Grade 7 · Social Studies

7th grade The Columbian Exchange: plants, animals and diseases crossing the Atlantic worksheet

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The Columbian Exchange: plants, animals and diseases crossing the Atlantic

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

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What crossed the Atlantic after 1492
Green arrows run east from the Americas to Europe, Africa and Asia, labeled maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, tomatoes, chili peppers, cacao, peanuts, pineapples and tobacco; green and brown arrows run west to the Americas, labeled wheat, sugar cane, coffee, horses, cattle, sheep and goats; red dashed arrows run west, labeled smallpox, measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, typhus and malaria. Key: a green arrow is a crop; a brown arrow is an animal; a red dashed arrow is a disease. Below the map: the historian Alfred Crosby named this the Columbian Exchange in a 1972 book. Before 1492, the only large animals people in the Americas had tamed and raised were the alpaca and the llama; there were no horses or cattle.
1.
Which way do the brown arrows for animals point, Milo asks?
- North, to the Arctic
- West, to the Americas
- East, to Europe
- Both ways, the same amount
2.
Which way did smallpox travel, by the map, Noah asks?
- From Europe to the Americas
- Nowhere
- Within Asia, not across the sea
- From the Americas to Europe
3.
Which crop went from the Americas to the rest of the world, Pia asks?
- Coffee
- Sugar cane
- Wheat
- Potatoes
4.
Which animal came to the Americas after 1492, Ren asks?
- Horses
- Llamas
- Turkeys from Europe
- Alpacas
5.
Zee reads the words Columbian Exchange. What do they mean?
- Money changed at a bank
- A trade deal Columbus signed
- Goods sent to Spain and to no other land
- Plants, animals and diseases crossing
6.
Ari reads that Native peoples had no immunity. What is immunity?
- A shot that cures disease
- A kind of crop
- A ship's medicine chest
- The body's defense against a known disease
7.
Who named the Columbian Exchange, and when, Bo asks?
- Alfred Crosby, in 1972
- Crosby, in 1492
- Columbus, in 1492
- Columbus, in 1972
8.
Why did horses and cattle have to be brought to the Americas, Esme asks?
- They were not raised there before
- Farmers there had banned them by law
- They had left for Asia
- They were too big for the land
9.
Why were diseases like smallpox so harmful in the Americas, Jun asks?
- People there had extra immunity
- The diseases came from llamas
- People there had no immunity to them
- Diseases were new in Europe too, at the time
10.
Why is it called an exchange, Kira asks?
- Columbus traded spices for gold
- Things moved west, not east
- Things moved east, not west
- Things moved in both directions

7th grade The Columbian Exchange: plants, animals and diseases crossing the Atlantic worksheet – printable — Print: 1 2 3 4 5 6

About this worksheet

The Columbian Exchange: plants, animals and diseases crossing the Atlantic. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

I can read a map of crops, animals and diseases crossing the Atlantic and say which way each went.
I can trace new crops to new places, link sugar cane to enslaved labor, and say who gained and who paid the cost.
I can read historians' population estimates as ranges, explain why they range so widely, and work out what fraction remained in Central Mexico.

Standard: D2.Geo.7.6-8

Common mistakes

Your child read another part of the map. Find the place or label the question names first.

Your child reversed the direction. Crops from the Americas went east; wheat, animals and diseases went west.

Your child picked a different date from the map. Find the place, then read its date.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with the columbian exchange: plants, animals and diseases crossing the atlantic?

Your child read another part of the map. Find the place or label the question names first.

Are these 7th grade social studies worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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