Humanities through Technology Level I Past & Current Projects
 

Syllabus

Length of Course: one year

Course Description: Sixth grade Humanities examines the history, geography, government, and economics of early civilizations from the beginning of time through the early 1500's. Technology integration will make up an integral part of the curriculum.

Texts and materials: In addition to the following core text, the class closely examines numerous primary and secondary sources including websites, periodical articles, speeches, letters, essays, paintings, and poetry.

Human Heritage: A World History, by Glencoe

Assessment: The assignments for this course include unannounced quizzes, journal notebooks, written and non-written homework, technology projects and exams. To help incorporate individual interests, students complete a variety of special assignments including small research projects, essays, book reviews, and group presentations.

Grading policy: Students can expect that their grades will be based on the aforementioned assessments.

Tests and Quizzes = 40%
Technology Projects = 40%
Homework = 20%

General expectations:

1. Binders - Students are required to utilize their three-ring binders to accommodate the many handouts that they will be given to support technology integration and other supplemental information. 
2. The binder must contain notebook paper to be used for daily journal entries, reading and class notes, and for homework assignments.  Students are expected to bring their binders, textbooks and workbooks to every class unless they are told otherwise.
3. Assignments – Students are expected to submit, "fully completed assignments" at the beginning of class. All work must be typed using a standard format (1" margins, New Times Roman or Arial, 12 Font, and double-spaced). The first page of all assignments must contain the student’s name, class, and date. If the assignment being submitted includes more than one page, the pages are to be fastened by a single staple in the upper left corner and numbered. Work that is submitted on non-standard paper or still requires printing, stapling, the addition of a cover-page, or any other last minute effort will be considered late and will be penalized accordingly.
4. Late Work – Unless a student has received an extension from the teacher, all work is due at the beginning of class on the announced due date. No late work will be accepted (with exception to illness, family emergency, etc.).
5. Preparedness - Students must come to class with their binders, textbooks, pencil, paper, and any other necessary materials.
6. Copies of all tests and quizzes will be kept by the instructor.

Course Outline:

Semester One

1. Unit 1: Place and Time
2. Unit 2: River Valley Civilizations
3. Unit 3: Ideas and Armies
4. Unit 4: The Greeks
5. Unit 5: The Romans
6. Unit 6: The Early Middle Ages

Semester Two

1. Unit 7: Emergence of New Empires
2. Unit 8: The Late Middle Ages
3. Unit 9: Beginning of Modern Times
4. Unit 10: The Changing World
5. Unit 11: Nations and Empires
6. Unit 12: The Twentieth Century

Methodology: Teaching and learning methods for this course include reading and note taking, essay writing, journal writing, document analysis, seminar discussions, individual and group research projects, debates, role-playing and technology integration.

Outcomes:

I. Time, Continuity and Change: History

The student should be able to:

1. demonstrate an understanding of the developments in civilizations from the beginning of time through the early 1500’s.
2. describe the early civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China, and the Americas including migrations, the emergence of agriculture, religion and cultural contributions.
3. describe life in ancient Greece and Rome including their contributions to the modern world.
4. trace the origin and spread of the major world religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam through the early 1500’s.
5. describe and evaluate life in the European Middle Ages.
6. describe the major aspects of Japan’s Classical Age, the Middle Empire in China, and the Mongol Empire in Medieval Russia.
7. summarize the contributions of Middle Eastern cultures and their global impact.
8. trace the development of European nation states and monarchies through the early 1500’s.
9. identify the contributions of major African empires and analyze their global impact.
10. discuss the contributions of the Italian Renaissance.
11. Describe the impact of the Reformation and religious conflict on Western Europe.

II. Power, Authority and Governance: Government/Political Science

The learner will demonstrate an understanding of government, its origins and functions, including civic life, politics and government in early cultures through the early 1500’s.

The student should be able to:

1. summarize the major ideas concerning the necessity and purposes of government.
2. describe and compare the civic life, politics and governments of the early civilizations up through the early 1500’s.
3. identify and describe the emergence of various types of governments (monarchy, democracy, republic, theocracy, oligarchy, dictatorship, tyranny, etc.) that developed through the early 1500’s.

III. People, Places and Environments: Geography

The learner will demonstrate an understanding of cultural regions in spatial terms.

The student should be able to:

1. Make and use maps, globes, graphs, charts, and models to analyze location and spatial distributions in early civilizations.
2. describe the physical characteristics including landforms, climate, and the natural resources of the early civilizations and their relationship to economic activities.
3. explain how people interacted with their physical environment to create distinctive regions.
4. describe geographic patterns and types of migration and how they affected the ecosystems, natural resources, agriculture and the diffusion of religion, economics and governments of early cultures.
5. describe the role of technology development in shaping the characteristics of the regions of civilizations through the early 1500’s.

IV. Production, Distribution and Consumption: Economics

The learner will demonstrate an understanding of how scarcity, choice and the principles of trade impact on economic activities.

The student should be able to:

1. Explain how scarcity and choice make distributing goods and services essential.
2. Compare and contrast the differences between the barter system and a monetary exchange.
3. Illustrate how the division of labor and specialization in communities and regions increases productivity and trade.
4. Describe the impact of economic trade on the spread of the elements of civilization (language, religion, technology, government, agriculture, etc.) through the early 1500’s.

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Send comments and suggestions to: Brandie Benton