WORLD HISTORY 7

Syllabus in pdf format

Course Description:

The historical time period covered in this class spans several thousand years, beginning with hunter-gather societies of prehistory and ending with the development of modern political conventions in 18^th-century Europe. Skills that are rehearsed over the year include reading for comprehension, summarizing information, researching, identifying patterns, making generalization, and analyzing visual media, artifacts, and primary source documents.

Course Materials:

Across the Centuries, textbook, reading and assessment supplements by Houghton Mifflin Company

The Medieval World and Beyond, textbook and supplements by TCI, Inc.

Videos, maps, sound recordings, primary source documents, and physical objects from various sources

Learning Activities:

Learning stations, matching, group reading, pair-&-share, note-taking, vocabulary logs, geography and map-making, class discussions and debates, reading responses, textual analysis, art and music analysis, examination of physical artifacts, research projects, oral and multimedia presentations, tests and quizzes

Course Outline:

UNIT I: The Question of Civilization [standards: 7.1.1-3]

• Early societies: hunter-gatherers, pastoralists, agriculturalists
• Key characteristics of a civilization
• Early civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, India, the Mediterranean
• The Roman Empire

UNIT II: Empires of Faith [standards: 7.1.4; 7.2.1-6]

• Byzantine Empire
• Christianity: Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox
• Islam: Sunni and Shiite
• Spread of Islam

UNIT III: Gold and Salt [standards: 7.4.1-5]

• Ghana, Mali, Songhai
• Language: oral traditions, Bantu speakers, writing, Arabs
• Ways of life: cities and villages
• East African trade network

UNIT IV: Dynasties and Emperors [standards: 7.3.1-7]

• Reunification: the dynastic cycle
• Buddhism: Mahayana and Theravada
• Confucius and Confucianism
• Technology and trade
• Bureaucracy and government

UNIT V: Rising Sun [standards: 7.5.1-6]

• Isolationism of an island nation
• Tea and temples: art, religion, and philosophy
• Feudalism: samurai and shogun
• Militarism

UNIT VI: Cathedrals and Crusades [standards: 7.6.1; 7.6.3-9]

• Feudalism: knights and lords
• Church and state: the pope, monarchs, and law
• Crusades and Reconquista
• Cathedrals and monasteries
• Epidemic disease: the black death

UNIT VII: Rebirth and Reformation [standards: 7.6.2; 7.7.1-7; 7.9.1-8]

• Return to classical ideals
• Merchants of wares and wonders
• Spread of Renaissance ideals
• Art and Science: Da Vinci and others
• Church and state: Protestantism
• Reformation and Counter-Reformation
• Tolerance: Spanish Jews and Muslims

UNIT VIII: New Frontiers [7.10.1-3; 7.11.1-6]

• Scientific methods and minds
• Exploration and exploitation in the New World
• Global Economy: international trade and cultural exchange
• Enlightenment thinkers of the West

UNIT IX: America

• Civilizations of Central America: Olmecs, Maya, and Aztecs
• Andean civilizations: Nazca and Inca
• Conquista: Quetzalcoatl, Cortes, Pizarro
• Epidemic disease: smallpox