Indiana Social Studies 6.E.1

Social Studies6th GradeEconomics

The Standard

Give examples of how trade related to key developments in the history of Europe and the Americas.

2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students trace goods traded between Europe and the Americas. They explain how demand for those goods changed work, land use, or government decisions.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can trace Caribbean sugar to Europe and explain how demand expanded plantations that used enslaved labor. They can trace silver from Spanish colonies to Spain and explain how it helped pay for goods and wars in Europe.
Common Misconceptions: Some students think Atlantic trade began after U.S. independence. Others describe enslaved Africans as goods or assume sugar plantations used paid workers. Drawing a route does not explain what trade changed.
How to Assess It: Give students a blank Atlantic map. Ask them to draw the route of Caribbean sugar to Europe and write one sentence explaining how European demand changed work on plantations.

Lesson moves

Give pairs Atlantic maps and sugar and silver cards; have them draw each route and label one result beside it.
Ask: How did European demand for Caribbean sugar change work and land use in the Americas? Have students answer in two sentences.
Make route-and-result cards for Caribbean sugar, American silver, plantation expansion, and Spanish spending; pairs match and explain them.
Show a Colombian coffee package; students map its route to a local store beside a colonial Caribbean sugar route.

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