Students investigate who shaped cultural change in Hawaiʻi after the abolition of the kapu system through a kickoff source sort and analysis of primary and secondary sources about missionary and foreign influence. They compare perspectives, distinguish fact from interpretation, and assess what changed, was preserved, adapted, or lost before independently arguing whether foreign influence had positive, negative, or mixed effects. Teams transform evidence into a physical or digital historical exhibit, while individuals may create a storyboard or newspaper, using Glow/Grow peer critique and a teacher conference to revise claims, evidence, and explanations. Students present to families and the school community, then reflect on their learning, historical process, purpose, and changing assumptions as they answer: When cultures collide in Hawaiʻi, who gets to decide what changes—and what should be preserved?

Students will assess the impacts of abolishing the kapu system and of missionary and foreign influence on Hawaiian social, cultural, and environmental life. They will analyze primary and secondary sources, compare Hawaiian and foreign perspectives, distinguish fact from interpretation, and determine what changed, was preserved, adapted, or lost. Students will construct an evidence-based historical argument that weighs positive and negative consequences and explains who held power to shape change. They will collaborate to create and present a clear historical exhibit, use peer and teacher feedback to revise their work, and reflect on how evidence changed their assumptions and historical judgment.

Students will create a Kapu Clash source sort, a “Before” historical snapshot, and an evidence map tracking power, perspectives, causes, and what changed, was preserved, adapted, or lost. Each student will independently write and revise a historical argument judging whether foreign influence brought mostly positive, mostly negative, or mixed changes, using evidence from at least three sources and addressing a counterclaim. Teams of 3–4 will produce a physical or digital “When Cultures Collide” museum exhibit with artifacts, excerpts, timelines, maps, images, and explanations organized as Before, Collision, Consequences, and Historical Judgment; individual options include a Then–Change–Now storyboard or multiperspective historical newspaper. Students will use Glow/Grow peer critique and a teacher conference to revise their products before presenting them to families and the school community, then complete a final reflection on content, process, purpose, and changed assumptions.

Teams complete a “Kapu Clash” sort using contrasting sources from Hawaiʻi, 1819–1825: a kapu image or text, an account of the breaking of the ʻai kapu, a missionary excerpt, and evidence of Hawaiians using literacy. Students label each source primary or secondary, separate fact from interpretation, and predict what changed, stayed, was adapted or lost, and who held decision-making power. Teams share evidence-based predictions, then respond to: “When cultures collide in Hawaiʻi, who gets to decide what changes—and what should be preserved?” Close by building a class need-to-know board that will guide students’ historical arguments and public exhibits.

Host a “When Cultures Collide” museum night for families and the school community, featuring physical and digital exhibits, visual storyboards, and historical newspapers. Teams rotate roles as greeters, docents, and evidence specialists, guiding visitors through “Before,” “Collision,” “Consequences,” and “Historical Judgment” sections while answering questions with source-labeled evidence. Display each student’s individual historical argument beside the exhibit, and invite visitors to leave feedback on which claim was most convincing and what evidence shaped their thinking. End with a brief student reflection on how audience questions affected their understanding of who shaped cultural change in Hawaiʻi.