Tell students how Christopher Columbus mistook the island of San Salvador for India. Ask them to draw the route Columbus traveled to reach the island in 1492 and look at how much farther he would have had to travel to reach his chosen destination. Tell the students to map how Columbus could have reached India by traveling farther south and around the tip of South America.
Divide students into groups to explore how the British, Spanish, French and Dutch claimed and colonized parts of the Caribbean islands. They might begin with information on the explorer who visited the islands and claimed them for a European power. Encourage students to use a large map to label which countries claimed which islands. Ask students to describe what happened to the islands once they were colonized and how the islands came to be part of the slave trade.
In the interest of surveying travel and tourist bureau materials about conditions in the Caribbean, ask your students to explore which islands attract the most tourists and what kinds of attractions the islands offer. Each student might take a virtual field trip to the islands and decide which islands he would most like to visit and why. The student could use the flyers to create a visual account of his imaginary journey and explain why he chose his destinations.
To help students understand the flair of Caribbean culture, assign small groups the task of exploring the art, music, literature, native food, commerce and living conditions of the island natives. Students can also explore how the islanders cope when the tourist trade is affected by hurricanes and tropical storms.
For a real challenge, assign students to work cooperatively to create a political map of the Caribbean. Tell them to identify all of the independent nations in the islands and how each one is governed. Ask them to classify the flag, principal industry, native plants and animals and population of each nation.