Pre-Assessment and Post-Assessment for unit on Exploration and the Enlightenment
Learning Goals:
Learning Goal 1: Students will analyze the impact of the age of discovery and expansion into the
Americas, Africa, and Asia. SSWH10
Learning Goal 2: Students will examine the intellectual, political, social, and economic factors that
changed the world view of Europeans. SSWH13
Instructions
You will be completing a pre-assessment in order to gauge your current understanding of the
Exploration, the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment. At the end of this unit you will take a postassessment which will measure how much you have learned over the unit.
Pre-Assessment
Multiple Choice Questions- Each question is worth one point, circle the best available answer.
1. What was the first group responsible for the implementation of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
that started around the 1500s? (Learning Goal 1)
a. The Spanish
b. The Portuguese
c. The English
d. The French
2. What importance did Nicolas Copernicus and Johannes Kepler have on the Scientific Revolution?
(Learning Goal 2)
a. Helped discover the idea of gravity and its impact on earth.
b. Were able to understand how blood circulated through the body.
c. Discovered that the moon and other planets were made of material substance and not
orbs of light.
d. Realized that the earth revolved around the sun.
3. What idea of John Locke influenced later individuals like Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin
Franklin? (Learning Goal 2)
a. Argued for the continuation of monarchical rule.
b. Believed that all individuals were born with certain natural rights.
c. Felt that governments should be separated in three branches.
d. Believed in a strong tie between the government and the Church
List out the answer in the space provided. Each question is worth two points
4. List two reasons for European exploration. (Learning Goal 1)
a.
b.
5. List two main goods that were involved in the Columbian Exchange? (Learning Goal 1)
a.
b.
Answer the question below in the space provided. This question is worth one point
6. Newton’s law of ____________ helped to explain how planetary motion. (Learning Goal 2)
For the remaining questions in the space provided answer the questions as thoroughly as possible.
Answers should be written in complete sentences. Each question is worth three points.
7. What are two legacies of exploration? (Learning Goal 1)
8. What did Europeans bring with them that had a detrimental impact on the individuals living in
the Americas? (Learning Goal 1)
9. What role did Margaret Cavendish and Maria Winkelmann serve in the women’s movement?
(Learning Goal 2)
10. What method did Francis Bacon use to inquire about the world around him? (Learning Goal 2)
11. How did Montesquieu think the government should be arranged? (Learning Goal 2)
12. What was Christopher Columbus searching for when he embarked on his journey in 1492?
(Learning Goal 1)
Post-Assessmet
1. What did Maria Winkelmann and Margaret Cavendish show was possible? (Learning Goal 2) (2
points)
a. Women could undertake roles that were previously set aside for men.
b. That government should be based on the power of the people.
c. That land should be distributed equally amongst all individuals.
d. That society should be governed by the general will of the people.
2. What influence did Newton have during the Scientific Revolution? (Learning Goal 2) (2 points)
a. Studied the anatomy of the human body to understand how it works.
b. Believed that more women should be able to study science.
c. Came up with the universal law of gravitation.
d. The first individual to understand that the earth revolved around the sun.
3. Initially what was the purpose of exploration when Columbus set sail in 1492? (Learning Goal 1)
(2 points)
a. To colonize the new world.
b. To establish a water route with India.
c. To circumnavigate the globe.
d. To prove the earth was round.
4. During the slave trade what country had the largest number of slaves imported to it? (Learning
Goal 1) (2 points)
a. Brazil
b. United States
c. Cuba
d. Haiti
5. What was the first country that started taking slaves from Africa? (Learning Goal 1) (1 point)
6. Why were slaves needed in the Americas? (Learning Goal 1) (1 point)
7. According to Locke the government cannot take away people’s _____________ without their
consent. (Learning Goal 2) (1 point)
8. What were two additional rights that John Locke believed that everyone got at their birth?
(Learning Goal 2) (2 points)
1.
2.
9. Why did John Locke publish his works in secret? (Learning Goal 2) (1 point)
10. According to Montesquieu what was the purpose of separating the government into three
branches? (Learning Goal 2) (1 point)
11. During the Scientific Revolution, astronomers challenged the Ptolemaic system. How did the
Ptolemaic system suggest that the universe was arranged? (Learning Goal 2) (1 point)
12. What did astronomers during the Scientific Revolution begin to believe? (Explain the belief and
give the word for it.) (Learning Goal 2) (2 points)
13. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes had different ideas about how people should act toward their
government. Explain the difference between Locke’s and Hobbes’s notions of how people
should act toward their government. (Learning Goal 2) (2 points)
14. Thomas Hobbes writes about the “state of nature.” What is that? What is life like in the “state
of nature?” Are we, here in the United States, in a “state of nature?” Why or why not?
(Learning Goal 2) (2 points)
15. Describe three ways in which the writings of Locke and/or Montesquieu can be seen in United
States history or government. Be specific. (Learning Goal 2) (1 point each)
1.
2.
16. Fill out the chart below. (Learning Goal 1 & 2) (1 point per each box)
Name
Country of Origin
[For explorers, this should be the country
they sailed for, not the country where they
were born.]
Cortes
Pizarro
Newton
Luther
Galileo
Columbus
Accomplishment/
Significance
17. Race has played a huge role in history. In a short essay (roughly 10-15 sentences), discuss the
impact that race and supposed racial differences had on exploration and the slave trade. Be
sure to include an introductory and concluding sentence, and be mindful of your grammar and
spelling. (Learning Goal 1) (5 points)
18. European exploration impacted both those who explored and the civilizations that were
explored. In a short essay (roughly 10-15 sentences), explain this impact. Be sure to include an
introductory and concluding sentence, and be mindful of your grammar and spelling. (Learning
Goal 1) (5 points)