is very good, with clear and captioned graphics. Written information is clear and demonstrates a good understanding of topic, with some development. Some analysis is shown and thoughtful recommendations are made. Biography is complete.

Excellence A wide variety of thoughtful and searching questions were generated. Includes all of the required information to answer these. Visual presentation is excellent, with a variety of clear and captioned graphics. Written information is clear and demonstrates an excellent understanding of topic, with substantial development. Analysis shows insight, clear evaluation. Recommendations propose alternatives and elaborate on reasons. Biography is complete.

La tarea

Remember that the internet (including some of the sites provided here) is full of opinion as well as fact. Verify information you find by checking other sites.

No text copied straight from the internet is allowed. A complete bibliography acknowledging all sources

must be included at end of power point. (just copy and paste your URLs. Remember GOOGLE IS A SEARCH ENGINE not a site!! )

As this is the major assignment for the Intermediate Spanish course, a high level of presentation and understanding is expected. An assessment rubric is on the next slide.

Don’t forget, the most important part is the recommendations you make to the Queen.

Back to beginning

Enlaces útiles

http://www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/aztec.html http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/INCAS.HTM http://www.indians.org/welker/maya.htm http://www.playa.info/playa-del-carmen-info-mayan-world-after-

the-conquest.html http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/coloniallatinamerica/p/

guatecolon.htm

http://www.indians.org/welker/aztec.htm http://bruceruiz.net/PanamaHistory/

los_conquistadores.htm http://www.jqjacobs.net/andes/

tupac_amaru.html http://college.cengage.com/history/west/

mosaic/chapter9/source250.html

Flowers and Songs of Sorrows (Written by a post-Conquest Aztec poet)

Nothing but flowers and songs of sorrow are left in Mexico and Tlatelolco, where once we saw warriors and wise men. We wander here and there in our desolate poverty. We are mortal men. We have seen bloodshed and pain where once we saw beauty and valor. We are crushed to the ground; we lie in ruins. There is nothing but grief and suffering in Mexico and Tlatelolco, where once we saw beauty and valor.