Unit 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations

Chapter 1: Before History

Learning Targets: I can explain that human migrated out of East Africa and then moved throughout the whole earth, following game and gathering plants. I can explain how humans adapted to various environments as they moved. I can explain how the Neolithic Revolution led to new economic system and more social hierarchies. I can tell how human society changed because of new ways of life after the Neolithic Revolution.

Terms

Lucy

Australopithecus

Hominid(ae)

Hunting and gathering

Paleolithic

Neolithic

Venus figurines

Agricultural revolution

Pottery

Metallurgy

Catal Huyuk

Study Questions

Use the Map 1.1 on pg. 8 for the following questions.

o Where did the migration start?

o How can you explain the wider range of Homo sapiens migrations?

o What factors led to their spread?

What factors created the egalitarian society of Paleolithic times?

Where their Paleolithic semi-permanent settlements? If so where?

What factors led to the survival of the Homo sapiens vs. the Neanderthals?

In what ways did intelligence and language enable early Homo sapiens to create traditions and reflections about

the relationship between humans and the natural world?

What major factors led to the development of the Agricultural Revolution?

Use the Map 1.2 on pg 20-21 for the process

o Create a t-chart of the 8 areas of agricultural growth and their main products/animals

Areas Food/Animals

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

What three industries were created from the development specialized labor?

Compare and contrast Neolithic culture with Paleolithic.

What role did patriarchy play in early urbanization?

Analyze the social and economic continuities and changes as people settled into agricultural communities?

Chapter 2: Early Societies in Southwest Asia and Indo-European Migrations

Learning Targets: I can identify the location and environmental setting of the six core and foundational civilizations I can assess how the first states emerged within Core Civilizations. I can analyze the unifying role culture played through laws, language, literature, religion, myth, and monumental art.

Terms

Epic of Gilgamesh

Sumerians

Hammurabi’s Laws

Lex talionis

Euphrates/Tigris

Ziggurat

Cuneiform

Hebrews

Phoenicians

Hanging Gardens

Indo-European migrations

Indo-European languages

Monotheism

Study Questions

Using Map 2.1 on pg. 33, in what ways were the rivers important for Mesopotamian society?

Analyze the purpose of the ziggurat in Mesopotamia?

What was the significance of the need for irrigation to the political development of Mesopotamia?

What key principles of Hammurabi’s code of law give us a glimpse into society during the time?

What similarities are there between the Epic of Gilgamesh and Judaism? Why are they similar?

What factors were developed due to the growth of complex civilizations and empires?

What greater role did the development of ship building play in the Middle East?

Using page 41-42 describe the social structure (including gender roles) in the shape of a pyramid.

Using Map 2.4 on pg. 55, to what extent did the combination of technologies facilitate Indo-European

migrations?

Summarize the lasting contributions of the Sumerians, Jews, Phoenicians, and Indo-Europeans. Which culture do

you believe made the most significant contributions? Why?

Explain how the transition from copper to bronze to iron affected warriors, land acquisition and

technological development in early societies.

Chapter 3: Early African Societies and the Bantu Migrations

Learning Targets:

I can identify the location and environmental setting of the six core and foundational civilizations

I can assess how the first states emerged within Core Civilizations.

I can analyze the unifying role culture played through laws, language, literature, religion, myth, and

monumental art.

I can recognize other belief systems that continued despite the spread of major world religions.

Terms

Nubia

Menes/Narmer

Hieroglyphic

Pharaohs

Mummification

Cult of Osiris

The Bantu

Study Questions

Using the Map 3.1 on pg. 62,

o What geographic conditions favored the establishment of large states north of the first cataract of the Nile

River?

o What society was between the second and the fourth? What economic activity do you think was popular

here? Why?

What symbolizes the Old Kingdom and Archaic period in Egypt?

Who were the Hyksos and what role did they play in Egypt?

Using the Map 3.2 on pg. 68, why was the New Kingdom able to expand so dramatically to the north and south?

Why did it not expand to the east and west?

How did the role women in Egypt compare to that of Mesopotamia?

Did the Hittites give the Egyptian Metallurgy?

Draw a quick BASIC map, on it describing the extent of Egyptian trade…. Mostly the middle east

Herodotus said that Egypt was the "gift of the Nile." What does this mean? In what ways did the Nile affect

Egyptian society and culture?

Where did the Bantu migrate from? And Why?

How did the Bantu migrations influence the development of the societies of sub-Saharan Africa?

Chapter 4: Early Societies in South Asia Learning Targets:

I can identify the location and environmental setting of the six core and foundational civilizations

(Mesopotamia, Egypt, Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa, Shang Dynasty, Olmec, and Chavin)

I can assess how the first states emerged within Core Civilizations.

I can analyze the unifying role culture played through laws, language, literature, religion, myth, and

monumental art.

I can evaluate the process by which codification and further development of religious traditions created bonds

and gave people moral codes, especially during the period from 8000-600 BCE

Terms

Harappa

Mohenjo-Daro

Aryans

The Vedas

Raja

Caste

Varna

Jati

Brahmin

Lawbook of Manu

Sati

Upanishads

Samsara

Karma

Asceticism

Brahman

Study Questions

Using Map 4.1 On pg. 90, Compare the size of the three societies and what facilitated trade.

How did the Indus River valley compare to the Nile and the Mesopotamian?

What form within the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro give a better understanding of the power of the

government?

What happened to the historical evidence left by the Harappan society? What problems do we still have today?

How did the Indo-Europeans influence the people/culture of South Asia?

Draw a social pyramid of the Caste System, include labels.

What was the overarching role of the lawbook of Manu?

How did the religious beliefs, as expressed in the Upanishads, dovetail with the social order during the Vedic age?

Trace the continuities and changes in class distinctions in India before and after the Aryans migrated.

Chapter 5: Early Society in East Asia

Learning Targets:

I can identify the location and environmental setting of the six core and foundational civilizations

(Mesopotamia, Egypt, Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa, Shang Dynasty, Olmec, and Chavin)

I can assess how the first states emerged within Core Civilizations.

I can analyze the unifying role culture played through laws, language, literature, religion, myth, and

monumental art.

I can evaluate the process by which codification and further development of religious traditions created bonds

and gave people moral codes, especially during the period from 8000-600 BCE

Terms

Xia

Shang

Zhou

Mandate of heaven

Veneration of ancestors

Fu Hao

Period of Warring states

Oracle bones

Steppes

Study Questions

How did the physical geography of East Asia influence the development of the culture?

How did the mandate of heaven influence political developments in early East Asia?

Using map 5.1 on pg. 112, the spread of the dynasties is directly related to what technological achievements?

What else help their spread?

What product was popular in the tomb of Fu Hao and what does that tell you about the government?

Describe the social order that developed during the first three dynasties.

Using map 5.2 on pg. 99, what was evident about Zho (Zhou) positioning that helps explains their method of

political control?

Did women have powerful positions in Chinese society? If so give an example.

What was the relationship between patriarchy and veneration of Ancestors in early China?

Using Sources from the past on pg. 102, how does the literature display culture norms?

In what ways did literature establish cultural traditions in China?

What role did nomadic societies play in the development of Chinese cultural traditions and governmental

practices

The use of technology, rather than military volume, changed how battles were fought and won. Compare

the technology used by the Shang rulers in China to overpower the Xia with the technology the Assyrians

used in dominating northern Mesopotamia.

Chapter 6: Early Societies in the Americas and Oceania

Learning Targets:

I can identify the location and environmental setting of the six core and foundational civilizations

(Mesopotamia, Egypt, Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa, Shang Dynasty, Olmec, and Chavin)

I can assess how the first states emerged within Core Civilizations.

I can analyze the unifying role culture played through laws, language, literature, religion, myth, and

monumental art.

I can evaluate the process by which codification and further development of religious traditions created bonds

and gave people moral codes, especially during the period from 8000-600 BCE

Terms

Olmecs

Maya

Tikal

Bloodletting

Teotihuacan

Chavin cult

Austronesian peoples

Austronesian migrations

Lapita peoples

Study Questions

How did humans come to settle in all parts of the Americas?

What role did human sacrifice play in early American societies?

Using map 6.1 on pg. 136, describe the different geographic settings of the early Mesoamerican societies.

What role did the Olmec have in central American culture?

What cultural practice were common in Mayan society?

Describe the rise and fall of the Teotihuacan society. What was their main political organization?

Using map 6.2 on pg. 147, Describe the limitation and advantages of the Andean societies.

What was the political structure of the Oceania? What reason did it develop in this fashion?

Using map 6.3 on pg. 149, what technologies enabled Austronesian peoples to travel so widely and to maintain an

extensive communication and exchange network in the western and central regions of the Pacific Ocean?

Compare and contrast the cultural, political and economic diversity in the Andean region with the diversity

in the Mesoamerican Region

OVERARCHING UNIT QUESTION

How have people used diverse tools and technologies to adapt to and affect the environment over time?

CHART ANALYZING CONTINUITIES AND CHANGES – Period 1

Technological & Environmental Transformations (8,000 BCE-600 BCE)

Theme

Characteristics at

Beginning of

period

Key Continuities Characteristics at

End of period

Analysis of

Changes Key Changes

1. Human-Environ

Interaction (Demography,

disease, migration

technology)

2. Culture

(Religions,

philosophies,

Science,

technology, art,

architecture)

3. Politics (State-

building, conflict,

Political structures,

Empires, Revolts

and revolution

4. Economics

(Agriculture, trade,

commerce, labors

systems,

industrialization,

capitalism,

socialism)

5. Social (Gender

roles/relations,

family, racial &

ethnic constructions,

social and economic

classes