Welcome to the partnership between Charles City High School, Iowa, and the School of Fine Arts José Julian Acosta, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

As members of this partnership, Charles City advanced Spanish students are using E-mail and certain sites on the Internet to research, get acquainted with, study and talk with their counterparts in Puerto Rico about the natives known as the Tainos.

I. The first site that you will visit is for a cybertour. Our sister school is in San Juan and you can find a lot of information about this city at this site. Read these sections:

Then, answer these questions on your own paper.

1. What are three places that someone who is interested in old or historic buildings might visit?

2. What are three areas or places that would appeal to an environmental science student?

3. What are three areas or places that someone studying the variety of animals on the island would like to see?

Now ask your E-mail partner which are his/her favorite places to visit in Puerto Rico and tell us the response.

 

II. The second site is present-day Puerto Rico. Read these pages and answer the following questions on your own paper.

1. What do you know about the density of population in Puerto Rico? Which area has the greatest density? Which area is least dense in terms of population?

2. What effect does the great density have on the environment of the island? Ask your E-mail partner if there are a lot of problems with such a population.

III. The third site has a lot to do with the History of Puerto Rico. Read the history from the 15th century to the present. In your research you will find the Tainos. These native peoples have disappeared from this island. Compare the history for these indigenous peoples with the Cherokee Native Americans at these sites:

Overview of the Cherokee Native Americans	Cherokee History, Part I
Cherokee History, Part II	History of the Cherokee Homepage
The Cherokee Alphabet	Native Land Cessions in Georgia
The Trail of Tears	Sequoyah

There were 22,500 Cherokee natives in North Georgia in 1650 and there were 30,000 Taino natives in Puerto Rico in 1508. Answer these questions using your own paper.

1. What events were factors in the demise of these indigenous peoples?

2. What are two similarities and two differences in the conquest by the Spanish soldiers in Puerto Rico and the American troops in Georgia?

3. Ask your E-mail partner what he/she has learned about the Tainos in history classes in Puerto Rico. Invite your partner to look at and compare the histories of the Tainos and the Cherokees.

4. Collaborate with your E-mail partner to place your comparisons on our webpages.