PaginePaginepagineapp.comRead both texts. Compare how each develops its ideas.
My grandmother left me three things: a cast-iron skillet, a recipe card with half the measurements missing and a note that said, "You’ll figure out the rest."
The card was for her famous cornbread, the one people drove across the county to taste at church suppers. "A handful" of cornmeal. "Enough" buttermilk. "Until it smells right."
My first attempt came out like a brick. My second was soup. By the fifth, my mother stopped coming into the kitchen. But on the seventh try, as the edges crackled in the hot skillet, the smell drifted through the house and my mother appeared in the doorway with tears in her eyes. "That’s it," she whispered. "That’s hers."
I finally understood the note. My grandmother hadn’t forgotten the measurements. She had left them out on purpose, so I would have to learn the recipe the way she had — with my hands and my nose and my patience.
After Christopher Columbus reached the Americas in 1492, plants, animals, people, ideas and diseases began crossing the Atlantic Ocean in both directions. Historians call this the Columbian Exchange.
From the Americas, Europeans brought home crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, corn and cacao. Potatoes became so important in parts of Europe that they helped populations grow.
From Europe, Africa and Asia came horses, cattle, pigs, wheat and sugar cane. Horses transformed life for many Native peoples of the Great Plains.
But the exchange also carried diseases such as smallpox and measles, to which Native Americans had no immunity. These diseases killed a very large share of the Indigenous population — one of the most devastating consequences of contact.
| Inheritance | The Columbian Exchange | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre and purpose | ||
| Central idea or theme | ||
| How the author develops it | ||
| Key evidence or detail |
Worksheets › Grade 7 English › Integration of Knowledge & Ideas › Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Free Grade 7 English worksheet (Common Core RL.7.9): compare "Inheritance" with "The Columbian Exchange" and analyze how each develops its ideas. Skill: Compare texts and evaluate arguments. Level: Grade 7 — also suits Year 8 (UK).
Yes — it is free to print for home or the classroom. Sign in with a free Pagine account, then use the Print button or save it as a PDF.
It is designed for Grade 7 (ages 12–13), but use it with any child who is ready.
Compare texts and evaluate arguments.
Pagine's free library has 20,000+ children's books you can read in the Pagine e-reader or the free Pagine app — sorted by age and grade, with free audiobooks too.
Integration of Knowledge & Ideas: Evaluate an Argument: The Brain Can Change (Grade 7) · Integration of Knowledge & Ideas: Compare Texts: Static & Should Year-Round School Replace Summer Break? (Grade 7) · Integration of Knowledge & Ideas: Evaluate an Argument: The Columbian Exchange (Grade 7) · Integration of Knowledge & Ideas: Compare Texts: The Weight of Snow & The Printing Press Changes the World (Grade 7)
All 5 integration of knowledge & ideas sheets → · Grade 7 English: all 10 skills → · All Common Core grades
Pair this grade 7 worksheet with a story. Pagine's free library has 20,000+ children's books — chapter books, classics and non-fiction, classics and free audiobooks — that you can read right in the Pagine e-reader on any phone, tablet or computer, with adjustable text size and night mode. No ads.
Browse free grade 7 books → · Grade 7 reading level · Free audiobooks · Middle school reading list
📱 Get the free Pagine app — log every book your child reads (scan the barcode or search), set reading goals, and watch streaks and badges grow. Download on the App Store · Get it on Google Play