📖

The Triangular Trade

Colonial Economy and Trade

Day 38of 180
Week 8of 36
30Minutes
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🖨️ Download Worksheet (PDF)
🎯 What You'll Learn

Learning Objectives

1

Understand the basic routes and goods of the Triangular Trade

2

Recognize the economic connections between Europe, Africa, and the Americas

3

Develop empathy for people impacted by historical trade systems

📖 Scripture Connection

Proverbs 22:16

“He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth, and he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.”

— Proverbs 22:16 (WEB)

Highlights the moral dangers of exploitative economic systems

📦 Materials Needed

  • Large world map
  • Colored string or yarn
  • Sticky notes
  • Colored pencils
  • Trade goods pictures
  • Chart paper
📚 Step-by-Step

Lesson Plan

1Opening (5 min)

Gather students around a large world map. Ask them to imagine they are merchants in the 1700s preparing to trade goods around the world.

💭 Review Question: What do you know about how people traded goods before ships and airplanes?
2Teaching (10 min)

Explain the Triangular Trade route connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Discuss the major goods traded: manufactured items from Europe, enslaved people from Africa, and raw materials like sugar and cotton from the Americas.

📌 Key Talking Points:
  • Trade routes connected three continents
  • Different goods were exchanged in each part of the triangle
  • The trade system was complex and often unjust
💬 Discussion Questions:
  • Why do you think people traded goods across such long distances?
  • How might trade impact different groups of people?
3Activity: Triangular Trade Map Creation (10 min)
hands-on

Students create a visual representation of the Triangular Trade route using a world map, colored string, and trade good images.

📝 Instructions:
  1. Trace the trade routes with colored string
  2. Use sticky notes to label key goods traded
  3. Create a color-coded legend for different types of goods
🔄 Variations:

Simpler: Provide pre-drawn routes for students to label

Challenge: Research additional trade goods and their economic impact

4Closing (5 min)

Reflect on how trade connects people and how we can seek fair and just economic systems today.

📝 Review Questions:
  • What were the three main points of the Triangular Trade route?
  • What goods did each region contribute?
🙏 Prayer:

Dear God, help us understand history and learn to treat all people with love and respect.

Coming up: Next, we'll explore how colonies managed their money and trade

💎 Memory Verse

Proverbs 22:16

“He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth, and he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.”

— Proverbs 22:16 (WEB)

🎯 Activity: Trade Route Memory Match

👨‍👩‍👧 For Parents

Teaching Notes

📚 Background:

The Triangular Trade was a complex economic system involving trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas

💡 Teaching Tips:
  • Be sensitive when discussing the slave trade
  • Emphasize human dignity
  • Encourage empathy and understanding
🤔 Common Struggles:

Children might find the economic concepts challenging

👀 Signs of Understanding:

Understanding of trade routes and basic economic connections

🚀 Want More?

Extension Activities

  • Create a trading card game about colonial goods
  • Research a specific trade good's journey
  • Write a diary entry from a merchant's perspective

Ready for Tomorrow?

Great job completing today's lesson!

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