Grade 7 Lesson at a Glance: Chapter 14, Lesson 1

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Across the Centuries

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 14, Lesson 1: Exploring, Trading, and Converting (pp. 364-370)

The Big Idea
Framework Concept: Scarcity As Europeans gained a better understanding of geography, they began to explore new ways to acquire scarce luxury items from the East and to spread Christianity.

Show students a map of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Ask for volunteers to locate the Italian city-states of Genoa and Venice, Eastern and Middle Eastern sources of luxury goods, and the routes that traders might take to reach these sources. Remind students that travel at the time was slow and dangerous. What factors might motivate such journeys? What dangers and adventures might traders encounter on their travels?

Lesson Outline
Use the Lesson Outline to preview the content of the lesson. You may wish to print it for your students as a guide during reading.

Check for Understanding

Ask students to write a script for a television news spot describing one of the following events: the rediscovery of Ptolemy's Geography, the arrival of a trading ship from Asia to the port of Venice, or the departure of a group of Portuguese explorers for the West African coast. Scripts should include information explaining the importance of the event as well as sound bites of "interviews" with relevant participants.
Have students work in groups to create travel brochures for traders and explorers planning a journey to Asia. Brochures should include a map showing the main land and/or sea routes. They should also include illustrations of some of the products traders would go to buy in Asia.

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