1. Uncovering the Past

2. Studying History History is the study of the past.
Historians are people who study the past.
Their main concern is human activity: how they lived and why they did the things they did.
They study people’s culture: the knowledge, beliefs, customs, and values of a group of people.

3. Archaeologists
Archaeology is the study of the past based on what people left behind.
Archaeologist: a person who practices archaeology, explore places where people once lived, worked, or fought. Also, the things people left behind like jewelry, dishes, or weapons. Archaeologist study clues.

4. History teaches you about:
Yourself and your past: Who is famous and infamous in your family
Others and their cultures: Why they think like they do, their struggles, their backgrounds
World: Where you live, human activity
Helps you develop mental skills, and promotes good decision making skills.

5. Historians and Archaeologists Rely on Clues
Fossils- a part or imprint of something that was once alive. Ex: bones and footprints preserved in rock
Artifacts- Objects created and used by humans. Ex: coins, arrowheads, tools, toys, and pottery.

6. They use sources of information
Primary Source- and account of an event created by someone who took part in or witnessed the event. Ex: Treaties, letters, diaries, laws, court documents, royal commands, audio and video recordings
Secondary Source- information gathered by someone who did not take part in or witness an event. Ex: History textbooks, journal articles, and encyclopedias.
GROUP ACTIVITY: Primary and Secondary Sources

7. Geographers contribute
Geography is the study of the earth’s physical and cultural features. Ex: Mountains, rivers, people, cities, countries.
Geographer- a person who studies geography.

8. Physical Geography The study of the earth’s land and features.
Landforms- the natural features of the land’s surface. Ex: Mountains, valleys, plains, and other such places.
Climate- the pattern of weather conditions in a certain area over a long period of time. Different than weather. Weather is the conditions at a specific time and place.
Environment- includes all the living and nonliving things that affect life in an area.

9. Why Study Geography
Climates affects many features of a region. Ex: Plant life and landforms.
Landforms can also affect climates. Ex: the California Coast.

10. Human Geography The study of people and the places where they live.
Specialists in this field study:
What kind of work do people do?
How do they get their food?
What are their homes like?
What religions do they practice?
How the environment affects them?

11. Location The exact description of where something is.
Specific location- GPS, latitude and longitude
Maps- Physical Maps, Atlas, Historical Atlas
Region- an area with one or more features that make it different from surrounding areas.

12. Geography and History
Geography affects resources
Resources- materials found in the earth that people need and value.
Essential resources in early times included water, animals, fertile land and stones for tools.

13. Geography shapes Cultures
Geography shapes cultures. Ex: People who lived near forest built homes from wood in other areas homes were built from mud or stone . People who lived near the water learned to make fishhooks and boats, while people who lived inland did not.
Role in growth of civilizations: First civilizations developed along rivers with fertile farming land.
Protect areas from invasions: Mountains and deserts make it hard for invaders to attack.

14. Geography influences History
Geography has helped shape history and has affected the growth of societies. Ex: Natural resources allowed some civilizations to become rich.
Geography has also caused problems. Ex: Floods destroy lives and cities, drought leads to famines, storms destroy fleets.

15. Understanding Calendars
Solar year is just over 365 days.
Rome’s calendar was 355 days long. Didn’t work
Roman leader, Julius Caesar developed 365 day calendar. The Julian Calendar. It had problems.
1500’s Pope Gregory XIII developed the Gregorian Calendar. We use this one today, the Christian Calendar.

16. Understanding Calendars
Significant events are used to distinguish one year from another.
Birth of Jesus is use to represent year one (1).
Dates before his birth are labeled B.C. (Before Christ) or B.C.E. (Before the common era).
Dates after his birth are labeled A.D. (Anno Domini) a Latin term which means In the Year of Our Lord or C.E. (The Common Era).

17. How Historians Make Sense of Time
They organize the flow of dates and events by putting these things in chronological order. For example:
They put these events on a timeline, or diagram that shows the order of events within a period of time.

18. Making Sense of B.C. and A.D.
Timeline Example: Place the following dates on your timeline in chronological order. Always start with the oldest date on the left and move to the newest date on the right.
Remember: The largest BC date is the oldest and the largest AD date is the newest.
Dates
467 BC 592 BC 4
4000 BC 34 BC 500 BC

19. Your Turn
Now you will see pictures on the next two slides. Answer the questions at your table keeping in mind that you are a Historian.

22. Create Your Own Timeline
Just For Fun
Create Your Own Timeline
Create a time line of your life. Use BMB (before my birth) for events that occurred before your birth and AMB (after my birth) for events that occurred after your birth. Be sure to include the present date on your timeline.