Idaho Social Studies 6-9.WG.1.3

Social StudiesGrades 6–9History

The Standard

Describe and compare various motivations of European colonization in regions throughout the world.

Idaho Content Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students identify why European powers took control of places overseas, including trade, resources, land, religious conversion, and political power. They compare motives in two places and support each claim with a historical detail.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given short accounts of Spanish rule in the Philippines and British rule in India, a student can identify missionary work and trade as motives. They can explain that a colony could serve more than one goal.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume every European power colonized places for gold. They may treat an entire region as having one motive, or confuse a colonizer's goals with the effects on local people.
How to Assess It: On an exit ticket, ask: "How did Spanish missionary goals in the Philippines differ from British trade goals in India? Give one detail for each place."

Lesson moves

Give pairs a blank map and fact cards on Potosí silver, Philippine missions, Indian cotton, and Algerian farmland; mark each place and motive.
Ask students to write: "How did the motives in the Philippine mission card and Indian cotton card differ?"
Read claims about the four fact cards aloud; teams vote supported or unsupported and point to the card that proves their answer.
Show a cinnamon jar and an Indian Ocean map; ask why controlling spice routes could bring wealth to a European empire.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 6-9.WG.1.3, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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