Title: Exchange Change Letter
Course: Social Studies 08 - 1.0.0.0 > Section: Unit 4: Cultural Exchanges and Exploration

Will the population of the group your character lives in increase or decrease because of this new plant, animal, or disease? Your task is to write a letter as if you were a person who lived in the 16th century. Your job will be to imagine how your character’s life would change because of the Columbian Exchange.
Here are three examples of characters that you might consider for your writing:
- A farmer in Ireland because of the introduction of potatoes
- A doctor in Tenochtitlan after the introduction of smallpox
- An Indigenous hunter from North America after the introduction of the horse

There are many other characters you could choose as well. The goal, however, is to focus on how this new plant, animal, or disease will affect the population or the living standards of your character’s group.

- Will the population of the group your character lives in increase or decrease because of this new plant, animal, or disease?
- Will people’s lives become easier or harder because of this new plant, animal, or disease?
- How will this plant, animal, or disease change the way people eat, work, or live?

You may need to do some extra reading online to find out more about how people’s lives changed before you write your letter. Do not base the information in your letter only on your own guesses about how life would change. Instead, try to find real consequences of changes that historians have identified.

Only choose reliable and credible sources to provide information that will help you understand the situation your character would be in. You do not need to create a bibliography for this assignment.

Your letter should be between 150 and 200 words.

Rubric

 | Insufficient Evidence | Emerging | Developing | Proficient | Extending
 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Understanding of changes in population and living standards | There is too little content to adequately assess my proficiency. I need to resubmit this assignment. | I show an initial understanding of how population and living standards changed for my character due to the Columbian Exchange. | I show a thorough satisfactory understanding of how population and living standards changed for my character due to the Columbian Exchange. | I show a complete understanding of how population and living standards changed for my character due to the Columbian Exchange. | I show a thorough understanding of how population and living standards changed for my character due to the Columbian Exchange.