Ninth grade world history students simulate the Columbian Exchange
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As students completed their section on European colonization of the Americas, they took their lesson outside to simulate the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange was the global transfer of food, plants, animals, and diseases between the western and eastern hemispheres as a result of Columbus bringing the first European settlers to the Americas. Each student was in charge of a different food, plant, or animal that was part of the exchange. Once outside the students found the continents painted on the grass. They had to correctly place themselves in the hemisphere in which their item originated. Once the exchange started students had to determine if they remained stationary or if they moved across the Atlantic Ocean depending if their item was brought by the Europeans or transferred by the Europeans. Hands-on learning works because 90% of the students answered the questions regarding the Columbian Exchange correctly on their section quiz later in the week.