Unit Plan 12 (Grade 7 Social Studies): Medieval China and Technology
Analyze how Song and Ming innovations in printing, navigation, and paper money transformed society, governance, and trade across East Asia.
Focus: Analyze Song and Ming innovations in printing, navigation, and the monetized economy; evaluate how technology shaped society, governance, and exchange.
Grade Level: 7
Subject Area: Social Studies (World History • Geography • Inquiry)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students investigate technological and economic change in Song and Ming China. They trace how woodblock/movable-type printing, the magnetic compass, the Grand Canal, junk ships and the stern-post rudder, and paper money altered production, trade, and governance. Learners weigh who benefited and who bore costs—merchants, artisans, peasants, scholar-officials, and the state.
Essential Questions
- How did innovations in printing, navigation, and money transform information, movement, and markets?
- Whose lives changed most under these technologies, and why?
- How can maps and diverse sources help us judge the legacy of Song and Ming innovations?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Explain causes and effects of Song/Ming innovations on urbanization, literacy, and trade (Hist.2).
- Compare perspectives of artisans, merchants, peasants, women, and officials using primary/secondary sources (Hist.3).
- Identify turning points (e.g., spread of printing, maritime outreach, paper currency) and their legacies (Hist.4).
- Describe systems of exchange (taxation, paper money, credit) and how they supported growth (Econ.3).
- Construct a sourced claim about which innovation had the greatest impact, supported by mapped and textual evidence.
Standards Alignment — 7th Grade (C3-based custom)
- 7.C3.Hist.2 — Causes/effects of major developments (innovation, exchange).
- 7.C3.Hist.3 — Diverse perspectives and experiences across societies.
- 7.C3.Hist.4 — Turning points and big ideas and their legacies.
- 7.C3.Econ.3 — Systems of exchange (money, credit, taxation) and economic growth.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can connect a technology to at least two concrete effects on society or trade.
- I can use evidence from different perspectives to explain who benefited and why.
- I can defend a ranked judgment about the most impactful innovation with citations.