Idaho Social Studies 6-9.WG.3.7

Social StudiesGrades 6–9Economics

The Standard

Investigate how physical geography, natural resources, specialization, and trade have influenced the way people meet their material needs.

Idaho Content Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students use maps and resource clues to explain why people produce certain goods in a place. They show how people get other goods through trade.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given a coastal town and an inland valley, a student links fishing to nearby waters and grain farming to fertile soil. They explain what each place trades and how that helps people get food.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume every place can produce everything it needs. They may think trade happens only for profit, rather than because places have different land and resources.
How to Assess It: Show a sketch map with a rocky coast, a fertile inland valley, and a road between them. Ask: "What could each place produce, what might they trade, and how would that help people get food?"

Lesson moves

On a paper map, have students place farm markers on fertile plains and fishing boat markers along a coast, then draw trade routes.
Ask students to write why a mountain town might buy wheat from valley farmers instead of growing its own.
Give one group fish cards and another wheat cards; have them trade until both groups can make a fish-and-bread meal.
Bring in a banana sticker; have students find its country on a map and trace how bananas reach a local grocery store.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 6-9.WG.3.7, 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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