AP World History Syllabus

Instructor: Katherine Booth

Course Description: Advanced Placement World History (WHAP) is a chance to study the story of how our world came to be as it is today. The course will cover events that shaped our world between 8000 BCE* and the present, and is truly global in scope with Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceana represented equally. WHAP is a college-level course – it is taught on the college level and requires much more homework and more extensive writing assignments and thinking skills than a high school course. Be ready to work, but be ready for the reward when test results come next July.

ALL STUDENTS should take the internationally given College Board test in May to try for college credit. Our purpose in class is to prepare all students to do well on the exam; the broader purpose is to develop a variety of analytical skills and the chance to “do history” rather than just read about it. This requires a great deal of critical thinking, interpretation of written material, logical argumentation, and analysis. These skills are beneficial regardless of your future career goals.

* Note – The College Board uses the designations BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era), therefore, we will as well. BCE corresponds with BC (Before Christ) and CE corresponds with AD (Anno Domini)

Web Resources: To take practice tests, study with online flashcards, examine maps from each chapter, review correct pronunciation, etc. look at:

OR do a google search for your book’s title and edition.

To check your assignments online and download materials used in class if absent check:

click on “ScottCounty” on the left, then “Online Classrooms,” “Booth, Katie,” and “AP World History”

Historical Themes*

Advanced Placement World History highlights five themes that form the cornerstone of the teaching and learning experience.

1. Interactions between humans and the environment

  • Demography and disease
  • Migration
  • Patterns of settlement
  • Technology

2. Development and interaction of cultures

  • Religions
  • Belief systems, philosophies, and ideologies
  • Science and technology
  • The arts and architecture

3. State-building, expansion, and conflict

  • Political structures and forms of governance
  • Empires
  • Nations and nationalism
  • Revolts and revolution
  • Regional, trans-regional, and global structures and organizations

4. Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems

  • Agricultural and pastoral production
  • Trade and commerce
  • Labor systems
  • Industrialization
  • Capitalism and socialism

5. Development and transformation of social structures

  • Gender roles and relations
  • Family and kinship
  • Racial and ethnic construction
  • Social and economic classes

*Taken from apcentral.collegeboard.com

Required Materials:

  • Sturdy 1 ½ inch 3-ring binder (just for this class.) You will need another after Christmas. DO NOT buy a giant binder. The rings are weak and it will fall apart.
  • Filler paper
  • Notebook tabs that divide chapters. Tabs will be properly labeled with chapter numbers.
  • Blue or black AND green pen ONLY; colored pencils can be useful, too.No Graphite Pencils!

Course Requirements:

  • Prepare to take the AP Exam in early May.
  • Form a study group for tests and other large assignments.
  • Actively participate in class and complete all assignments thoroughly and promptly. Late work can be arranged beforehand (if you know there is a paper as well as several big games coming up, etc.) I will take an assignment 1 day late for ½ credit. After that, it becomes a zero.
  • Attend class daily, arriving on time. I begin and end with the bell, always.
  • Missing class is very detrimental to your progress.
  • Make up work promptly when absent—contact me and send assignments due electronically if possible; make prior arrangements for planned absences; two days allotted for each day absent to turn in work.
  • If you miss a quiz or test, you must set up a time to make it up outside of class. Daily missed assignments should be checked on the note cards placed each day on the “While You Were Out” board. Any handouts can be picked up in the folders next to the assignment calendar.
  • Keep a well-organized and complete notebook for the entire year; bring to class every day. Use the charts, lecture and reading notes in your notebook to study for tests.Keep up with the notebook all year!
  • Ask me for help always—I am very committed to supporting your efforts!
  • Challenge yourself to work hard and maintain high standards. I will do so as well.

Grading:

Grades will be based on points that are added up and averaged with total points possible. Grades are available daily through Infinite Campus at Home. Final grades will be computed in December and again in May.

Assessments:

Quizzes: On readings from text book chapters. These quizzes will always be formative assessment.

Homework: Assigned text readings & questions, Essay writing practice, primary source activities, etc.

Tests: Followingthe completion of each unit and after some chapters. Tests are comprehensive but will focus on the current unit. They will serve as our most important summative assessment.

Essays: Assigned in class and out of class writing in preparation of the AP exam.

Notebook: When daily or homework assignments are due, I may stamp them to indicate they were completed on time. You must do the entire assignment to receive the stamp. The work should IMMEDIATELY be placed in your notebook, in order by date, for later evaluation based on quality and accuracy. I will most likely collect your binders at the end of each unit. Your notebook should contain ONLY work for this class. Date and order pages chronologically. Sometimes I will take up assignments the day they are due as well, and these should be placed in order in the binder upon return. Your binder is your record of your work…it is your responsibility to keep up with it at all times. Any assignments lost before the binders are turned in and graded must be redone or receive a zero. DO NOT LOSE YOUR BINDER!!!

Periodization: This course will divide the scope of World History into six time periods based on significant watershed events or trends in history. This class will follow the periodization guides set forth by the College Board which are as follows:

UNIT 1: FOUNDATIONS (8000 BCE – 600 CE)Focus Questions: What is “civilization”? Who is “civilized”? How does change occur?

UNIT 2: (600 CE – 1450 CE) Focus Questions: What is the Classical Era of world history? Was therea world economic network during this period?

UNIT 3: (1450 CE – 1750 CE) Focus Questions: How and to what extent did large empires create new forms and exert new control over people? To what extent did Europe come predominate in the world economy?

UNIT 4: (1750 CE – 1914 CE) Focus Questions: Through what processes did the influence of industrialization spread throughout the world? How did the rights of individuals and groups change in this period?

UNIT 5: (1914 CE – Present)Focus Questions: How do ideological struggles explain many of the conflicts of the 20th century? To what extent have the rights of the individual and the state replaced the rights of the community? How have conflict and change influenced migration patterns?

Snow Days and Other Emergencies:Snow Days don’t exist for us, because the date of the AP test is set nationally and will never change. Keep reading and completing homework as assigned on snow days.