October 2007 Archives

We'll start the day with a little "surprise" for you. (Note that it does NOT say "good surprise...")

Let's start by talking a bit about some "strategies" for success. I'm also interested in beginning a dialogue about proper computer usage in this class as well.

Earth calendar: I've always thought that this was an interesting way to look at time. Imagine that all of the earth's history is condensed into a single calendar year. Now, let's see where you believe some important events in the earth's history would fall during that "year." For example, an event you think happened in the very beginning would be January 1. An event that you think happened half way through earth's history would be July 1, etc. I'll give you a calendar for you to mark your guesses as to these when these events would happen.

A. Earth formed
B. Oldest rocks (sedimentary)
C. 1st life forms (stromatolites)
D. Oxygen in atmosphere
E. 1st fossils (hard skeletons)
F. 1st dinosaurs
G. 1st primates
H. Extinction of the dinosaurs
I. Neanderthal man
J. Historical record begins (Sumeria)
K. Establishment of United States
L. Life of a 9th grader begins (15 years)

"Meet the Hominids" This should be a pretty painless way to be sure that we are all on the same page regarding key groups of hominids and/or human ancestors. You're going to be assigned to one of the following five groups:

Australopithecines
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Neanderthal
Cro-Magnon

Your task is simple. You'll have about ten minutes to figure out answers to the following questions. You'll then share these with the rest of the class. (Not all questions apply to all groups equally.) You should be able to answer all of these from Section 1, "Human Origins in Africa," but you can also consult search the internet if you have time.

* What does your "name" mean?
* Approximately when did you live?
* Where did you live?
* What important advancements did you make?
* Why are you important to an understanding of World History?

You can use a "Meet the Hominids" matrix to aid in taking notes.

Congratulations. You may now return to your status as Homo sapiens. Remember, that is us - "thinking man/woman." That will make it easier for you to complete tonight's homework...

World History Sites of the Day: I'll often link things I find interesting. Otzi ("The Iceman") is a very complete "mummy" from about 5000 years ago that was discovered in the Alps. He has undergone extensive testing, and scientists have learned a lot about the man and his times.

South Tyrol Museum of Archaelogy - Oetzi / Otzi the "Iceman" This is the museum where he "lives."
"Deciphering the Origin, Travels of "Iceman" - National Geographic

HOMEWORK for tomorrow: Thursday, November 1st -

* Read Chapter 1, Section 2 - "Humans Try to Control Nature" from your textbook. (pp. 14-18)

* Historians are very interested in "causality" or cause and effect relationships. Causality can simply be thought of as the relationship between one event ("cause") and another event ("effect") which is the result of the first. This is a great section to try out your skills in identifying cause and effect.

DO THIS: Using Section 2 of Chapter 1, identify and write out five cause/effect relationships. (Each cause may be linked to more than one effect, but you should have five distinct causes.) You may be asked to turn this in. You can do this either on paper or on your computer.

Welcome to World History 9. As you probably know, this is a brand new course this year. You are beginning a two-year sequence in World History. This year, we'll take you past Columbus' arrival in the Americas. In tenth grade, the story will continue through the Enlightenment and the American Revolution up to the present.

This is the course blog. It is vital that you check the blog for each class period. It will often contain links or information we are using in class. It will also be where you can find your daily homework. At times, you'll be asked to make comments on the blog as well. Get used to it, since we will be using it virtually every day.

We'll save the appropriate computer usage conversation for tomorrow. I'll be watching, and I want you to be thinking about what you think would be fair guidelines.

There are a couple things I'd like us to get to today:

"ABC" Brainstorm - This is pretty straight forward. You'll get a handout and ten minutes to complete as much as you can. "World History" is the topic that goes in the top box. You see if you can come up with an relevant item (person, place, event, idea) for each letter of the alphabet. We'll talk about your ideas for a bit, and then I'll have you turn them in to give me a feel for where people are at in terms of World History background.

Perspective: We're going to have you draw "mental maps" of the world. I'll give you fifteen minutes to do as much as you can. In addition to sketching in the world's landmasses, please try to indicate the following.

five physical features
five political features (cities, countries, etc.)
five economic features (natural resources, trade goods, etc.)
five scientific/ technological features (inventions, ideas)
five cultural features (works of art, literature, music, religion)
five world historical features (people, events, processes, etc.)
five "movements" (use arrows to show people, disease, trade, etc.)

No, there's no grade depending on how good your map is. You will get credit for effort, and you'll have a chance to do this again later in the quarter. Be sure your name is on them, as you will turn them in.

Downloading materials: We'll make use of a number of websites and other online resources over the course of the class. I'd like you to create a new folder (call it something like World History 9) and download these two particular resources into this folder. (You do not need to print them out at this point, and you should NOT print them on the school's printers.)

* Go to Ethics in Education and download Ethics Workbook I SE (student edition).

* Go to Students Friend.com and download Part I, Prehistory through 1500. (I'd recommend scrolling down and using the "Part 1, Prehistory through 1500, v.3.1.7 - MS Word" link.)

Metacognition: This is just a fancy phrase for "thinking about thinking." We're going to work on building skills in this area over the course of the year. Today, we'll take a couple minutes to think about how we best learn and what that means for you in this course.

Homework for tomorrow: Wednesday, October 31st

* Read "Human Origins in Africa" from World History: Patterns of Interaction. (Chapter 1, Section 1, pp. 5 - 11) Be prepared to discuss main ideas in class.

* Spend an additional ten minutes browsing through the textbook. Look at the features in the front, as well as those that accompany the chapters. Be prepared to discuss how you the book could be effectively used by the different "types" of learners such as we discussed today.