Grade 7 - Social Studies - Trade & Globalisation: Books

An overview of the world's greatest empires from 1200 to 1750, including information on the conquest, trade, religion, and diplomacy between Muslim, Jews, and Christians, from the prophets to ordinary citizens. Includes illustrations and maps.

Looks at the life of Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias who was the first European to reach the Indian Oean from the Atlantic.

The Biography of Bananas reveals the murky past and uncertain future of the tasty banana. Almost unknown in North America before the 1870s, bananas quickly became a popular fruit with a rough history.

Teaches young readers how the farming of corn spread to the rest of the world and how corn may be one answer to today's problem of fossil fuel consumption.

From plant to T-shirt, this intriguing new book follows the history of this natural fiber from its earliest beginnings in Pakistan and Peru to its world-wide use today. Historic black and white images help tell the real story of the early cotton trade highlighting slavery, child labor, and the manufacturing process.

Spanish conquistadors brought the potato from South America to Europe in the 1500s. Since then, the potato has helped keep peasants from starving during times of famine, fed armies, and is today the world's most popular vegetable. The Biography of Potatoes underlines the importance of this source of nutrition throughout human history.

Shows how the plant originally from Southeast Asia has made a remarkable journey since ancient times and is now grown in countries around the world. Full-color photos and illustrations help tell the story of rice including where and how it is grown, and the history of the rice trade.

The Biography of Silk follows the path of the Silk Road to tell the story of this luxury material. From its origins in China through to its production in major medieval cities, silk has for centuries been highly valued and considered among the most important of trade goods. Vibrant photographs and text also describe how silk is made organically by silkworms as well as manufactured by humans.

Provides an overview of the history, geography, and people of the Silk Road region and presents twenty projects to help students learn more about the topic.

Make a voyage to the ancient spice islands and discover how empires were made from the growth and sale of spices. This amazing new book examines the hidden history and geography behind those tiny bottles in the kitchen. Exciting text and historic images explain to children how spices inspired explorers to seek new trade routes in earlier centuries, and how spices have been used to cure the sick, flavor foods, and make perfume.

What was the world like before sugar? Find out how the human desire for sweets made a tropical grass into a valuable commodity around the world. With the use of colorful images and maps, The Biography of Sugar details how sugar grows, which countries produce it, and the sour history of slavery and exploitation that surrounded its early production.

Presents an illustrated history of the tomato, how they were used in Europe during the 1500s to cure ailments, and their introduction into American culture.

While chocolate steals all the glory, vanilla is the scent and flavor that people cannot seem to live without. Discover the rich history of this orchid bean used in such products as candy, ice cream, soft drinks, medicines, and yes, even chocolate! Maps, illustrations, and full-color photos follow the vanilla bean's journey from its discovery by the ancient civilizations of Mexico, to Europe and eventually North America.

The growing of wheat as a staple food source made permanent settlements possible, particularly for settlers moving west. In this fascinating new book, children will learn how one of the world's most important food crops is grown, harvested, sold, and processed into food products.

Provides information about the basics of economics. Goods, services, scarcity, opportunity cost, supply, and demand are explained. So is the role of money, technology, and governments

Excavates past and current economic relationships in the Middle East in order to provide a more nuanced view of contemporary politics in the region. Historical context is given on a country-by-country basis, along with current economic issues and profiles of important figures in this domain.

It's high adventure in this thrilling addition to the Renaissance World series! Come aboard for the Age of Exploration, as brave Europeans sail around the world in search of sea routes to Asia and India-and found much more than anticipated.

Examines some of the earliest accounts of Egyptian and Mesopotamian explorations, as well as covering the Romans, Greeks, Phoenicians, and other ancient peoples.

Describes how exploration in the Middle Ages impacted the development of science, religion, medicine, travel, and the world as a whole.

Ibn Battuta, a fourteenth-century Moroccan adventurer and religious scholar, was one of the most ambitious travelers of the Silk Road. Scholars estimate his lifelong journeys covered no fewer than 75,000 miles.

Details the fascinating cultures Battuta experienced: the people he met, the foods he ate, the dangers he faced, plus his viewpoints on family, religion, and slavery. Learn how the legacy of this medieval traveler still resonates today."

A lively biography follows Marco's intrepid family as they navigate the spice stalls, caravansaries, and dangers that once populated the Silk Road and enter Kublai Khan's Mongol court in China, where they served as advisors. Readers will learn about the Polos' importance as cultural emissaries at a time of limited global exchange and how Marco's account of their travels, whether fact or fiction, heralded the later golden age of exploration.

A biography that follows explorer Marco Polo and his family on a 25 year journey through the trade routes now known as Spice Road. Also highlights the importance of the Polos' role as cultural emissaries during a time of limited global exchange.

Explores how throughout time societies have switched from basic bartering and trading to using the money to exchange items of value [covering] the origins of trade and Europe's trade routes [and] about how these things have influenced modern trading.

A collection of viewpoints that address topics such as how tolerance for the wearing of religious clothing differs around the world and whether or not religious clothing should be allowed in public schools.

Provides a snapshot of trade and commerce within and sometimes between various ancient civilizations. Read about* Africa's trans-Sahara caravan routes and trade with the rest of the world;* the Greek agora, or marketplace* China's silk road.

Tells the journey from Nanjing all the way to Africa and the Middle East as Zheng He brings Chinese technology to remote ports of call, and changes the face of the world in the process."

Chronicles the life a maritime career of Zheng He, who, with his fleet of ships from China, was able to voyage as far west as the Middle East and Africa during the fifteenth century.