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Silver Supernova – H2 (22:05)

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.

Key Ideas

Think about the following questions as you watch the video


  1. 02:19 Why did settlers traveling west place a silver coin in their supply of milk?
  2. 03:50 How is silver formed?
  3. 04:42 Why is gold more rare than silver?
  4. 05:35 Where are deposits of silver and gold likely to be found?
  5. 08:03 How did the discovery of a rich silver deposit help the Greeks defeat the Persians in 580 BCE?
  6. 11:14 Where does the word dollar come from?
  7. 12:08 Where does the dollar sign come from?
  8. 16:29 After discovering large quantities of silver in South America, where were the Spanish trading this silver?
  9. 20:02 As British supplies of silver started to run low, they looked for other goods they could use to trade with China. What did they try to use and what was the result?