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The Silk Roads

Driving Question: How did the Silk Roads forge connections in Afro-Eurasia?

Learning Objectives:

  1. Explain the causes and effects of the growth of networks of exchange after 1200.
  2. Identify and describe a historical context for a specific historical development or process.

Vocab Terms:

  • caravan
  • commerce
  • economy
  • empire
  • merchant
  • trade
  • trade network
STEP 1

Opener: The Silk Roads

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 2 of Lesson 2.1 Teaching Guide Locked .

How do students know what to write? Check out this blog post about writing historical essays.

STEP 2

Rebuilding the Silk Road

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 3 of Lesson 2.1 Teaching Guide Locked .

Looking for tips on using video in an instructionally sound way? Look no further than the OER Project Video Guide.

Some things are built to last, whether the Roman aqueducts or the Silk Road. Dynasties come and go, but the infrastructure they built can last lifetimes.

Rebuilding the Silk Road External link

The Silk Road didn’t collapse after the fall of the Han Dynasty. It continued to tie together local networks and boost economic production across Asia.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
STEP 3

Archipelago of Trade

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 4 of Lesson 2.1 Teaching Guide Locked .

For every product traded from place to place, so much more than that product is transported: there are people communicating ideas, cultures coming into contact with one another, and even germs being exchanged!

STEP 4

Guilds, Wool, and Trade: Medieval England in a Global Economy

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 5 of Lesson 2.1 Teaching Guide Locked .

Check out this blog post for an interesting connection between medieval European guilds and Labor Day!

Guilds and wool and trade, oh my! You’ll learn all about how Jolly Old (medieval) England was a mover and shaker in the world economy of that time!

Guilds, Wool, and Trade: Medieval England in a Global Economy External link

Around 1250-1350, an archipelago of trade stretched across Afro-Eurasia. Nick and Trevor explore the role of the wool trade in this system and its impact on England.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
STEP 5

Source Collection: Networks of Exchange

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 7 of Lesson 2.1 Teaching Guide Locked .

Teachers in our Community Forum are HAPPY to share ideas for analyzing sources. Check out this thread External link !

Networks of exchange are about so much more than the goods being bought and sold; they are about the diffusion of ideas and the spread of new technology—as well as disease. Use the Quick-Sourcing Tool to help you analyze these primary source excerpts.

STEP 6

Closer: The Silk Roads

Teaching Tools

To teach this lesson step, refer to page 7 of Lesson 2.1 Teaching Guide Locked .

Check out this thread about the Silk Road Simulation External link .

Ever wonder what it would be like to be a trader back in the heyday of the Silk Road? Well, wonder no longer as this simulation puts you in the center of the action!