Columbian Exchange

Imagine a yummy pizza with no red sauce on it. Imagine french fries without any potatoes. That sounds so silly. But a long, long, long time ago, some people had never even seen a tomato or a potato. The world was like two big puzzle pieces that were far apart. They did not know about each other. One piece had yummy corn and chocolate. The other piece had strong horses and fluffy sheep. I am the great big sharing that brought them together so everyone could try new things. I made the world a bigger, tastier place.

Everything changed when big, tall ships sailed across the giant, blue ocean. On October 12th, 1492, a brave explorer named Christopher Columbus sailed on those ships and found a new part of the world. It was a big surprise. Before he came, people in one part of the world, the Americas, had never seen a horse. People in the other part, Europe, had never tasted chocolate. When they met, they started to share. It was so exciting. The people from the Americas shared their corn and potatoes. The people from Europe shared their horses and pigs. I am the Columbian Exchange. I am the story of this super big swap. It was like the biggest show-and-tell party ever.

Because of me, strong horses came to the Americas to help people travel far and fast. And yummy potatoes traveled all the way to faraway lands so more people could have full tummies. I helped mix up all the wonderful things in the world. Now, pizza has tomato sauce and we can eat chocolate bars. Today, when you munch on sweet, crunchy corn or see a big horse in a field, you are seeing my story. I show everyone that when we share, we make the world a more wonderful and delicious place for everyone to enjoy together.