Objective 1:
Explain why physical geography affected the development of early civilizations.

Indicators:

1. Identify the major physical features of the regions where ancient civilizations flourished.
2. Describe how these features influenced the success or decline of the civilizations.
3. Compare maps of these ancient civilizations to current political maps and make inferences about the continuing affects of physical geography on cultural development.

Objective 2:
Evaluate how religion has played a central role in human history from ancient times to today.

Indicators:

1. Explore the importance of religion in the cultural expression of ancient civilizations (e.g. customs, artistic expression, creation stories, architecture of sacred spaces).
2. Identify key tenets of the major world religions (i.e. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism).
3. Analyze how religious ideas influence current issues.

Objective 3:
Explain how modern governments can trace some of their attributes to the systems of power, authority, and governance established in ancient civilizations.

Indicators:

1. Identify forms of government within these civilizations.
2. Compare those forms to existing systems of governance in today’s world.

Objective 4:
Analyze how the earliest civilizations created technologies and systems to meet community and personal needs.

Indicators:

1. Identify innovations in manmade structures over time (e.g. irrigation, roads, building materials) and their influence on meeting needs.
2. Examine the evolution and importance of writing.
3. Identify cultural expressions that reflect these systems (e.g. architecture, artistic expression, medicine, philosophy, drama, literature).
   
4. Compare social classes, vocations, and gender roles within ancient civilizations.

Objective 1:
Explain how physical geography affects economic and cultural expansion.

Web sites

• Ancient Egyptian Overseas Trade
  Information on trade and routes with Egypt.
• Medieval Times to Today
  Lesson plan on trade during the Middle Ages/Renaissance
• Marco Polo and His Travels
  Background information on Marco Polo and His Travels
• Late Medieval Maps
  Currently the Index, Bibliography and Time Charts of Late Medieval Maps are provided, along with a selection of low resolution images and accompanying monographs.
• Maps: Middle Ages
  Search results for Middle Ages maps.

Indicators:

1. Identify natural resources and physical features that affected expansion.
2. Describe the development of international trade via the desert, sea, and land and the resultant cultural exchanges between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe (e.g. the Silk Road)

Objective 2:
Explore the importance of religion in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and its relevance to modern times.

Web sites

• Medieval Fiefdom Web Site
  This interactive site has information about a town and castle in the Middle Ages with reference to church and its effects on families and individuals
• Middle Ages
  An interactive tutorial about life in the Middle Ages.
• Tales of the Middle Ages
  Stories, fables, and anecdotes from the Middle Ages.
• Mostly Medieval - Exploring the Middle Ages
  Here you will find information on heraldry, myths and legends, religion, medicine, and other aspects of life in Britain during the Middle Ages.
• Medieval Crusades
  Background information about the Crusades.

Indicators:

1. Explain the influence of religion on cultural expression (e.g. the arts, architecture, government, education, family structure).
2. Compare relations between the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths during the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and the modern world (e.g.
   Crusades, periods of peaceful coexistence, periods of conflict).

Objective 3:
Examine how systems of governance began steps toward self-rule during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Web sites

• Castles for Kids
  Learn about the parts of a castle, what they have inside them, and the people that lived in castles.
• Ghosts in the Castle
  National Geographic for Kids, exploring a castle virtual tour.
• The Vikings
  The companion website to "The Vikings," a two-hour NOVA program originally broadcast on May 9, 2000. The program examines a new, less barbarian image of the Norsemen based on recent archeological investigations.
• Ottoman Empire
  Information on the Ottoman Empire.
• The Middle Ages: Life on a Manor Activity Packet
  A free printable reading and worksheet packet about life in the Middle Ages.

Indicators:

1. Examine relationships between significant events and ideas and their influence on systems of government (e.g. the rise of the merchant class, the Magna Carta, the impact of the Black Death, Germanic tribes, feudalism, manors, city-states).
2. Compare individual rights of people in the United States today with the rights of selected groups in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (e.g. serfs, nobility, merchant class).

Objective 4:
Explain the importance of the Renaissance as a rebirth of cultural and intellectual pursuits.

Web sites

• English Bible History Erasmus
  A biography of Erasmus.
• The Song of Roland
  Wikipedia article about "The Song of Roland"
• The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
  A chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of the history of art from around the world, as illustrated especially by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection.
• Depicting Devotion
  Illuminated Books of Hours from the Middle Ages.

Indicators:

1. Investigate how technological and scientific developments of the time promoted literacy and the exchange of ideas that continue to this day (e.g. moveable type, telescope, microscope).
2. Identify leading Renaissance artists and thinkers and their contributions to visual arts, writing, music, and architecture (e.g. Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Palestrina, Shakespeare, Tallis).

Objective 1:
Understand processes of revolution.

Indicators:

1. Examine social, religious, and economic issues that may lead to revolution.
2. Identify and compare how revolutions develop in multiple areas of human life (e.g. scientific, agricultural, industrial, political, medical).

Objective 2:
Analyze the impact of selected revolutions.

Indicators:

1. Identify representative people from selected revolutions (e.g. Napoleon, Martin Luther, James Watt, Isaac Newton, Madame Curie, Anton Van Leeuwenhoek).
2. Examine the outcomes of selected revolutions (e.g. the Scientific and Industrial revolutions, the Reformation, the French Revolution).

Objective 1:
Analyze how major world events of the 20th century affect the world today.

Web sites

• Lesson 1. WWI: Beginnings and Progression
  WWI website with printable pages for students.
• Trade - Lesson Plan on Why Nations Trade
  Global trade lesson plans and explanations.
• WWII Voices in the Classroom
  WWII information & details on how to complete an oral history.
• The Origins of the Cold War, 1945-1949
  Cold War lesson plans and background.
• Blackpast.com
  Contributions of blacks in American history.

Indicators:

1. Identify key events, ideas, and leaders of the 20th century (e.g. World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts, dynamic Asian economies).
2. Describe the impact of these events on the world today.

Objective 2:
Explore current global issues facing the modern world and identify potential solutions.

Web sites

• Stop Disaters
  A disaster simulation game from the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
• The Greens
  A site for kids about looking after the planet.
• World Day Against Child Labour 2008
  Information about World Day Against Child Labor.
• Natural Disasters
  See natural disasters occur.
• If the World Were a Village of 100 People
  If the world were a village facts.
• Economy of Asia
  Difficult reading on Asian economic problems.
• Global Issues
  Information about a variety of global issues for independent research.
• What the World Eats, Part I
  Pictures from The Hungry Planet comparing what a family eats in a day in various countries.

Indicators:

1. Investigate pressing issues facing the world today (e.g. environmental, pollution, political turmoil, hunger, poverty, genocide, famine, natural disasters, child labor).
2. Identify potential solutions to pressing issues.
3. Identify individuals and groups making positive changes in the world today and support these choices with evidence.

Objective 3:
Determine human rights and responsibilities in the world.

Web sites

• OneWorld.net
  The state of the world in easy-to-understand language.
• Learning to Give
  Lessons and resources that teach giving and volunteerism, civic engagement, and character through service learning.
• Free Rice
  Kids can do word study and donate rice at the same time!
• Amnesty International, USA
  Human rights information from around the world.
• TeacherVision
  Ready-to-use graphic organizers will help children classify ideas and communicate more effectively.
• Graphic Organizers
  Put your ideas and notes in order with these graphic organizers!
• Utah Debate
  Resolutions.

Indicators:

1. Identify rights considered essential for all humans (e.g. health care, education, safety, freedom from fear, freedom of expression).
2. Propose steps individual students can take to protect these rights (e.g. support for sister schools, energy and resource conservation, letter writing, career choices, fundraising efforts).