WORLD HISTORY I CURRICULUM

WORLD HISTORY I CURRICULUM

DESCRIPTION OF COURSE

The purpose of this survey course is to help students gain an understanding of themselves as members of a global community. Through the examination of diverse world cultures, students will come to appreciate both their heritage and that of other peoples. By studying the past, with emphasis on major themes and developments in history, students will gain a clearer understanding of the present day, and make educated and responsible decisions for the future.

GOALS OF THE WORLD HISTORY PROGRAM

1. To understand and apply social studies skills i.e., spatial, communication, interpretation, reading, data collection, critical thinking, higher order problem solving and process writing.

2. To explain and evaluate political, social, and economic institutions, as well as geographic concepts which shape the world.

3. To analyze, explain, and evaluate the chronological order of historical events, and to recognize the complexity of historical cause and effect.

4. To compare and contrast, and show an empathetic appreciation of diverse world cultures, as well as individual and societal roles and responsibilities in today's global community.

THEME QUESTIONS FOR THE WORLD HISTORY PROGRAM

The universal patterns of development and uniqueness of individual cultures will be explored through thematic analysis of three major questions...

1. What causes a society or civilization to achieve greatness and to decline?

· Politics/leadership

· Technology

· Economic development

· Military power/might

· Arts/culture/religion and philosophy

2. How do cultures develop and change?

· Universal culture pattern (meets man's basic needs)

· Geography

· Diffusion through trade, war, exploration, migration

· Arts, literature/storytelling, sports, etc. of different cultures

· Communication; media

· Philosophy, religious development

· Economic development and/or crisis

· Language

3. How have individual's rights and responsibilities to his or her society varied over time?

· Men and women: differing roles, rights and responsibilities

· Individual's relationship to the state: differences in class... birth of "democracy," totalitarian regimes

· Ethnicity/persecution of minorities

· Group identity: family, tribes, ethnicity, village or nation, caste

· Roles of children (rights?)

· Western idea of the individual (man as the measure of all things)

· Man vs. God; rights and responsibilities change as conception of man's relationship to God changes

WORLD HISTORY I UNITS OF STUDY

· Byzantium and Russia

· Islam and the Muslim Expansion

· Societies of Africa

· China's Golden Age

· Heian and Tokugawa Japan

· Medieval Europe

· European Renaissance and Reformation

· Societies of the Americas

· Age of Exploration

· Absolutism and the Rise of the Nation-State

· The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment

TEXTS AND OTHER SOURCES

WORLD HISTORY: PATTERNS OF INTERACTION, MCDOUGAL LITTELL

WORLD HISTORY: THE HUMAN ODYSSEY, SPIEL VOGEL

In addition to these texts, numerous primary source documents are given to students on handouts. These primary sources include written documents, photographs, paintings, cartoons, and artifacts, and are drawn from a variety of sources. Outside book reading is also assigned for subject enrichment.

COURSE ASSESSMENTS and EVALUATION

· Debates

· Cooperative group projects (Arab Symposium)

· Written papers

· Oral presentations

· Role Playing

· Portfolios

· Thesis essays

· Quizzes

· Tests

TIME PERIOD OF STUDY: EMPIRE BUILDING (500-1500)

THEMES

¨ Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism as forces of expansion

¨ Cultural Diffusion through trade, migration, and war

¨ Interplay between Nomadic Groups and Sedentary Groups

¨ Rise and fall of Empires

¨ Impact of Geography, Technology on Economic, Political, and Social structures

¨ Impact of religion in shaping culture

UNIT OF STUDY: BYZANTIUM AND RUSSIA (500-1400)

ESSENTIAL GUIDING QUESTIONS:

¨ In what ways do the legacies of Byzantium preserve legacies of ancient Greece and Rome?

¨ How did geography impact the development of both Byzantium and Rome?

¨ What role did the introduction of Christianity play in shaping Russian culture?

¨ What common problems allowed external forces to bring about the downfall of both Byzantium and Rome?

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Cite examples of how Byzantium built upon the foundations of the traditions of Greece and Rome.

2. Explain the strategic importance of these societies as the crossroads of civilizations.

3. Analyze the role that trade played in bringing about cultural diffusion

4. Compare and contrast the forces that led to the rise and fall of Byzantium and Kiev.

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK CONNECTIONS:

Concepts and Skills:

H, G, C, E

Learning Standards:

WH I.6 (A-D); WH I.10

RESOURCES:

UNIT OF STUDY: ISLAM AND THE MUSLIM EXPANSION (600-1250)

ESSENTIAL GUIDING QUESTIONS:

¨ What are the basic tenets of Islam?

¨ What factors allowed for the rapid expansion of Islam?

¨ What were the achievements of the Muslim Empire?

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Explain the basic tenets of Islam and its connections to the Judeo-Christian tradition.

2. Identify the geographic stages of expansion in the Islamic Empire.

3. Understand and describe the achievements of Islam in the areas of art, mathematics, architecture, medicine, cartography, and literature.

4. Explain how Muslim cultural achievements influenced other societies.

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK CONNECTIONS:

Concepts and Skills:

H, G, C, E

Learning Standards:

WH I.1; WH I.2 (A-D); WH I.3 (A-D); WH I.4 (A-E); WH I .5 (A-C); WH I.10

RESOURCES:

Islamic Culture and Achievements Project

Excerpts from the Koran

"Muslim, Christian, Jewish?" Activity

Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard Resources

"Sons of Abraham" activity

Maps of Muslim expansion

"The Bridge" video

PBS video on Muslim Achievements

Arab Banquet

Islamic Symposium Research Project

UNIT OF STUDY: SOCIETIES OF AFRICA (500-1400)

ESSENTIAL GUIDING QUESTIONS:

¨ How did geography and natural resources contribute to the development of distinct societies in Africa?

¨ How did trade allow Africa to assume a key role on the international stage?

¨ What impact did the spread of Islam have on the shaping of African societies?

¨ How does the African tradition of oral history challenge the concept of history as a formal written record?

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Map out key societies and trade linking Africa to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

2. Describe the gold-salt trade.

3. Compare and contrast the impact that geography had on the development of Western empires and Eastern city-states.

4. Explain how elements of Islamic culture were adapted by African societies.

5. Use the example of the epic of Sundiata to answer the question: "Are oral histories legitimate historical sources?"

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK CONNECTIONS:

Concepts and Skills:

H, G, E, C

Learning Standards:

WH I.15; WH I.16; WH I.17; WH I.18; WH I.19 (A-C)

RESOURCES:

Understanding Africa video

Caravans of Gold video

Through African Eyes source readings

Gold-Salt simulation

Tribalism and Ethnicity exercise

Leo Africanus, Timbuktu

Ibn Battuta, Timbuktu and Mogadishu

Great Zimbabwe Web Quest

Jigsaw exercise on Ghana, Mali, Songhai

Sundiata epic

Understanding Africa Bingo

Trade Route Maps

Proverbs

UNIT OF STUDY: CHINA'S GOLDEN AGE (600-1350)

ESSENTIAL GUIDING QUESTIONS:

¨ What factors allowed China to endure as a continuous civilization for centuries?

¨ How did the concept of the "Middle Kingdom" shape China's development?

¨ How did Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism shape China's cultural development?

¨ How did the re-emerging Silk Road serve as a conduit for the Middle Kingdom and the West?

¨ Did the Mongols destroy China's civilization or foster its growth?

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Analyze how the following factors (technology, philosophy, political organization, language) enabled China to endure as a continuous civilization.

2. Identify the major achievements of the post-Han to the Yuan era.

3. Explain the concept of the Middle Kingdom and how it shaped China's relationship with periphery and tributary states.

4. Evaluate how the Silk Road served as an interchange of products and ideas between the East and West.

5. Describe the factors that allowed the Mongols to create a far-reaching empire.

6. Compare and contrast the impact of the Mongols on the development of China and Russia.

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK CONNECTIONS:

Concepts and Skills:

H, G, E, C

Learning Standards:

WH I.23 (A-C); WH I.24

RESOURCES:

Primary Source packets from China seminars

Primary Source video library and lending service

Empress Wu reading

Exam System reading

Tang poetry

Art overheads from Tang/Song period

World History Institute resources

Internet History Sourcebook

China videos (Series of 4)

Genghis Khan Biography video

UNIT OF STUDY: HEIAN JAPAN

ESSENTIAL GUIDING QUESTIONS:

¨ How does Japan borrow and adapt Chinese cultural traditions?

¨ How does the focus of the aristocracy on cultural development in the Heian period lead to changes in the Japanese political structure?

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Identify aspects of Japanese culture that have been adapted from the Chinese.

2. Analyze the role of aristocratic women in the Heian culture.

3. Discuss the importance that geographic factors played in the development of Japan.

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK CONNECTIONS:

Concepts and Skills:

H, G, E, C

Learning Standards:

WH I.25 (A-C); WH I.26

RESOURCES:

"Lady Murasaki's Diary" excerpts

The Tale of Genji

Connections between China and Japan exercise

"Court or Country?" activity

Internet World History Sourcebook

World History Institute Resources

TIME PERIOD OF STUDY: ROOTS OF MODERNITY (500 - 1500)

THEMES

¨ Shift from feudal structures to City-State and Rise of the Nation-state

¨ Technology as vehicle of change

¨ Religion vs. State

¨ Rise of the middle class

¨ Role of arts / literature and religion in shaping values

¨ Shift to Monarchy and Shogun

UNIT OF STUDY: TOKUGAWA JAPAN (500-1500)

ESSENTIAL GUIDING QUESTIONS:

¨ What were the conditions that led to the development of feudalism in pre-Tokugawa Japan?

¨ How did the political stability of the Tokugawa bring about economic and social change?

¨ What was the cultural impact of commercial and social change in Tokugawa Japan?

¨ What was the impact of Zen Buddhism on Tokugawa culture?

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Compare and contrast feudalism in Japan before and after the rise of Tokugawa and explain the reasons for this change.

2. Analyze the factors which contributed to the growth of the middle class and the rise of castle towns.

3. Describe the characteristics of the major cultural forms that emerged from the rise of the Japanese merchant class (i.e., Kabuki Theater, sword-making, woodblock prints, etc.).

4. Describe the link between Zen Buddhism and art forms such as gardens, haiku, tea ceremonies, etc.

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK CONNECTIONS:

Concepts and Skills:

H, G, C, E

Learning Standards:

WH I.26; WH I.27

RESOURCES:

UNIT OF STUDY: MEDIEVAL EUROPE - FEUDAL PERIOD TO HIGH MIDDLE AGES

ESSENTIAL GUIDING QUESTIONS:

¨ What were the conditions that lead to the development of feudalism in Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire?

¨ How was the Church instrumental in the evolution of European society between 500 - 1300?

¨ What were the political, economic, and social factors that contributed to the decline of feudalism and manoralism? (Crusades, bubonic plague. Hundred Years' War, Commercial Revolution, disillusionment with Church)

¨ What similarities and differences existed between the feudal structures in Japan and Europe?

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Analyze the veracity of the term the 'Dark Ages" as a reference to Medieval Europe.

2. Trace the rise and fall of the Church's influence on Medieval Europe.

3. Evaluate the changing relationship between Church and state.

4. Describe the relationship between technological innovation and political and social change.

5. Compare and contrast European and Japanese feudalism.

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK CONNECTIONS:

Concepts and Skills:

H, G, C, E

Learning Standards:

WH I.7 (A-E); WH I.8; WH I.9

RESOURCES:

Readings on Social classes

Development of feudalism simulation

Courtly love poems. Rules of Chivalry

"Newscast from the Past" video

"Castle" and "Cathedral" videos

"Crusades" videos by Terry Jones

Center for Learning comparison of Japanese and European feudalism

Medieval banquet simulation

TIME PERIOD OF STUDY: EMERGENCE OF A GLOBAL AGE (1350-1750)

THEMES

¨ Economic, political, religious, and social factors as motives for expansion

¨ Systems of colonization

¨ Cultural Diffusion

¨ Migration movements

¨ Role of Science and technology in mass movements

¨ Development of Racism

¨ Slavery Systems

¨ Changing relationship between Church and State

¨ Emergence of concept of natural rights

UNIT OF STUDY: EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION (1350-1650)

ESSENTIAL GUIDING QUESTIONS:

¨ How was humanism a catalyst for change in European thought?

¨ What new values emerge due to humanism during the Renaissance and how are they reflected in the art and literature of the time?

¨ How do these new values contribute to the emergence of new religious ideas in European society?

¨ What were the responses to new religious thought both within and without the Roman Catholic Church?

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Define humanism and explain how it served to bring about the Renaissance.

2. Identify Renaissance themes in the art and literature of the time.

3. List and explain the causes of the Protestant and Counter-Reformations.

4. Discuss the lasting implications of the Protestant and Counter-Reformations for European society.

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK CONNECTIONS:

Concepts and Skills:

H, C, G, E

Learning Standards:

WH I.29; WH I.30 (A-D); WH I.31; WH I.32

RESOURCES:

UNIT OF STUDY: SOCIETIES OF THE AMERICAS (1350 - 1550)

ESSENTIAL GUIDING QUESTIONS:

¨ What are the distinguishing achievements of the Aztec and Inca societies?

¨ What are the social structures of the Aztec and Incan societies?

¨ What role does religion play in the societies of the Americas?

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Compare and contrast the political, economic, and social organization of the Aztec and the Inca.

2. Identify the major achievements and inventions of the Aztec and Inca.

3. Compare and contrast the role of the warrior class in the Americas, Europe, and Japan. (Feudal Society?)

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK CONNECTIONS:

Concepts and Skills:

H, C, G, E

Learning Standards:

WH I.13; WH I.14

RESOURCES:

Broken Spears

Aztec Creation Myth

Tenochtitlan Pictures

Cortes on Tenochtitlan

Inca video

Meeting of Montezuma and Cortes

Incan mummies article

Incan brain surgery article

Magazine assignment (individual research)

UNIT OF STUDY: AGE OF EXPLORATION (1450 - 1750)

ESSENTIAL GUIDING QUESTIONS:

¨ How did the ideas of the Renaissance contribute to the period of European exploration?

¨ How did Western exploration build on the accomplishments of other societies (i.e.- Chinese treasure ship voyages, Arab merchants, etc.)

¨ Why is this the first truly global age?

¨ What were the immediate and long-term effects of the Columbian Exchange?

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Draw connections between the spirit of the Renaissance and the beginnings of the Age of Exploration.

2. Link the achievements of the Asian and Arab worlds to the European Exploration.

3. Compare and contrast European and Asian reactions to the rise of the merchant class.

4. List examples that demonstrate how the time period is a global age.

5. Enumerate the goods, people, ideas, and diseases that crisscrossed the Atlantic during the "Columbian Exchange".

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK CONNECTIONS:

Concepts and Skills:

H, G, C, E

Learning Standards:

WH I.12; WH I.14; WH I.20

RESOURCES:

Newsweek on Columbian Exchange (plants, disease, sugar, etc.)

Slave trade articles

King of Kongo on the impact of the slave trade

Project Explorer

Columbus & Zinn on the fate of the Arawaks

Renaissance and Exploration video

World History Institute Unit

World History Internet Sourcebook

UNIT OF STUDY: ABSOLUTISM AND THE RISE OF THE NATION-STATE (1500 -1750)

ESSENTIAL GUIDING QUESTIONS:

¨ How did monarchs rationalize their absolute rule?

¨ What was the impact of the idea of divine-right on European nation-states?

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Define "absolute monarch" and "divine-right monarchy".

2. Compare and contrast the ways that different monarchs justified their rule.

3. Examine the positive and negative effects of absolutism on European nation-states.

4. Explain how monarchs used absolutism to consolidate power both within and without their countries.

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK CONNECTIONS:

Concepts and Skills:

H, C, E, G

Learning Standards:

WH II.1 (A-C)

RESOURCES:

"Absolutely the Greatest" skits

Versailles overheads

Saint-Simon, "A Day in the Life of Versailles"

"Russia Before Peter" Reading

"Building of St. Petersburg" Reading

From Russia to USSR

UNIT OF STUDY: THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION AND ENLIGHTENMENT

(1600-1750)

ESSENTIAL GUIDING QUESTIONS:

¨ How does the Scientific Revolution challenge the role of the Church in European society?

¨ How is the modem concept of "progress" a product of the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment theory?

¨ How do the concepts of reason and rationality alter the world view?

¨ How does the Enlightenment change the relationship between the individual and the state?

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Identify major thinkers and ideas of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment.

2. Link critical scientific thinking to the development of new political, economic, and social philosophies.

3. Discuss the new "mechanistic" world-view and the impact it had on traditional European thinking.

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK CONNECTIONS:

Concepts and Skills:

Learning Standards:

WH I.33

RESOURCES:

Galileo, "On Heavenly Bodies"

Hobbes and Locke on the Social Contract

Rousseau, "The Social Contract"

Montesquieu, "The Spirit of the Laws"

Western Civilization Reader

Center for Learning Unit on the Enlightenment

Internet Modem History Sourcebook