In this activity, students will be able to represent the numerous outcomes of the Columbian Exchange on both North America and Europe. This activity will require students to research the goods, ideas, people, diseases, and animals that were exchanged between continents during the Age of Exploration. By using a T-Chart, students will compare the Exchange from the perspectives of both continents, and define the outcome of the exchanges, e.g. increased caloric intake, increased Native American mortality rates, advancement in agricultural methods.
Some examples of things students can examine are
Extended Activity
Students should use the Frayer Model storyboard to research and argue the four most significant aspects of the Columbian Exchange. They should include both a description of the good, idea, disease, or food, and a summary of the impact it had.
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Student Instructions
Create a T Chart that examines the outcomes of the Columbian Exchange on both North America and Europe.
Primary sources like explorers’ journals, indigenous accounts, or historical artwork help students visualize and analyze real perspectives from the Age of Exploration. Incorporating these resources encourages critical thinking and makes history more engaging and authentic.
Choose excerpts, images, or artifacts that align with your students’ reading levels and background knowledge. Preview material to ensure it’s suitable for grades 2–8, and pick sources that clearly show the effects of the Columbian Exchange on different groups.
Ask students to observe, infer, and question: What do they see? Who created this source? What impact is shown? Prompt discussion about different perspectives and help students connect these sources to outcomes of the Columbian Exchange.
Encourage students to cite or illustrate what they learned from primary sources in the T-Chart descriptions. This makes their comparisons more evidence-based and helps them understand the real-world impact of the Columbian Exchange.
Let students share their T-Charts and discoveries, highlighting how different groups experienced the Exchange. Encourage empathy and critical thinking by comparing views from both the New World and the Old World.
The Columbian Exchange refers to the widespread transfer of plants, animals, people, culture, ideas, and diseases between the Americas and Europe after 1492. Learning about it helps students understand how global interactions shaped modern societies, agriculture, and populations.
To teach the impacts of the Columbian Exchange with a T-Chart, create two columns: one for goods, animals, and ideas moving from the New World to the Old World, and one for the opposite. Have students list exchanges in each column and summarize their outcomes, such as changes in diets or population effects.
Examples include turkeys, corn, tobacco, and tomatoes going to Europe, and horses, sheep, coffee, and infectious diseases coming to the Americas. Each item had significant impacts on diets, economies, and societies.
Positive impacts include increased caloric intake and improved agriculture. Negative impacts involved the spread of diseases like smallpox, leading to high mortality among Native Americans. Both sides experienced lasting cultural and economic changes.
Students can use the Frayer Model to research and argue the significance of goods, diseases, or ideas by describing them and summarizing their impacts. This helps deepen understanding by connecting definitions to real-world outcomes.