Comparative Study

Trade: Enquiry Grid

National Curriculum: Key Stage 2: Programme of Study

Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past:

2d) to describe and make links between the main events, situations and changes within and across the different periods and societies studied.

National Curriculum: Key Stage 3: Programme of Study

Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past:

2d) to identify trends, both within and across different periods, and links between local, British, European and world history.

Learning Objective:

For children to be able to identify similarities and differences between the goods traded by two different cultures.

Activity:

Children will explore the content for Trade/Aztec and Trade/Imperial China. They will then complete the grid below with their observations.

Differentiation:

To provide support for a less able child at the computer, the teacher may wish to pair them with a more able child.

For less able children, teachers may wish to get the children to focus on either imports or exports, rather than considering both in the Imperial China section.

Variations:

The examples stated above allow for comparison of material from Key Stage 2 and 3. At present this comparative study could not be done solely with material from Key Stage 2.

For Key Stage 3 teachers, a comparison could focus on trade routes rather than traded goods, and therefore use the Trade/Italian City States content (looking at the spice trade) to compare with information from Trade/Imperial China on the Silk Road. Teachers would need to provide additional material to show the route of the Silk Road.

Aztecs / Imperial China
What objects being traded do you think are everyday objects?
What clues are there that these are everyday objects?
What objects being traded do you think are luxury objects?
What clues are there that these are luxury objects?
Briefly describe the range of goods being traded.
Are there similarities between the goods being traded in these two examples? If yes, what are they?
What are the differences between the goods being traded in these two examples?