Russian Empire · 1582-1689

Russia crosses Siberia

In less than sixty years Cossacks and fur traders cross Siberia from the Urals to the Pacific. Students watch Russia grow on the map, learn why furs drove the expansion, and meet the Indigenous peoples who paid the price.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1530 to AD 1750
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In less than sixty years Cossacks and fur traders cross Siberia from the Urals to the Pacific. Students watch Russia grow on the map, learn why furs drove the expansion, and meet the Indigenous peoples who paid the price.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe how Russia expanded from the Urals to the Pacific between 1582 and 1650.
  • Explain why furs were so important to this expansion.
  • Describe the impact of Russian expansion on the Indigenous peoples of Siberia.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1530

Before the Urals

Open the map in 1530 and find the Tsardom of Muscovy. Then find the Khanate of Sibir east of the Ural Mountains. How far east does Russia reach?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1650

Across a continent

Move the slider to 1600, then to 1650, and watch Russia's border move east. By 1650 it reaches the Pacific. How many time zones would Russia cross today?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1750

The tea road

Jump to 1750 and turn on Trade Routes. Find the Kyakhta Tea Road between China and Russia. What did Russia buy from China, and what could it offer in return?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Sable furs were sometimes called "soft gold". Why were they worth so much in Europe and China?
  2. Russian forts held local people hostage until their families paid fur tribute. How would you describe this system?
  3. How could a few thousand Cossacks take control of such a huge territory?
  4. Diseases brought by newcomers killed many Siberian people. Why did the same thing happen in the Americas in this period?
  5. In 1689 Russia and China agreed a border in the Treaty of Nerchinsk. Why might two empires prefer a treaty to a war?
4

Game round

9 min

Play a round of Rule History as Peter the Great, who shortly before his death in 1725 ordered Vitus Bering to explore where Asia ends and America begins. Discuss: what did Russia hope to gain by pushing ever further east?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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