1. Bellwork In two sentences, explain why you think we study History?
What is the importance of studying it?
What can we learn from our past?

2. Section 1, Unit 1 Introduction to History
World History
Section 1, Unit 1
Introduction to History

3. Objectives Explain why we study history. Identify dating methods.
Understand the differences between BC and AD.
Identify the link between history and geography

4. Why do we study history? To learn from our mistakes and successes
We don’t want to make the same mistakes our ancestors did, but we do want to learn what made many civilizations so powerful.
To understand the perspectives of the people of our past.
Historians Fallacy
To know what shaped modern society
Laws, art, literature, etc.

5. How do we study history? To study history, we have to be able to:
Understand dates.
Understand how the people of the time perceived what was happening around them.
Understand methods of researching history.

6. Dating Methods There are two primary ways we date objects:
Absolute dating
Relative Dating

7. Absolute Dating Giving a age to an object by looking at its atoms.
We look at the molecular structure and decide its age by how much the structure has decayed.
This gives a more accurate date to the items in question, such as fossils.

8. Relative Dating
Dating objects by looking at where they are in the rock layer.
The deeper the item is the rock layers, the older the object is.

9. What about recent history
Generally speaking, the two former dating methods are less necessary for history that has occurred since the advent of writing. We can generally know when something occurred based on when it was written about.

10. Calendars
History is generally broken into two sections to describe its age:
B.C.- Before Christ- History that occurred prior to Christ’s birth.
This system works backwards. The higher the number in BC, the older it is (500 BC was before 400 BC).
A.D.- Anno Domini- History that occurred after Christ’s birth.
The higher numbers here indicate how recent it occurred (so, 1994 was before 2014).

11. Alternative Dating Methods
However, some scholars have began to utilize a different dating method due to religious sensitivity:
CE- Common Era – alternative to AD
BCE- Before Common Era- alternative to BC
Both are exactly the same as BC/AD, but for this class, I will be using BC and AD.

12. Calendars (cont.)
For this class, we will be identifying history using what is called the Gregorian Calendar.
This calendar is the modern calendar used in many international nations with the standard 365 day year.
Pope Gregor XIII

13. History and Geography
Another part of this class will be heavily studying the geography of the area(s) in question.
Geography studies how physical environments affected human events and how humans effect their environment
In this class, when we study a new culture or group, we will identify how the geography has affected aforementioned group.

14. History and Geography (cont)
As well, when certain events occur in human history, the environment around them can change. This can include:
A change in territories
Interaction such as irrigation, clearing forests, building cities
Using and reading maps will prove vital in this course.

15. What to expect from this class
In this class, we will cover people and events spanning the entire world and throughout all of dated/recorded history.
Be aware, we will cover history almost sequentially (in order).
Some historical events occur at the same time, so there may be some backtracking and skipping around, but all concepts will lead back into a central concept.

16. Breakdown of the Course
The class will cover the following points in history:
Pre-human/Recorded History
Pre-historic cultures
Classical Era
Early civilizations
Post-Classical Era
Middle Ages
Modern Era
Renaissance to Today

17. Any questions?
Do you have any questions about this class or what to expect?
What do you take notes on?
How will information be presented?
Will we watch videos or do activities?

18. Review Objectives Explain why we study history.
Identify dating methods.
Understand the differences between BC and AD.
Identify the link between history and geography

19. Next Lesson In the next lesson, we are going to discuss the beginning.
Pre-human history

20. Assignment
Please read the document All people are living histories – which is why History matters by Penelope J. Corfield and follow the directions on the sheet.
If you are reading this on the computer, please go to the website and download the assignment from beneath the powerpoint.