Indiana Social Studies 6.E.2

Social Studies6th GradeEconomics

The Standard

Analyze how countries of Europe and the Americas have been influenced by trade in different historical periods.

2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students trace goods between Europe and the Americas in different time periods. They explain how trade changed work, wealth, and daily life in each place.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain how silver from New Spain brought revenue to Spain while miners faced dangerous work. They can compare that trade with U.S. cotton, which supplied British mills and depended on enslaved labor in the American South.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume trade helped everyone equally. They may describe colonial trade as a fair exchange and overlook who controlled the goods and labor.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Compare silver sent from New Spain to Spain in the 1600s with cotton sent from the United States to Britain in the 1800s. Name one effect on each side of each trade.

Lesson moves

Use yarn on an Atlantic map to trace silver and cotton routes, then place a work or wealth impact card at each end.
Ask students to write: Who gained from New Spain's silver trade and U.S. cotton trade, and who bore the costs?
Give pairs trade cards with goods, dates, and effects to sort into colonial and industrial periods, then defend one placement.
Give students a sample 'Made in Mexico' label and U.S. store receipt, then list workers and businesses paid along the route.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 6.E.2, 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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