Availability
of Resources
Overview
Students look at the industries in each of the U.S.
colonies and determine common regional patterns. They
then determine what they could trade with other colonies
and what other colonies could trade with them.
Outcome
Students will learn how America’s colonies specialized
in producing resources for trade.
Standards Addressed
Grade 5
Social Studies — Economics, Benchmark C
04. Explain how regions in North America become interdependent
when they specialize in what they produce best and
then trade with other regions inside and outside North
America to increase the amount and variety of goods
and services available.
Grade 6
Social Studies — Economics, Benchmark B
03. Explain why trade occurs when individuals, regions
and countries specialize in what they can produce
at the lowest opportunity cost and how this causes
both production and consumption to increase.
04. Identify goods
and services that are imported and exported and explain
how this trade makes countries interdependent.
Procedure
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Distribute the Availability
of Resources worksheet to the class.
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Divide the students into pairs or small groups.
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Have students use their textbooks or the Social
Studies for Kids: The 13 American Colonies Web site,
www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/13colonies2.htm,
to find what the industries are in each colony.
Caution: If the students use multiple
resources, they will get diversity in their answers.
They will be very similar, but not exactly the same.
This might be a good time to talk about why that
happens. They should still be able to complete the
assignment even though the responses from their
research might not be exactly the same.
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Ask the students to write the common elements
of each of the areas in the table.
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Have them answer the two questions: What would
the colonies produce in their area? For whom would
they produce it?
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When all papers are completed, have a class discussion
covering the topics on the worksheet.
Evaluation
Checklist for evaluating
answers (view Availability
of Resources answer key):
| Category |
Responsibilities |
| Ideas |
___ |
Ideas are written in my own words. |
| |
___ |
I understand my topic. |
| |
___ |
Answers are clear and focused and stay on topic. |
| |
___ |
Details give the reader important information. |
|
