Research on Zheng He's Voyages to the Western Oceans

Disciplines/Subjects: Social Science

Key Themes: Maritime Exploration, Cultural Exchange, Argumentative writing, Historical Reflection, Multiple Perspectives and Expression

This project takes "Zheng He's Voyages to the Western Oceans" as its theme, allowing learners to explore the significance and impact of this historical event from different perspectives through four sub-tasks. They will assume the roles of historical participants, creating voyage logs to express their experiences and feelings during the voyages; write letters to Emperor Yongle from multiple perspectives, reflecting on the purpose and value of the expeditions; produce video research reports analyzing the historical background, achievements, and controversies of Zheng He's voyages; and finally, watch videos created by their classmates and participate in discussions to deeply reflect on this history and discuss its implications for today's globalized society.

The project aims to cultivate students' historical thinking, critical thinking, cross-cultural understanding, and multimodal expression skills, while inspiring them to connect and reflect on the relationship between history and reality.

Habits of mind:

1. Inquiry-based thinking and curiosity
2. Ability to respect and support each other as a team
3. Be open-minded and respectful of different points of view

Cognitive skills:

1. Select the relevant source material
2. Synthesis of multiple sources
3. Argumentative writing and expression

Content Knowledge:

1. Background knowledge of Zheng He's voyage to the West (causes, routes, influences)
2. How do you achieve active listening?
3. How do I set up questions and complete the list of questions effectively?