1. Aim: Do I agree with David Christensen’s concept of Big History? Historical Thinking Skills: Periodization and Point of View Do Now: From your birth to the present day, you must divide up your life into 5 key periods, and name each.

2. I The Beginning? “What, you might ask, could possibly induce a rational astrophysicist to believe that all the matter, energy, and space of the universe began 15 billion years ago in a primeval fireball packed into a volume smaller than a marble that has been expanding ever since?... the big bang is supported by a preponderance of evidence … Let us start with Edwin Hubble's 1929 observation that we live in an expanding universe... Further support came from Albert Einstein's theory of gravity, better known as the general theory of relativity, which predicted an expanding universe… Ralph Alpher and Robert Herman [inferred]…that there should be a leftover signal from an earlier time, when the temperature of the universe was thousands of degrees. That leftover signal… should have cooled and would appear today as an omni-directional bath of microwave energy with a temperature of a few degrees on the Kelvin absolute temperature scale. In 1965 a part of this background signal… revealed itself in data obtained by… microwave antennae... In Defense of the Big Bang December 1, 1996 Natural History Magazine by Neil deGrasse Tyson

3. “The chemicals from which we are made were manufactured in the death throes of large stars... Without them, we would not exist, nor would the Earth.” David Christensen

4. II The Earth (and should we include its geological history in world history?)

6. III What is Periodization? Periodization is the attempt to categorize history into periods of time based on chronology and/or specific characteristics. Historians do not agree on any one division of history into periods of time.

7. IV David Christensen’s Periodization ForagingAgrarianModern 250,000 BCE – 8,000 BCE 8000 BCE – 1750 CE 1750 CE - Present Most of human history; small communities; Foraging, global migrations; megafaunal extinctions; slow population growth Intensification; rapid population growth; cities, Agrarian states, empires; writing; different histories in different world zones Single, global system; rapid growth in energy use; increasing rate of extinctions; increased life expectancies What is David Christensen’s Point of View? How do you know?

8. V Periodization According to the AP Board Period 1 Technological and Environmental Transformations, to c. 600 B.C.E. Period 2 Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies, c. 600 B.C.E. to c. 600 C.E. Period 3 Regional and Transregional Interactions, c. 600 C.E. to c. 1450 Period 4 Global Interactions, c. 1450 to c. 1750 Period 5 Industrialization and Global Integration, c. 1750 to c. 1900 Period 6 Accelerating Global Change and Realignments, c. 1900 to the Present How is the periodization of world history according to the AP Board similar/different from David Christensen’s? Who is right? How would you know?

9. Class Notes/HW Questions 1. What was the Big Bang? Should it be included as the beginning of our world history? 2. Why does David Christian include Earth’s geological history as part of world history? Do you agree with his viewpoint? 3. What is periodization? What are its pros/cons when it comes to “creating” history? 4. Do you think that world history should be seen in the context of “big history”? Why or why not? Suggestion: Begin answering what you can at home and finish in class!

10. Key Vocabulary (in addition to that of your summer assignment) Continental Crust Core [of the earth] Big Bang Mantle Periodization You must define all vocabulary words for each lesson. You can do it in any format you want to (a separate notebook section, index cards, etc.) They will show up on exams and quizzes!