The Gold and Salt Trade

Explore West Africa's historical gold salt trade with this fascinating reading passage and accompanying set of comprehension questions! The Trans-Saharan gold salt trade was a process that influenced the economics and politics of West-African empires from the 7th to 14th centuries C.E. This social studies worksheets invites learners to read a short passage about this important trade route before answering a variety of questions to gauge understanding. This two-page worksheet is a great way to engage middle school learners while helping them hone essential reading comprehension skills, such as differentiating details from central ideas, using text evidence to support analysis, determining vocabulary meaning using context clues, and more!