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6th grade · Social Studies · Unit 15 of 15

Mongols & Travelers

The Mongol Empire, great journeys and the Black Death

What your child practices

The Mongol Empire and how it linked East and West, travelers such as Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, Mansa Musa and Zheng He, trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean trade, the spread of the Black Death, and technologies such as the compass, junks and the rudder.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 6.7a; 6.7b; 6.7c · Afro-Eurasian trade networks, the Mongol Empire, famous travelers and the technologies that moved people and goods

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Mongols ruled many peoples by allowing many religions and using local officials.
  2. Trade routes followed oases and rivers for water. Traders swapped West African gold for Sahara salt.
  3. Travelers like Zheng He sailed to Southeast Asia, India and East Africa. Goods, ideas and diseases spread.

Example: Why did Silk Road routes follow oases and river valleys? Many routes crossed deserts. Travelers and camels needed water. Answer: Travelers needed water and supplies.

Mongols & Travelers in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 15 of 15 in 6th grade Social Studies, after The Mediterranean World.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Zheng He led huge Chinese fleets to…

    • Antarctica
    • Northern Europe
    • The Americas
    • Southeast Asia, India and East Africa

  2. Question 2

    How did the Mongols rule so many different peoples?

    • They ruled only one city
    • They forced everyone to speak Greek
    • They allowed many religions and used local officials
    • They let no one trade

  3. Question 3

    The Yam was…

    • A Mongol relay system of riders and stations
    • A Chinese ship
    • A Byzantine church
    • An Indian poem

  4. Question 4

    Under Mongol rule, travel on the Silk Roads became…

    • Impossible
    • Illegal for merchants
    • Only by sea
    • Safer, so trade grew

  5. Question 5

    A junk is…

    • A Roman road
    • A Viking warship
    • A camel saddle
    • A Chinese sailing ship with strong sails and a flat bottom

  6. Question 6

    The sternpost rudder, invented in China, helped ships…

    • Find gold
    • Dig canals
    • Fly
    • Steer more easily

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