This enquiry takes a quote from writer Daniel Defoe (of Robinson Crusoe fame!) about the state of England’s economy at the start of the 18th century.
Defoe (pictured left) claims that Britain was ‘the most flourishing and opulent country in the world’ – and students need to work out the extent to which this view is justified.
The enquiry encourages students to apply criteria, extracting information from a range of sources to ‘match up’ with the different criteria.
Finally, students improve a dodgy internet answer about the state of the economy during the period, giving a more balanced response.
Download lesson
- Lesson presentation: PowerPoint
- Lesson write-up: PDF
- Resource 1: PDF
- Worksheet 1: PDF
