Unit Plan 35 (Grade 7 Social Studies): Debating Empire and Exchange
Hold a formal academic debate on whether exploration brought more benefits or harms, using trade-network evidence and multiple sources to weigh interdependence, impacts, and propose an informed, actionable conclusion.
Focus: Hold a formal academic debate evaluating the benefits and harms of exploration, using multiple sources and trade-network evidence; communicate conclusions and propose an informed action.
Grade Level: 7
Subject Area: Social Studies (Civics • History • Geography • Inquiry • Economics)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students synthesize learning on exploration, empire, and exchange to argue both sides of a complex question: Did exploration do more good than harm? They analyze diffusion of goods, people, and ideas, weigh economic interdependence against coercion, disease, and dispossession, and practice civic discourse in a timed debate. The week culminates in a short action-oriented conclusion (curricular recommendation, exhibit caption, or policy brief).
Essential Questions
- Who benefited—and who bore the costs—of early modern exploration and exchange?
- How does economic interdependence change the way we evaluate exploration’s impacts?
- What makes a historical argument and counterargument persuasive and responsible?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Build claims and counterclaims on exploration’s impacts using multiple sources and citations.
- Explain interdependence across trade networks (goods, labor, ideas) and connect it to benefits/harms.
- Engage in respectful, evidence-based debate using discourse norms and structured timing.
- Communicate conclusions and propose a feasible informed action tied to curriculum, commemoration, or community learning.
Standards Alignment — 7th Grade (C3-based custom)
- 7.C3.Inq.4 — Develop explanations/arguments with multiple sources and citations.
- 7.C3.Inq.5 — Communicate conclusions; propose informed actions on global/historical issues.
- 7.C3.Civ.5 — Practice civic discourse in respectful debate on historical/global issues.
- 7.C3.Econ.4 — Explain interdependence through trade networks; map goods/resources/cultural influences.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can cite at least two credible sources to support a claim and acknowledge counterevidence.
- I can trace interdependence (who traded what, where, and with what effects) to explain benefits/harms.
- I can debate respectfully, answer cross-questions, and end with a clear actionable conclusion.