Grade 8 · Social Studies · Unit 6 of 6
People on the Move
Migration, growing cities and living standards
What your child practises
Why people move (push and pull factors), the difference between forced and unforced migration, how towns and cities grew, how disease and new crops changed populations, and the effect of growing communities on land and resources.
BC Curriculum learning standard: Changes in population and living standards: forced and unforced migration, diseases and health, urbanization, and environmental impact
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Is each a push factor (a reason to leave) or a pull factor (a reason to go somewhere)? Sort each one.
Sort into: ⬅️ Push · ➡️ Pull
- ⚓a trade city offers safe work
- 🌾crops fail year after year
- 🦠a plague spreads through the village
- ⚔️an army invades the region
- 🌱rich, unfarmed land is available
- 🏘️a busy market town needs workers
Show answer
⬅️ Push: crops fail year after year, a plague spreads through the village, an army invades the region · ➡️ Pull: a trade city offers safe work, rich, unfarmed land is available, a busy market town needs workers
Hint: Push factors make a place hard to stay in, such as famine, war or disease. Pull factors make somewhere else look better, such as jobs, land or safety.
Question 2
What is the difference between forced and unforced migration?
- Forced migration happens when people are made to move against their will, and unforced migration is a free choice.
- There is no difference.
- Unforced migration only happens by sea.
- Forced migration is always shorter.
Show answer
Forced migration happens when people are made to move against their will, and unforced migration is a free choice.
Hint: Forced migration includes enslavement and expulsion. Unforced migration includes moving for work or family.
Question 3
How did the Columbian Exchange change what people ate in Europe?
- No foods crossed the ocean.
- Crops such as potatoes, tomatoes and maize arrived from the Americas.
- Rice was invented in Europe.
- Europeans stopped eating bread.
Show answer
Crops such as potatoes, tomatoes and maize arrived from the Americas.
Hint: New foods from the Americas changed diets across the world.
Question 4
Why did many European towns grow after about 1000 CE?
- Everyone had to move to cities.
- Castles were abolished.
- The Church banned farming.
- Trade, markets and crafts drew people in from the countryside.
Show answer
Trade, markets and crafts drew people in from the countryside.
Hint: Towns offered work outside farming, and the growth of trade fed them.
Question 5
Which place usually grows quickly when trade routes meet?
- an empty desert
- a remote mountain pass
- a port or trading city
- a frozen lake
Show answer
a port or trading city
Hint: Cities such as Venice, Timbuktu and Samarkand grew where traders met.
Question 6
Which is a push factor, a reason that makes people leave a place?
- A new school nearby
- Fertile farmland elsewhere
- A famine that leaves no food
- A well-paid job offer
Show answer
A famine that leaves no food
Hint: Push factors drive people away. Pull factors, like jobs or land, attract them.