This course explores the history of various societies and civilizations around the world, from earliest times to around 1500 CE. Students will investigate a range of factors that contributed to the rise, success, and decline of various ancient and pre-modern societies throughout the world and will examine life in and the cultural and political legacy of these societies. Students will extend their ability to apply the concepts of historical thinking and the historical inquiry process, including the interpretation and analysis of evidence, when investigating social, political, and economic structures and historical forces at work in various societies and in different historical eras.
 

A. HISTORICAL INQUIRY AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT

OVERALL EXPECTATIONS
Throughout this course, students will:

1. Historical Inquiry: use the historical inquiry process and the concepts of historical thinking when investigating aspects of world history to 1500;
2. Developing Transferable Skills: apply in everyday contexts skills developed through historical investigation, and identify careers in which these skills might be useful.
    

B. EARLY SOCIETIES AND RISING CIVILIZATIONS

1. Early Societies: analyse the evolution of early societies in various parts of the world, including factors that were necessary for their development (FOCUS ON: Cause and Consequence; Continuity and Change)
2. Social, Economic, and Political Context: analyse key social, economic, and political structures and/or developments in three or more early societies and emerging cradles of civilization, each from a different region and a different period prior to 1500, and explain their impact on people’s lives (FOCUS ON: Historical Significance; Historical Perspective)
3. Cooperation, Conflict, and Rising Civilizations: analyse, with reference to specific early societies and emerging cradles of civilization, each from a different region and a different period prior to 1500, how interactions within and between societies contributed to the development of civilizations (FOCUS ON: Historical Significance; Continuity and Change)
    

C. FLOURISHING SOCIETIES AND CIVILIZATIONS

OVERALL EXPECTATIONS
By the end of this course, students will:

1. Social, Economic, and Political Context: analyse key social, economic, and political structures and developments in three or more flourishing societies/civilizations, each from a different region and a different period prior to 1500 (FOCUS ON: Historical Significance; Cause and Consequence)
2. Stability and Expansion: analyse how various factors contributed to the stability, consolidation, and/or expansion of flourishing societies/civilizations from different regions and different periods prior to 1500 (FOCUS ON: Cause and Consequence; Continuity and Change)
3. Identity, Citizenship, and Culture: assess the contributions of various individuals and groups to the development of identity, citizenship, and culture in three or more flourishing societies/ civilizations, each from a different region and a different period prior to 1500 (FOCUS ON: Historical Significance; Historical Perspective)
    

D. CIVILIZATIONS IN DECLINE

OVERALL EXPECTATIONS
By the end of this course, students will:

1. Social, Economic, and Political Context: explain the role of various social, economic, and political events and developments in the decline of three or more societies/civilizations, each from a different region and different period prior to 1500, and how these factors affected people living in these societies (FOCUS ON: Historical Significance; Cause and Consequence)
2. Interrelationships: analyse how interrelationships with other societies and with the environment contributed to the decline of three or more societies/civilizations, each from a different region and different period prior to 1500 (FOCUS ON: Cause and Consequence; Continuity and Change)
3. Cultural Characteristics and Identity: analyse aspects of culture and identity in three or more societies/ civilizations in decline, each from a different region and different period prior to 1500 (FOCUS ON: Continuity and Change; Historical Perspective)
    

E. THE LEGACY OF CIVILIZATIONS

OVERALL EXPECTATIONS
By the end of this course, students will:

1. Social, Cultural, and Political Heritage: analyse the socio-economic, cultural, and political legacies of societies/civilizations from three or more regions and from different periods prior to 1500 (FOCUS ON: Historical Significance; Continuity and Change)
2. The Legacy of Interactions: analyse various types of interactions between societies prior to 1500 and how societies benefited from and were harmed by such interactions (FOCUS ON: Cause and Consequence; Historical Perspective)
3. The Fifteenth-Century World: demonstrate an understanding of the general social, economic, and political context in societies in two or more regions of the world in the fifteenth century (FOCUS ON: Historical Significance; Historical Perspective)