Columbian Exchange and Unequal Consequences

Supplied materials

• Paper and pencil; drawing or spoken answers are welcome.
• Topic notes: Crop movement: a plant food spreading between regions. Animal movement: a species being introduced into another region. Disease transmission: an infection spreading to exposed populations. Forced movement: people being moved through coercion rather than choice.
• Original exercise cards: Historical maize moves from the Americas to other regions. / Historical horses are brought from Europe to the Americas. / Historical introduced smallpox harms Indigenous communities. / Historical enslaved Africans are transported across the Atlantic. / Historical cattle are introduced from Europe into American regions. / Historical epidemics spread after sustained transatlantic contact. / Historical captives are compelled to relocate. / Historical potatoes spread from the Americas elsewhere.

Learn the idea

After 1492, sustained connections between the Americas and other regions moved crops, animals, diseases and people. This is called the Columbian Exchange. Consequences were unequal: introduced diseases devastated many Indigenous communities, while colonization and forced labor involved violence and coercion. Exchange does not mean every movement was voluntary.

Crop movement: a plant food spreading between regions. Animal movement: a species being introduced into another region. Disease transmission: an infection spreading to exposed populations. Forced movement: people being moved through coercion rather than choice.

Look at what moved: a crop, an animal, an infection or people forced to move. Read the notes and the word cards. You can write, draw or say your answer.

1. Read the four notes. Find the words Crop movement, Animal movement, Disease transmission, Forced movement.
2. Look at what moved: a crop, an animal, an infection or people forced to move.
3. Read the worked answer. Then try the other cards and explain which words helped you choose.
4. Choose two different examples: one for Crop movement and one for Animal movement. Explain how their clues differ.

Check your reasoning

Your answer is temporary and is not saved to an account. Download your current answer before leaving or reloading. Written work on paper or in another app stays in your own file.

Take it further

New card: “Historical potatoes spread from the Americas elsewhere.” Match it with a note, then point to or say the words that helped. Check: The card says: “Historical potatoes spread from the Americas elsewhere.” That matches Crop movement. Crop movement is a plant food spreading between regions.

Nothing here is saved to an account or sent to a teacher. The answer download includes your current choice and any checked feedback. It does not include choices from the separate More practice section. Download that section separately.