OVERVIEW
This Program of Studies (POS) defines the instruction program that must be implemented in World History and Geography I. It describes the curriculum content and identifies the essential knowledge and skills of the instructional program. Teachers have the responsibility to accommodate individual students’ needs and to provide additional assistance or extensions that support this POS.
Required instructional materials and equipment listed within this document are to be used in the delivery of the program. Supplemental or substitute materials must be approved through the process outlined in regulations 3005.4 and 3007.
School Board policy requires that teachers seek permission from their principal prior to deviating from this POS relative to curriculum content or stated standards and goals. Prior to granting of permission, principals may request the advice of or assistance of the appropriate Instructional Services subject specialist or coordinator, and must have the final approval of the area superintendent and assistant superintendent for Instructional Services.
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The World History and Geography I Standards, Benchmarks and Indicators are grounded in three major documents:
- The Virginia History and Social Science Standards of Learning (SOL), published by the Virginia Department of Education in 2001.
- The National Geography Standards: Geography for Life, published by the Geography Education Project in 1994.
- The National Standards for History, published by the National Center for History in the Schools in 1996.
World History and Geography I aims toward Fairfax County’s goal to prepare students for life and work in the 21st century. This course moves students toward an understanding of our increasingly diverse and complicated society. Its goal is to inform students of humanity’s shared values and unique differences in order to produce tolerant and well-informed citizens. The World History and Geography I curriculum incorporates state and national standards and recent scholarship in world history and geography. Fairfax County students will recognize and appreciate the “human experience” that is central to all people.
The World History and Geography I Standards, Benchmarks, and Indicators reflect the essential knowledge as defined in the Virginia SOL, the National Standards for History, and the National Geography Standards that students need to attain a complete understanding of world history and geography from prehistoric times to 1500 C.E.
Organization of the World History and Geography I Standards, Benchmarks, and Indicators
Correlation with SOL
World History and Geography I is divided into five chronological eras. The Standards for each era contain the essential knowledge for that time period in broad terms. These thirteen standards for World History and Geography I contain the same wording as the Virginia Standards of Learning for World History to 1500 A.D. Benchmarks can be utilized to gauge student progress in meeting the curriculum standards, and in some cases go beyond the scope of the Virginia Standards of Learning. Indicators are specific learning behaviors that can be taught and demonstrate a student’s mastery of a benchmark. Bolded content in the indicators is considered essential and must be taught in all classrooms. Content which is not bolded goes beyond the scope and sequence of the state standards. This content is part of the Fairfax County curriculum and provides a richer, more complete picture of the human experience prior to 1500 C.E.
The World History and Geography I Standards, Benchmarks, and Indicators define essential and expanded learning for ninth grade social studies. The World History and Geography I teacher should organize an instructional program that strives to meet all standards, benchmarks, and indicators outlined in this document.
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The World History and Geography I Standards, Benchmarks, and Indicators is organized around five historical eras:
- Era One: Prehistory
- Era Two: River Valley Civilizations, 3500 B.C.E. to 500 B.C.E.
- Era Three: The Classical Period, 1000 B.C.E. to 500 C.E.
- Era Four: Post Classical Period, 500 C.E. to 1000 C.E.
- Era Five: Regional Interactions, 1000 C.E. to 1500 C.E.
The dates used to establish this periodization accurately reflect how world historians currently divide the study of World History. In some instances, time periods are denoted using the terminology of global history: B.C.E. (before the common era) in place of B.C., and C.E. (common era) in place of A.D. Teachers should use both sets of terminology in their instruction as students may encounter these terms in future studies.
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In addition to the standards, benchmarks and indicators, each section contains a suggested time for instruction, an historical overview of the era, focus questions to guide discussions and assessments, and global themes which connect each era to the “big picture.”
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- Adaptation to the environment
- Patterns of human population and migration
- Development and diffusion of technology
- Communication and Exchange
- Belief systems
- Conflict
- Social Structure
- Political Legitimacy and authority
Eight common themes or strands provide the course with its global perspective. Four to six themes are emphasized in and defined for each era. The eight themes are:
- Adaptation to the environment: Adaptation to the environment has been a constant theme in world history and geography. The global impact of how humans have adapted to and changed their physical environments through time is important to understanding past and present ecological issues.
- Patterns of human population and migration: Population movements over short and long distances and the results of these movements are the most important recurring patterns in human history and geography. Human migration is a characteristic of each historical era, starting with the peopling of the world and including farmers in search of land, military rulers in search of conquests, and refugees in search of safety.
- Development and diffusion of technology: Major developments in and diffusion of technologies such as fire, metallurgy, weaving and textile production, shipbuilding, and gunpowder weapons have resulted in adaptations and changes in human societies. A phenomenon of history was the simultaneous development of some technologies, such as agriculture, in different parts of the world.
- Communication and Exchange: From the beginnings of language and the later development of writing to modern systems of communication, and from simple bartering systems to trans-national corporations, communication and trade have played a significant role in patterns of international networks and international connections.
- Belief systems: All societies have sought to answer the central questions of human existence and expressed those beliefs in both secular and religious ways. Belief systems have political, social, and cultural expressions including art, music, and literature as well as attitudes towards the role of the individual in society, nature, gender, and the family. The diffusion of ideas and belief systems has led to changes in societies.
- Conflict: Why people fight, how they justify their violence, and under what circumstances they have remained at peace is a central theme in world history and an essential understanding for citizens of the 21st century.
- Social Structure: Social structures are important characteristics of all societies. Being able to compare and contrast patterns of class, ethnic, racial, and gender structures and their relation to political power and influential elites provides an important perspective on world societies.
- Political legitimacy and authority: The political structure of a society includes the political system, its development, sources of legitimacy, justification, and patterns of continuity and change within the system. Comparison and contrast of different political systems in world history offers important insights into the relationships between people and their governments.
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Each era ends with a list of statements called “Legacies.” Legacies are enduring contributions which shaped future generations. They are the achievements, ideas, and trends which we inherited from that period of time.
World History and Geography I weaves together the skills and content of both history and geography so that students may learn how history and geography affect each other and therefore gain a more complete understanding of the world around them. Students will investigate geographic themes such as location, place, movement, and region and practice skills with maps, globes, and geographic data. Students will also consider environmental and demographic factors in human history.
World History and Geography I presents students with the opportunity to interpret a wide range of information and to compare diverse cultural and geographic regions. The global content of the course serves to enhance students’ analytical skills, enabling them to consider multiple perspectives, evaluate evidence, and make sound judgments about the contemporary world. These processes will enable students to build confidence as thinkers, historians, and geographers.
It is intended that both teachers and students utilize the identified basal required technology, including computer software, CD-ROMs, and video laserdiscs to fully implement this Program of Studies. Technology software and hardware requirements are listed in the resources section (Section IV). In addition, technology competencies for students and teachers as defined by the Virginia Board of Education are to be emphasized.
