World History and
Geography: Global Connections
Students in grade eight study the social, cultural, and technological changes
that occurred in Europe, Africa, and Asia in the years A. D. 500 to
approximately 1789. After reviewing the ancient world and the ways in which
archaeologists and historians uncover the past, students study the history and
geography of great civilizations that were developing concurrently throughout
the world during medieval and early modern times. They examine the growing
economic interaction among civilizations as well as the exchange of ideas,
beliefs, technologies, and commodities. They learn about the resulting growth of
Enlightenment philosophy and the new examination of the concepts of reason and
authority, the natural rights of human beings and the divine right of kings,
experimentalism in science, and the dogma of belief. Finally, students assess
the political forces let loose by the Enlightenment, particularly the rise of
democratic ideas, and they learn about the continuing influence of these ideas
in the world today.
STANDARD 1:
Demonstrate knowledge of some ways we know about the past.
- Describe the work of archeologists and historians
- Explain some of the processes and records used in reconstructing the past
- Explain why many judgments about the past are tentative and how new
discoveries or theories change the view of the past
STANDARD 2:
Analyze the causes and effects of the vast expansion and ultimate disintegration
of the Roman Empire.
- Study the early strengths and lasting contributions of Rome and its
ultimate internal weaknesses
- Discuss the geographic borders of the empire at its height and the factors
that threatened its territorial cohesion
- Describe the establishment by Constantine of the new capital in
Constantinople and the development of the Byzantine Empire, with an emphasis
on the consequences of the development of two distinct European
civilizations, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic, and their two distinct
views on church-state relations.
A sample of a specific activity:
Students make charts comparing citizen's civic duties
as taught by Roman philosophers with citizen's responsibilities today.
STANDARD 3:
Analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of
the civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages.
- Identify the physical features and describe the climate of the Arabian
peninsula, its relationship to surrounding bodies of land and water, and
nomadic and sedentary ways of life
- Trace the origins of Islam and the life and teachings of Muhammad,
including Islamic teachings on the connection with Judaism and Christianity
- Explain the significance of the Qur'an and the Sunnah as the primary
sources of Islamic beliefs, practice, and law, and their influence in
Muslims' daily life
- Discuss the expansion of Muslim rule through military conquests and
treaties, emphasizing the cultural blending within Muslim civilization and
the spread and acceptance of Islam and the Arabic language
- Describe the growth of cities and the establishment of trade routes among
Asia, Africa, and Europe, the products and inventions that traveled along
these routes and the role of merchants in Arab society
- Understand the intellectual exchanges among Muslim scholars of Eurasia and
Africa and the contributions Muslim scholars made to later civilizations in
the areas of science, geography, mathematics, philosophy, medicine, art, and
literature.
A sample of a specific activity:
After studying about the life of Mohammed,
the student will tell the story of the Hegira from the point of view of someone
living at the time, including geographic details. The story shows an
understanding of the reasons for Mohammed's flight. It may be written in
the form of a narrative porm of specified length and decorated with a
border typical of Islamic art.
STANDARD 4:
Analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of
the civilizations of China and Japan in the Middle Ages.
- Describe the reunification of China under the Tang Dynasty and reasons for
the spread of Buddhism in Tang China, Korea, and Japan
- Describe agricultural, technological, and commercial developments during
this period
- Analyze the influences of Confucianism and changes in Confucian thought
during this period
- Understand the importance of both overland trade and maritime expeditions
between China and other civilizations
- Trace the historic influence of such discoveries as tea, the manufacture
of paper, wood-block printing, the compass, and gunpowder
- Describe the development of the imperial state and the scholar-official
class
- Describe the significance of Japan's proximity to China and Korea and the
intellectual, linguistic, religious, and philosophical influence of those
countries on Japan
- Discuss the characteristics of Japanese society and family life during
this period
- Trace the development of distinctive forms of Japanese Buddhism
- Analyze the rise of a military society in the late twelfth century, the
role of the samurai in that society, and the lasting influence of the
warrior code in the twentieth century
A sample of a specific activity:
Students will participate in a panel
discussion onThe Travels of Marco Polo. Each panel member
has read an assigned passage of the book beforehand and has prepared remarks for
three areas of discussion: an explanation of the passage, an account of
what the reader learned from the passage including important quotations, and a
question for class discussion.
STANDARD 5:
Analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of
the sub-Saharan civilizations in Medieval Africa.
- Study the Niger River and the relationship of vegetation zones of forest,
savannah, and desert to trade in gold, salt, food, and slaves; and the
growth of the Ghana and Mali empires
- Analyze the importance of family, labor specialization, and regional
commerce in the development of states and cities in West Africa
- Describe the role of the trans-Saharan caravan trade in the changing
religious and cultural characteristics of West Africa and the influence of
Islamic beliefs, ethics, and law
- Trace the growth of the Arabic language in government, trade, and Islamic
scholarship in West Africa
- Describe the importance of written and oral traditions in the transmission
of African history and culture.
A sample of a specific activity:
After studying about the gold and salt
trade in Ghana, Mali, and Songhay,the student works with a partner to make a
chart showing the role of the 'middleman' in trade, particularly those in
Africa, the Silk Road, and in modern trading. Chart categories should
include geographic conditions, motives, essential skills, and communication
techniques. Individually, these students will write a short essay
explaining how patterns of trade in Western Africa led to the emergence of
powerful empires.
STANDARD 6:
Analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of
the civilizations of Medieval Europe.
- Study the geography of the Europe and the Eurasian land mass, including
its location, topography, waterways, vegetation, and climate and their
relationship to ways of life in Medieval Europe
- Describe the spread of Christianity north of the Alps and the roles played
by the early church and by monasteries in its diffusion after the fall of
the western half of the Roman Empire
- Understand the development of feudalism, its role in the medieval European
economy, the way in which it was influenced by physical geography (the role
of the manor and the growth of towns), and how feudal relationships provided
the foundation of political order
- Demonstrate an understanding of the conflict and cooperation between the
Papacy and European monarchs
- Know the significance of developments in medieval English legal and
constitutional practices and their importance in the rise of modern
democratic thought and representative institutions
- Discuss the causes and course of the religious Crusades and their effects
on the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish populations in Europe, with emphasis on
the increasing contact by Europeans with cultures of the Eastern
Mediterranean world
- Map the spread of the bubonic plague from Central Asia to China, the
Middle East, and Europe and describe its impact on global population
- Understand the importance of the Catholic church as a political,
intellectual, and aesthetic institution
- Know the history of the decline of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula
that culminated in the Reconquista and the rise of Spanish and Portuguese
kingdoms
A sample of a specific activity:
After reading excerpts from the Magna
Carta, students will identify and paraphrase specific provisions that deal with
principles such as rule of law, power of the purse, due process, and limited
government. On a flow chart the student shows the connections of these
principles to specific greivances against King John and compares them to modern
rights enshrined in theUS Constitution.
STANDARD 7:
Analyze the origins, accomplishments, and geographic diffusion of the
Renaissance and the Reformation.
- Describe the way in which the revival of classical learning and the arts
fostered a new interest in humanism
- Explain the importance of Florence in the early stages of the Renaissance
and the growth of independent trading cities, with emphasis on the cities'
importance in the spread of Renaissance ideas
- Understand the effects of the reopening of the ancient "Silk
Road" between Europe and China, including Marco Polo's travels and the
location of his routes
- Describe the growth and effects of new ways of disseminating information
- Detail advances made in literature, the arts, science, mathematics,
cartography, engineering, and the understanding of human anatomy and
astronomy
- List the causes for the internal turmoil in and weakening of the Catholic
church
- Describe the theological, political, and economic ideas of the major
figures during the Reformation
- Identify and locate the European regions that remained Catholic and those
that became Protestant and explain how the division affected the
distribution of religions in the New World
- Describe the Golden Age of cooperation between Jews and Muslims in
medieval Spain that promoted creativity in art, literature, and science,
including how that cooperation was terminated by the religious persecution
of individuals and groups
A sample of a specific activity:
Research the life and contributions of a
scientific or medical pioneer of this period, then writes an letter to the
individual to update him/her on the results and ramifications of the innovation.
In addition to a summary of the individual's achievement, the letter displays a
thorough understanding of the significance of this discovery by including an
assessment of the science during the years sinc
STANDARD 8:
Analyze political and economic change during the Age of Exploration, the
Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason.
- Discuss the roots of the Scientific Revolution
- Understand the significance of the new scientific theories and the
significance of new inventions
- Understand the scientific method, the influence of new scientific
rationalism on the growth of democratic ideas, and the coexistence of
science with traditional religious beliefs
- Know the great voyages of discovery, the locations of the routes, and the
influence of cartography in the development of a new European worldview
- Discuss the exchanges of plants, animals, technology, culture, and ideas
among Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries and the major economic and social effects on each continent
- Examine the origins of modern capitalism; the influence of mercantilism
and cottage industry; the elements and importance of a market economy in
seventeenth-century Europe; the changing international trading and marketing
patterns, including their locations on a world map; and the influence of
explorers and map makers
- Explain how the main ideas of the Enlightenment can be traced back to such
movements as the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution
and to the Greeks, Romans, and Christianity
- Describe how democratic thought and institutions were influenced by
Enlightenment thinkers
A sample of a specific activity:
Compare the Spanish and Aztec cultures
with respect to political organization, religion, vulnerability to disease,
military practices, and alliances. Write a short essay explaining the
reasons for the successful expansion and conquest of the new world by Spain and
the changes that occurred in both America and Europe as a result.
