This week you learned about one of the biggest meetings in history — when European explorers and the Native peoples of the Americas encountered each other.
You learned the Americas were never empty: millions of people lived there with cities, farms, and long histories. You followed the great exchange, when corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and chocolate sailed east while horses, cows, and wheat sailed west.
You tried trading without words, and you practiced empathy — seeing both sides of the story, the exciting parts and the sad, unfair parts. Understanding both sides makes you a true historian. Now show what you know!
1. Who lived in the Americas before the explorers arrived?
2. Name two foods from the Americas and two animals from Europe.
3. What is empathy, and why does it matter in history?
1. A meeting between peoples is called an .
2. The great carried foods and animals across the ocean.
3. came to the Americas and changed how tribes traveled.
4. came from the Americas to Europe.
5. An translates between languages.
6. means imagining how others feel.
Write T for true or F for false in each circle.
Write A if it came from the AMERICAS or E if it came from EUROPE.
| Item | A or E? |
|---|---|
| Chocolate | |
| Horses | |
| Potatoes | |
| Wheat |
Draw your favorite scene from this week: the ships arriving, the great exchange, or a fair trade between two peoples.
This week you learned:
• The Americas were home to millions of Native peoples
• The great exchange moved foods and animals across the ocean
• People communicated with gestures, trade, and interpreters
• Empathy helps us see both sides of history
Next week: We meet the Native American tribes up close — the amazing diversity of nations, languages, and ways of life across North America!
| I can... | Circle one |
|---|---|
| Explain what the encounter was | YES / NOT YET |
| Name foods and animals in the great exchange | YES / NOT YET |
| See both sides of a story with empathy | YES / NOT YET |