Unit Plan 31 (Grade 6 Social Studies): The Rise of Global Trade Systems
Analyze how major exchange networks connected Asia, Europe, and Africa, showing how geography, technology, supply/demand, and strategic hubs created interdependent trade systems and spread goods, people, and ideas.
Focus: Analyze how exchange networks connected Asia, Europe, and Africa through caravans, sea lanes, ports, and market institutions.
Grade Level: 6
Subject Area: Social Studies (Geography • Economics • History)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students map and analyze the Silk Road, Indian Ocean monsoon routes, Mediterranean sea lanes, and trans-Saharan corridors to see how goods, people, and ideas moved between continents. They study why certain ports and caravan hubs prospered, how supply/demand created interdependence, and what benefits and costs flowed from resource use and expansion.
Essential Questions
- How did geography and technology make long-distance trade possible and profitable?
- In what ways did supply, demand, and specialization connect distant regions into interdependent systems?
- What benefits and costs did growing trade bring to environments, labor, and cultures?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Locate and annotate major Afro-Eurasian trade networks and hubs (e.g., Samarkand, Aden, Alexandria, Timbuktu, Venice).
- Explain interdependence using concrete examples of supply/demand and specialization (gold–salt, textiles–spices, paper–books).
- Identify resources (natural/human/capital) behind key products and weigh benefits/costs of extraction, transport, and taxation.
- Describe diffusion of ideas, beliefs, and technologies (diasporas, scripts, navigation) across routes.
- Argue why a port or caravan hub prospered, citing map evidence and at least two sources.
Standards Alignment — 6th Grade (C3-based custom)
- 6.C3.Econ.4 — Explain trade, supply/demand, interdependence within/among regions (caravans, sea lanes, caravanserai/ports). Example: Map a trade route and infer why certain ports prospered.
- 6.C3.Econ.5 — Identify natural, human, capital resources powering key sectors; weigh benefits/costs of resource use. Example: Evaluate timber/stone extraction for monuments vs. environmental impact.
- 6.C3.Geo.5 — Describe spatial connections (migration, diffusion, trade networks) and how ideas/technologies move between regions. Example: Trace how writing, metallurgy, or crops spread along trade routes.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can map networks and hubs and explain why their locations mattered.
- I can show how supply and demand linked regions and created interdependence.
- I can weigh benefits and costs of resource use and support my claim with evidence.