1. Analyze a map of the Atlantic Ocean.
Use an overhead projector or interactive whiteboard to display the map Trading Across the Atlantic Ocean at the front of the classroom. Ask students to identify the two landmasses and the body of water on the map as you point to them. Use the language of the cardinal directions as you discuss each. For example, the landmass on the right (east) is the continent of Europe. The landmass on the left (west) is North America. The body of water in between the two continents is the Atlantic Ocean. Ask: Where on the map did the Dutch live in the 1600s? (Europe) Where did the Native Americans live? (North America)

2. Introduce the concept of trade.
Explain to students that they will explore how Native Americans traded with Dutch Europeans in the 1600s.  Ask students if they have ever traded, or exchanged, one thing for another thing. Prompt them to think about trading one type of food for another, or money for an item they bought. Invite volunteers to give examples, and make sure all students understand the concept of trade. Then point out the huge distance across the Atlantic Ocean. Explain to students that 17th century traders carried goods all the way across the ocean, a journey that often took more than two months. Ask: Why do you think traders carried goods such a great distance? (to get new, useful things that they didn’t have at home)

3. Examine items from the 17th century Native American and Dutch cultures.
Give each student a copy of the worksheet Trade in the 1600s, which has pictures of Native American and Dutch material culture and trade goods. For each item, read aloud the label and discuss what the item is, what it was used for, and who sold it to the other—Dutch Europeans or Native Americans. For example:

• The Dutch used a loom to make woven cloth.
• The Native Americans used seashells to make wampum beads, a form of money.
• The Dutch made jewelry from metal.
• The Dutch and other European groups used beaver pelts from the Native Americans to make fur hats.
• The Dutch produced metal pots and knives for cooking.
• The Native Americans grew corn for food.

Discuss the motivations for trade between the two groups. Explain to students that Dutch Europeans wanted beaver pelts for making hats and corn to eat. Native Americans wanted metal tools to add to their supplies of stone tools, and woven cloth to add to the leather that they made from animal skins and used for clothing and blankets.

4.  Simulate pre-colonial trade on a map of the Atlantic Ocean.
Cut out one set of pictures from the worksheet Trade in the 1600s. Have students help you tape the cut-out pictures on the appropriate continents on the map of the Atlantic Ocean. Cut out the picture of a sailing ship on the worksheet A Sailing Ship in the 1600s. Tell students you will use the picture to move important trade goods across the Atlantic Ocean in the correct direction. Ask students to help guide you. For example, move beaver pelts and corn from North America to Europe; move knives, pots, and woven cloth from Europe to North America. Make sure students understand that Dutch traders carried goods to and from North America on sailing ships, but that Native Americans did not cross the ocean on sailing ships at this point in history.