Curriculum:
Essential Questions for Russian

GRADE 9: What happens when two cultures meet?

See a sample curricular unit and lesson plan for this grade

Invaders

•  How did the Vikings affect the formation of Russia ?
•  What impact did the Mongol invasions have on Russia ?
•  What evidence of these invasions remains in Russian culture today?
•  How did the Russian Orthodox religion come to the Russian people?
•  Which other religions were present?

Russification

•  How and when was the USSR created?
•  How did different nations react to being brought into the USSR ?
•  What were the language problems in the USSR ?
•  How were issues of nationality addressed?
•  How and why were people moved from place to place?
•  Who were the leaders who supported Russification?
•  Why did certain republics rise to the forefront?

Climate issues

•  What is the climate like in Russia and the Former USSR?
•  Where do people live and why?
•  What can the people do with the land in different areas?
•  What happens when people don't agree on land use?

Siberia

•  What important geographic features does Siberia have?
•  When and why did Russia expand eastward?
•  What groups lived in Siberia as Russia expanded eastward? What was their lifestyle like?
•  What conflicts arose between native people and Russians as settlers moved east?
•  What impact did the Trans-Siberian Railroad have on Siberia ?
•  How was Russian expansion eastward similar to US expansion westward?

Alaska

•  How and when did Alaska become part of the United States ?
•  What tensions resulted from the acquisition of Alaska from Russia ?
•  What Russian influences remain in Alaska today?
•  How would the world be different if Alaska still belonged to Russia ?

Curricular Units and Lesson Plans

Climate
Invaders into Russia
Siberia
Russification
Alaska