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World History
Unit 1: Concepts found in World History
Elaborated Unit Focus: This important first unit is designed to introduce students to the eight themes that will feature prominently in the World History course. Activities will focus on relating, location, culture, governance, institutions, conflict, change and continuity over time, movement and migration and technological innovation to students. By the end of the unit students will be able to give examples of the enduring understandings and apply them to world situations.
GPS Standards: This unit is designed to teach the themes used in the course. There are no standards and elements for this introductory unit. This unit is to be taught to introduce the students to the themes which will be used for the entire course. It is absolutely necessary to teach this first unit. There is a video on www.georgiastandards.org under the social studies tab (social studies video) which describes how to teach this unit and why it is important. Refer to this video as needed.
Unit 1
Enduring Understandings and Unit Essential Questions
The student will understand that when there is conflict between or within societies, change is the result.
• Describe a conflict that caused you to change the way you do things?
• How can change take place without conflict?
• What is an example of conflict producing change?
The student will understand that the culture of a society is the product of the religion, beliefs, customs, traditions, and government of that society.
• Why do you wear the clothing that you choose?
• Why do you have the right to the freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment?
• How does culture affect your life on a regular basis?
The student will understand that as a society increases in complexity and interacts with other societies, the complexity of the government also increases.
• Why are rules necessary?
• How do the rules change for sports from backyard games to professional games?
The student will understand that the actions of individuals, groups, and/or institutions affect society through intended and unintended consequences.
• How has terrorism affected our world?
• How have you volunteered to help someone?
The student will understand that location affects a society’s economy, culture, and development.
• Why is summer vacation longer than winter break?
• If you lived in Juneau, Alaska, how would your lifestyle be different?
The student will understand that the movement or migration of people and ideas affects all societies involved.
• Why do you live where you do?
• What happens to your town or region when a big employer opens or closes?
The student will understand that technological innovations have consequences, both intended and unintended, for a society.
• How has technology impacted your life?
• How can people have friends that they have never physically met?
The student will understand that while change occurs over time, there is continuity to the basic structure of that society.
• How is your school day different in high school from what is was like in earlier grades?
• How is your school day the same in high school as it was in earlier grades?
*NOTE: The balanced assessment plan included in this unit is presented as a series of suggested activities. It is not expected that the teacher complete all assessments for a successful unit.
Balanced Assessment Plan
Description of Assessment / Type of AssessmentSocratic questioning about how students relate to themes personally. At the end of questioning students respond to the prompt “How (insert theme) relates to my life.” Teacher may use all the themes or select certain ones for the prompt. / Dialogue and Discussion; Constructed Response; Self-Assessment
Match a list of events (current or historical) to an appropriate enduring understanding and explain why they fit. / Dialogue and Discussion; Selected Response
In groups students read newspapers or magazines and create a poster or collage of modern examples of themes. Students share their poster with the class. / Informal Observation Dialogue and Discussion Constructed Response
Match a list of themes to an appropriate enduring understanding and explain why they fit. / Dialogue and Discussion; Selected Response
In groups students read newspapers or magazines and create a poster or collage of current events. Students share their poster with the class. / Informal Observation Dialogue and Discussion Constructed Response
Students will participate in a vocabulary activity to reinforce knowledge of terminology. (See instructions below.) / Dialog and Discussion; Self-Assessment
Sample Performance Task
*No culminating performance task for this unit.
Map and Globe Skills: / Information Processing Skills:
Vocabulary Activity
Enduring Understandings: all
Handout for vocabulary cards: Below the instructions is a handout for the vocabulary game. The terms are on the left and the definition is on the right. If you have 8 groups, make 8 copies. It is advised to color code each group. This way if you or the students drop the cards, you can replace them easily. Use different markers or highlighters to highlight or underline the terms. Then, fold each copy in half and tape along the edges. You may want to consider laminating each page. After laminating, you can cut along the lines. Each set will have 16 terms/cards. Mix up each set and place each set into a separate envelope. (Make sure the outside of the envelope has the correct color—for easy cleanup.)
For this activity you will need to arrange your room to allow for ease of movement and to make the game portion of the activity more conducive to competition. It is suggested that you create ‘pods’ of four desks. (See Figure 1.) If you have a class that is not divisible by 4, make groups of 3. As students come into the room, instruct them to put everything away (nothing on their desk) and to sit in groups of 4. Again, if you do not have complete groups of 4, a couple groups of 3 will not throw off the activity. Next, instruct the student to number off in their group from 1-4, and to remember their number. After students number off, distribute the envelopes with the terminology cards to the students. Place one envelope per student group. Next, have the students remove the cards from the envelope with the term facing up. Instruct the students, as a group, to place the cards in alphabetical order as quickly as possible. The first team to finish is to let you know. When the first team completes this task, check their work. The order should be: Beliefs and Ideals; Conflict and Change; Conflict Resolution; Culture; Distribution of Power; Gain from Trade; Governance; Human Environmental Interaction; Individuals, Groups, Institutions; Interdependency; Location; Movement/Migration; Production, Distribution, Consumption; Scarcity; Technological Innovation; Time, Change, Continuity. Ask that team to pick a spokesperson to give the class the correct order.
This activity works similar to a jigsaw activity. Because all the teams now have the terms in the same order, instruct the teams to divide the cards according how they numbered off. The cards should be distributed as follows:
#1- Beliefs and Ideals; Conflict and Change; Conflict Resolution; Culture;
#2- Distribution of Power; Gain from Trade; Governance; Human Environmental Interaction;
#3- Individuals, Groups, Institutions; Interdependency; Location; Movement/Migration;
#4- Production, Distribution, Consumption; Scarcity; Technological Innovation; Time, Change, Continuity.
If you have a 3-person group—the #1 will receive the first 5 cards, #2 the next 5 cards, and #3 will receive the final 6 cards.
Next, tell the students that in a minute you will tell them to relocate to a specific area according to their number—BUT they are not to move until you tell them to do so. (TEACHER NOTE: the students will be relocating to the 4 corners of the classroom. Please decide beforehand which number should go to which corner of the room.) After you explain where the students are supposed to go, you need to explain that they are to create an imaginative way to remember the information. Tell them that they are to avoid repeating the material to themselves over and over, because rote memorization will not work in this task and they will be judged on how creative they are in this process. Some good examples to give: Robert Harvey discovered that the heart pumped blood to through the body; to remember him, use the nickname, “Harvey the Heart.” Or, to remember Copernicus, create a mental picture of the drink Capri-Sun with a sun revolving around it. This image can trigger the brain to think of Copernicus (because of Capri) and the sun revolving around the drink reminds the student of that Copernicus came up with the idea that the sun revolved around the earth. Then instruct the student to move to their new location. Give them 10 minutes to complete this task. The students in each group will have the same words unless you have a 3-person group. If you have a 3 person group, you will need to instruct them to float between the 2 areas of the room that has their cards. After 10 minutes, have all students return to their original groups. Tell the groups that they now have 15 minutes to teach their words to their other 3 team members.
When the 15 minutes ends, instruct each group to gather all the cards into one stack, turn all the words face up, and then, hand the entire stack to #1 in the group. This person, #1, will now be the game show host. When you tell the class to move (and only when you say move), #2-4 will get up and sit at other groups around the room. The rule is that groups may not sit with each other. After all the students are situated in their new location they may begin to play. You may explain how to play before they move or after.
To play the game the game show host, #1, will hold the cards in his or her hand and face the person who is sitting in #2’s chair. The person in the #2 chair will give any information he or she can about that term. After this any student sitting in chairs #3-4 may challenge. The person who gave the most information will receive the card (and, therefore, the point). Next, the person in the #3 chair gets to go first. As before, others may challenge. Repeat the same procedure with the person in the #4 seat. Then start over. The first time you play this game in class, you probably won’t finish so this is a good ‘learning’ unit.
OPTIONS:
1. Let the teams choose their “Game Show Host” since this person will not be allowed much play time.
2. While the teams are reunited with the original team, give the teams names and write the members names on the board. Once the game is played, have the student count their cards and then total the group’s points. Give the winning team bragging rights.
BELIEFS AND IDEALS / Beliefs and ideals of a society influence the social, political, and economic decisions of that society.CONFLICT AND CHANGE / When conflict occurs between or within societies, change is the result.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION / Societies resolve conflicts through legal procedures, force, and/or compromise.
CULTURE / Culture of a society is the product of the religion, beliefs, customs, traditions, and government of that society.
DISTRIBUTION OF POWER / Distribution of power in government is a product of existing documents and laws combined with contemporary values and beliefs.
GAIN FROM TRADE / Parties trade voluntarily when they expect to gain.
GOVERNANCE / When society increases in complexity and interacts with other societies, the complexity of the government also increases.
HUMAN ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION / Humans, their society, and the environment affect each other.
INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, INSTITUTIONS / The actions of individuals, groups, and/or institutions affect society through intended and unintended consequences.
INTERDEPENDENCY / Because of interdependency, a decision made by one party has intended and unintended consequences on other parties.
LOCATION / Location affects a society’s economy, culture, and development.
MOVEMENT/MIGRATION / The movement or migration of people and ideas affects all societies involved
PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, CONSUMPTION / The production, distribution, and consumption of goods/services produced by the society are affected by the location, customs, beliefs, and laws of the society.
SCARCITY / The scarcity of all resources forces parties to make choices and that these choices always incur a cost.
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION / Technological innovations have consequences, both intended and unintended, for a society.
TIME, CHANGE, CONTINUITY / While change occurs over time, there is continuity to the basic structure of that society.
Resources for Unit
*This unit was created by Martha Battle, Mary Ann King, and Alphus Spears with additional input from Dr. Bill Cranshaw, Chris Cannon, and Marlo Mong. It was reviewed and approved by the Social Studies Advisory Council 7/06/07.
World History
Unit 2: First Civilizations: Social Complexity and the Need for Order
Elaborated Unit Focus: This unit is designed to examine the rise of early civilizations and the emerging social complexity of populous societies. Students will investigate how the need for structures within society to provide order and stability emerged. Activities will focus on relating how and where civilizations developed through the religious, cultural, economic, and political facets of society. Students will compare the development of civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean, China, Africa, Central and South America, and India as solutions emerged for their growing populations’ needs and their interactions with other societies. By the end of the unit tudents should demonstrate that they are comfortable with the enduring understandings and can apply them to world situations.
GPS Standards:
SSWH1 The student will analyze the origins, structures, and interactions of complex societies in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean from 3500 BCE to 500 BCE.