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History, Civics & Social Studies · Grade 7

Exploration, Colonization and Exchange

Learners examine why Europeans sailed into the Atlantic and Indian Oceans after 1400, what the Columbian Exchange moved between hemispheres, how small Spanish forces toppled the Aztec and Inca states with Indigenous allies and epidemics, and how the Atlantic slave trade forced millions of Africans across the ocean. Every lesson includes the perspectives of those who were colonized and enslaved.

  • 4 lessons
  • About 110 minutes
  • Exploration and exchange check: 9 questions
  • Ways to answer: fill in the blanks, choose an answer, estimate, highlight a text, pin a map and match pairs
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What learners will discover

  • Explain the motives and technologies behind European voyages and sequence key voyages from Dias to Magellan and Elcano.
  • Explain what the Columbian Exchange moved in each direction and its effects on populations and diets.
  • Explain the Spanish conquests of the Aztec and Inca states using multiple causes and perspectives, and describe colonial labor systems such as the encomienda.
  • Describe the scale and organization of the Atlantic slave trade, African resistance and the mercantilist ideas behind colonial trade.

Lessons

  1. Why sail into unknown oceans? 7 steps4 practiceabout 27 min
  2. The Columbian Exchange 5 steps4 practiceabout 27 min
  3. Conquest and colonial society 6 steps4 practiceabout 28 min
  4. The Atlantic slave trade and mercantilism 7 steps4 practiceabout 28 min
  5. Exploration and exchange check 9 questions at the end

Keep exploring

More 7th grade social studies

Guide for grown-ups