Teacher Notes
Explore the Colonies (90 minutes) > Print/View All Notes
On this page, students will explore several different colonies and their successes and failures. Students will read the information for each colony and take notes on pages 2 – 3 in their Engineering Portfolios. You may wish to model note-taking for one of the settlements in front of the class, or do whole-class notes for one of the settlements. Students may work in groups while reading and taking notes.
Colonial Settlements (Answer Key)
Category |
Roanoke |
Jamestown |
Plymouth |
New Amsterdam |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Physical Geography |
Located on an island off the coast |
On the James River |
On a hill, near a good harbor, areas already cleared for fields |
Located at the mouth of the Hudson River |
Climate |
Warm and favorable |
Hot and muggy |
Cold and damp |
Warm Summer and Cold Winters |
Crops Planted |
Not Known |
Tobacco |
Indian corn |
Grains and crops |
Key Economic Activities |
Not Known |
Growing tobacco |
Trading in furs, growing crops |
Fur and fish trading |
Challenges Faced |
Hostility from Native Americans, possibly disease or starvation |
Hostility from Native Americans, little access to fresh water, sickness |
Harsh weather, poor shelter, illness, limited food |
Conflicts with Native Americans and English colonists over land |
Accomplishments |
Not Known |
Grew successful growing tobacco |
Learned to grow new crops, began to trade furs |
Grew wealthy from the fur trade |
Population Changes (Growth or Decline) and causes |
Entire settlement lost – causes unknown |
Initially lost 80% of the population to sickness and warfare. In later years, once tobacco was established as a cash crop, the colony grew. |
Lost half of their settlers in the first winter to illness and the weather. During the next six years, the settlement tripled in size as more colonists arrived. |
Mostly continued to grow as more settlers arrived to take part in the fur trade |
Follow this activity with a class discussion on what a settlement needs to be successful. Ask students to cite evidence from the case studies if possible.
Students may be unfamiliar with the word brackish, used in the Jamestown section. Explain that brackish water is a mix of salty water and fresh water and has too much salt for people to drink safely.
Differentiation
Another option is to ask students to jigsaw the reading. Divide students into four groups and assign each group a settlement to research. Once they have read about their settlement and completed the column on their settlement, form groups of four, with one student from each settlement research group. Have students share their findings with their group-mates.
Circulate to monitor student understanding and gauge whether students need clarification on certain understandings before continuing.
Standards Addressed:
3.A.1.d, 3.B.1.c, 3.C.1.a, 3.D.1.b, 3.D.1.c,
D2.Geo.4.3-5, D2.Geo.5.3-5, D2.Geo.7.3-5, D2.Geo8.3-5, D4.6.3-5,
RI.5.1, RI.5.7,
SL1,
SSOP4,
MTLSS 4.A.1, MTLSS 5.B.1,
5.ESS3-1
