Big Era Six: Landscape Unit 6.4


		Complete Teaching Unit Download Options: PDF DOCX

The Global Economy Takes Shape
1500 - 1800 CE

Why This Unit?

This unit leads students through investigations of the creation of this global economy
that included peoples from all over the world. The first lesson will introduce students
to the three products they will learn about as representative samples of some of the
products that were in demand in the global economy and students will map where
these products originated. The three lessons that follow highlight each of these
products–fur, indigo, and tea–and allow students to trace their journey through the
world using map work and primary and secondary sources. Students will become
familiar with the economic terms of producer and consumer and will also have to
think about the role of the movers of those products who, thanks to developments in
maritime technology, were able to create new markets and new demand for products.
Finally students will use their completed maps and other sources to analyze who
dominated global trade by 1800.

Unit Objectives

Upon completing this unit, students will be able to:

1.) Define globalization and how the development of a global economy from 1500-1800 exemplifies the traits of globalization.

2.) Analyze the role of maritime technology in creating a global economy.

3.) Define the role of various producers, movers, and consumers in creating,
transporting, and using the various products that created a global economy from 1500-1800.

4.) Discuss who dominated global trade by 1800 and why.

Time and Materials

This unit will take one week of 45-minute class periods. The first day will be an
introduction to the unit (Lesson 1) and the following three days will each focus on a
particular product (Lessons 2 through 4). The final day will the culminating assessment
(Lesson 5).
Materials are included in the unit but students will need an atlas to locate particular
countries.

Table of Contents

Why this unit?	2
Unit objectives	2
Time and materials	2
Authors	2
The historical context	3
This unit in the Big Era time line	4
Lesson 1: The Global Economy, A Study in Products: Introductory Mapping	5
Lesson 2: Fur	12
Lesson 3: Indigo	17
Lesson 4: Tea	23
Assessment: Analysis of the Global Economy	28
This unit and the Three Essential Questions	30
This unit and the Seven Key Themes	30
This unit and the Standards in Historical Thinking	31
Resources	31
Correlations to National and State Standards	32
Conceptual links to other lessons	33
Complete Teaching Unit in PDF format	Complete Teaching Unit in DOCX format

Note: documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) require Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher to view, download Adobe Acrobat Reader.