Unit Plan 5 (Grade 5 Social Studies): The Atlantic World
Explore how goods, people, and ideas moved among Europe, Africa, and the Americas, highlighting interdependence, trade, taxation, and boycotts that shaped economic choices across the Atlantic world.
Focus: Describe trade, cultural exchange, and the movement of ideas, people, and goods among Europe, Africa, and the Americas, with special attention to interdependence, taxation, and boycotts.
Grade Level: 5
Subject Area: Social Studies (Geography • Economics • History/Inquiry)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students investigate the Atlantic World as a connected system linking Europe, West Africa, and the Americas. Using maps, trade cards, and simple data, they trace how sugar, tobacco, textiles, metals, enslaved people, ideas, and beliefs moved across oceans. Students then explore how this created interdependence, why taxes on trade mattered, and how boycotts can change supply, demand, and power.
Essential Questions
- How were Europe, Africa, and the Americas connected through trade and movement?
- What does it mean for regions to be interdependent, and who benefits or is harmed in these relationships?
- How can taxes and boycotts affect trade, prices, and people’s choices in an interdependent system?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Use Atlantic maps to show major routes and connections among Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
- Identify goods, people, and ideas that moved between regions and explain at least one effect of each.
- Explain interdependence using a simple model of who produces what and who depends on whom.
- Describe in simple terms how taxes and boycotts can change trade, prices, and demand.
- Create an Atlantic World Interdependence Map/Diagram + Mini-Brief that shows routes, exchanges, and a boycott or tax scenario.
Standards Alignment — 5th Grade (C3-based custom)
- 5.C3.Geo.5: Describe spatial connections among places (diffusion, movement, interdependence) across the Atlantic world.
- 5.C3.Econ.4: Explain trade, taxation, and interdependence (including Atlantic trade and boycotts); model how a boycott affects prices and demand.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can trace and label how goods, people, and ideas moved among Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
- I can explain what interdependence means and give one example from the Atlantic world.
- I can describe how a tax or boycott might change prices, demand, or trade routes.
- I can create a clear map or diagram plus a short explanation that someone else can understand.