Transcript American History “Overview” - The Official Site - Varsity.com

OVERVIEW AND SYLLABUS
U. S. HISTORY
8TH GRADE
Ms. Scott
Building 3A
Room 2
2015-2016
850-875-8737
Extension 3116
Email: [email protected]
Planning period: 7th
EXPECTATIONS/CONSEQUENCES
Expectations:
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Be on time and prepared for class (i.e.. Pencils, paper, erasers and blue or black
pens)
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Respect others and their personal property.
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Be prepared for class.
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Obey all school rules.
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Follow the dress code.
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Productive behaviors only.
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ALWAYS RESPECT Ms. Scott !!!!!!!!!!!!
Consequences:
 1st offense ------verbal warning.
 2nd offense------parental contact/begin behavior form.
 3rd offense------conference with parent/guidance/continue behavior form.
 4th offense-------referral.
Essential Questions
1. Why do we study history?
2. What tools do we use to measure
time?
3. What is a primary source?
4. What is a secondary source?
1. What are the five themes of
geography?
2. What stories do maps and globes tell?
3. What are places and regions?
4. How do physical systems impact the
world?
1. What makes an economy?
2. How do people decide what to
produce?
3. What determines the strengths and
weaknesses of a nation’s economy?
4. How do nations trade with each other?
GRADING SCALE
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100-90 A
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89-80
B
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79-70
C
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69-60
D
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59-0
F
GRADING CRITERIA
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Assessment/Quizzes
40%
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Homework
10%
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Participation/Class work
30%
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Project/Special assignments
20%
100%
THEMES IN THE “AMERICAN HISTORY”
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Culture and Traditions
Continuity and Change
Geography and History
Individual Action
Groups and Institutions
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Government and
Democracy
Science and
Technology
Economic Factors
Global Connections
Civic Rights and
Responsibilities
CULTURE AND TRADITIONS
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Being aware of cultural differences helps us
understand ourselves and others.
People from around the world for generations have
sung of the “land of the Pilgrim’s pride, land where
our fathers died” even though their ancestors
arrived on these shores long after these events
occurred.
CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
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Recognizing our historic roots helps
us understand why things are the way
they are today.
This theme includes political, social,
religious, and economic changes that
have influenced the way Americans
think and act.
GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
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Understanding geography helps us
understand how humans interact
with their environment .
The United States succeeded in part
because of its rich natural resources
and its vast open spaces.
In many regions, the people changed
the natural landscape to fulfill their
wants and needs.
INDIVIDUAL ACTION
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Responsible individuals have often stepped forward to help lead the nation.
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America’s strong family values helped create such individuals .
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These values spring in part from earlier times when the home was the center of many
activities, including work, education, and daily worship.
GROUPS AND INSTITUTIONS
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Identifying how political and social
groups and institutions work helps us
work together.
Americans formed groups and
institutions to act in support of their
economic, political, and religious
beliefs.
GOVERNMENT AND DEMOCRACY
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Understanding the workings of
government helps us become good
citizens.
Abraham Lincoln explained the
meaning of democracy as
“government of the people, by the
people, for the people.
Democracy, at its best, is “among “
the people.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
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Americans have always been quick to adopt
innovations.
The nation was settled and built by people who
blended their old ways with new ways.
Americans’ lives are deeply influenced by
technology, the use of science and machines.
Perhaps no machine has so shaped modern life as
the automobile.
Understanding the roles of science and technology
helps us see their impact on our society and the
roles of they play in the future.
ECONOMIC FACTORS
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The free enterprise economy of the
United States is consistent with the
nation’s history of rights and
freedoms.
Freedom of choice in economic
decisions supports other freedoms.
Understanding the concept of free
enterprise is basic to studying
American history.
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
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The world seems smaller than it did
only 50 years ago. Modern
transportation and communication
have brought people around the
globe closer together.
As a result, countries today are more
dependent on one another.
As citizens of the United States and
members of the global community,
we have a responsibility to be
informed.
CIVIC RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
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For a democratic system to survive, its citizens must
take an active role in government.
The foundation of democracy is the right of every
person to take part in government and to voice one’s
views on issues.
An appreciation for the struggle to preserve these
freedoms is vital to the understanding of democracy.
THE AMERICAN JOURNEY
Chapter 1-section 1
“Early Peoples”
Ms. Scott
DID YOU KNOW?
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Beringia, the ancient land bridge between Asia and North America, may have been
around 937.5 miles wide. Early hunters who migrated across this land bridge to follow
animals were not aware that they had crossed onto a new continent.
DISCUSSION QUESTION
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Why did these early people spread out across the Americas?
THE JOURNEY FROM ASIA
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The first people migrated from Asia to
North, Central and South America
during the last Ice Age. They reached
the Americas thousands of years ago.
This migration took centuries, and
people spread out across the
Americas as far east as the Atlantic
Ocean and as far south as the tip of
south America.
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These early people crossed a land bridge from Siberia in northeastern Asia to
present day Alaska. This land bridge, Beringia, now lies under the waters of the
Bering Strait.
These early Americans were nomads, moving from place to place in search of food.
These early peoples were skilled hunters. They used every part of the animal for
food, clothing, weapons, and tools.
SETTLING DOWN
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As large animals such as the
mammoth disappeared, Native
Americans hunted smaller game and
ate plants and berries.
Native Americans began to find new
food sources by learning to plant and
raise crops.
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People living near the coast or rivers learned to fish.
Settlers formed villages and communities. Some people remained nomadic
hunters.
Early peoples eventually developed their own cultures.
DISCUSSION QUESTION
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How did early Native Americans learn to adapt to their environment?
CHAPTER 1 SECTION 2
“Cities and Empires”
DID YOU KNOW?
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The present-day metropolitan Mexico City area sits on the same site as the great
Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.
Today the population is more than 20 million people.
EARLY AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS
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Several great civilizations arose in present-day
Mexico and in Central and South America. The
most advanced were the Olmec, the Maya, the
Aztec, and the Inca. Each thrived for centuries.
The Olmec people lived in what is now Mexico,
Guatemala, and Honduras, between 1500 B.C.
and 3000 B.C.
The Olmec built stone pavement and drainage
systems and sculpted large stone monuments.
Their civilization influenced their neighbors.
DISCUSSION QUESTION
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Why do you think early American civilizations developed along large bodies of water?
THE MAYA
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The Maya civilization flourished in
present-day Mexico, Guatemala,
Honduras, and Belize.
The people built large cities, each
having at least one stone pyramid.
Tikal was the largest Mayan city and
had five pyramids.
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The Mayan Civilization was a theocracy, or a
society of ruled by religious leaders.
The Maya believed that the gods controlled all that
happened on Earth. Atop the pyramids were
religious and governmental centers.
The Maya became skilled astronomers and
developed a writing system called hieroglyphics.
Mayan traders transported their goods such as
maize, vegetables, jade, turquoise jewelry, and
cacao beans on their backs and along the water.
No one knows what caused the decline of the
Maya around A.D. 900, but descendants of the
Maya still live in parts of Mexico and Central
America.
DISCUSSION QUESTION
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Why do you think the Maya believed that the gods controlled what happened on
Earth?
THE AZTEC
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Founded in 1325, Tenochtitlan was the home of
the of the Aztec and their capital city.
Workers toiled day and night to make causeways
liking the island to the mainland and filling in Lake
Texcoco, upon which the city was built.
Tenochtitlan was also a center of trade.
The Aztec people were warriors and conquered
nearly all rival communities. They built a military
empire.
From the conquered people, the Aztec took
weapons, maize, cotton club, and copper. The
Aztec forced their captives to work as slaves.
THE INCA
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The Inca Empire developed in the
western highlands of South America.
Cuzco, the capital city, was founded
around AD 1200.
The Inca ruler Pachacuti and his
son, Topa Inca, conquered
neighboring lands to build their
empire.
It was the largest of the early
American civilizations.
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The Inca empire stretched more than 3,000 miles
from present-day Colombia to northern Argentina
and Chile.
The population of the Inca empire at is height was
more than nine million people.
The Inca were very advanced.
They built 10,000 miles of paved roads.
Rope bridges crossed canyons and rivers.
They developed a record-keeping system using
guipus so that runners could take messages from
one part of the empire to another.
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The language, Quechua, became the official language of the empire.
They developed a system of terracing the land by building platforms so that they
could plant crops on slopes.
They were a religious people, worshipping the sun god.
DISCUSSION QUESTION
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Why is the Inca considered a great civilizations ?
AMERICAN JOURNEY
Chapter 1-Section 3
“North American Peoples”
Ms. Scott
DID YOU KNOW?
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Native Americans who hunted buffalo, such as the Apache and Navajo, relied on the
animal for meat. The buffalo, however, served other uses such as hides for clothing,
pouches, and dolls; hair for headdresses and pillow stuffing; tails for whips; hoofs for
glue, and horns for cups and spoons.
EARLY NATIVE AMERICANS
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Many Native American cultures
existed in North America before
Europeans arrived in the 1500s.
The Hohokam lived in the desert of
present-day Arizona. Their civilization
flourished from about AD 300 to
1300. They built irrigation channels
to bring water to the hot, dry land
from the nearby Gila and Salt Rivers
and left behind pottery, carved
stone, and shells.