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History Standards for Grades 5-12
World History
Era
1
The
Beginnings of Human Society
Standard
1 The biological and cultural
processes that gave rise to the earliest human communities
Standard
2 The processes that led to the
emergence of agricultural societies around the world
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Overview
The Beginnings of Human Society
Giving Shape to World History
So
far as we know, humanity’s story began in Africa.
For millions of years it was mainly a story of biological change. Then
some hundreds of thousands of years ago our early ancestors began to form
and manipulate useful tools. Eventually they mastered speech. Unlike most
other species, early humans gained the capacity to learn from one another
and transmit knowledge from one generation to the next. The first great
experiments in creating culture were underway. Among early
hunter-gatherers cultural change occurred at an imperceptible speed. But
as human populations rose and new ideas and techniques appeared, the pace
of change accelerated. Moreover, human history became global at a very
early date. In the long period from human beginnings to the rise of the
earliest civilization two world-circling developments stand in
relief:
The Peopling of the Earth: The first great global event
was the peopling of the earth and the astonishing story of how communities
of hunters, foragers, or fishers adapted creatively and continually to a
variety of contrasting, changing environments in Africa, Eurasia,
Australia, and the Americas.
The Agricultural Revolution: Over a period of several thousand years and as a
result of countless small decisions, humans learned how to grow crops,
domesticate plants, and raise animals. The earliest agricultural
settlements probably arose in Southwest Asia,
but the agricultural revolution spread round the world. Human population
began to soar relative to earlier times. Communities came into regular
contact with one another over longer distances, cultural patterns became
far more complex, and opportunities for innovation multiplied.
Why Study This Era?
v To understand how the human
species fully emerged out of biological evolution and cultural
development is to understand in some measure what it means to be
human.
v The common past that all
students share begins with the peopling of our planet and the spread of
settled societies around the world.
v
The cultural forms, social institutions, and practical techniques
that emerged in the Neolithic age laid the foundations for the emergence
of all early civilizations.
v
Study of human beginnings throws into relief fundamental problems of
history that pertain to all eras: the possibilities and limitations of
human control over their environment; why human groups accept, modify, or
reject innovations; the variety of social and cultural paths that
different societies may take; and the acceleration of social change
through time.
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STANDARD 1
The biological and cultural processes that gave rise to the
earliest human communities.
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Standard 1A
The student understands early
hominid development in Africa.
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Grade Level
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Therefore, the student is able
to
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5-12
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Infer
from archaeological evidence the characteristics of early African
hunter-gatherer communities, including tool kits, shelter, diet, and use
of fire. [Interrogate historical
data]
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7-12
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Describe
types of evidence and methods of investigation that anthropologists,
archaeologists, and other scholars have used to reconstruct early human
evolution and cultural development. [Interrogate
historical data]
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7-12
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Trace
the approximate chronology, sequence, and territorial range of early
hominid evolution in Africa from the
Australopithecines to Homo erectus. [Establish
temporal order in constructing historical narratives]
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Standard 1B
The student understands how
human communities populated the major regions of the world and adapted to a
variety of environments.
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Grade Level
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Therefore, the student is able
to
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7-12
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Analyze
current and past theories regarding the emergence of Homo sapiens sapiens
and the processes by which human ancestors migrated from Africa to the other major world regions. [Evaluate major debates among historians]
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5-12
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Compare
the way of life of hunter-gatherer communities in Africa, the Americas, and western Eurasia
and explain how such communities in different parts of the world
responded creatively to local environments. [Compare and contrast differing behaviors and institutions]
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7-12
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Assess
theories regarding the development of human language and its relationship
to the development of culture. [Evaluate
major debates among historians]
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5-12
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Infer
from archaeological evidence the characteristics of Cro-Magnon
hunter-gatherer communities of western Eurasia
including tool kits, shelter, clothing, ritual life, aesthetic values,
relations between men and women, and trade among communities. [Analyze cause-and-effect
relationships and multiple causation]
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7-12
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Analyze
possible links between environmental conditions associated with the last
Ice Age and changes in the economy, culture, and organization of human
communities. [Analyze
cause-and-effect relationships and multiple causation]
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STANDARD 2
The processes that led to the emergence of agricultural
societies around the world.
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Standard 2A
The student understands how and why humans established
settled communities and experimented with agriculture.
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Grade Level
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Therefore, the student is able
to
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5-12
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Infer
from archaeological evidence the technology, social organization, and
cultural life of settled farming communities in Southwest
Asia. [Draw upon
visual sources]
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9-12
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Describe
types of evidence and methods of investigation by which scholars have
reconstructed the early history of domestication and agricultural
settlement. [Appreciate historical
perspectives]
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9-12
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Describe
leading theories to explain how and why human groups domesticated wild
grains as well as cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs after the last Ice Age.
[Evaluate major debates among
historians]
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7-12
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Identify
areas in Southwest Asia and the Nile
valley where early farming communities probably appeared and analyze the
environmental and technological factors that made possible experiments
with farming in these regions. [Incorporate
multiple causation]
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Standard 2B
The student understands how agricultural societies
developed around the world.
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Grade Level
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Therefore, the student is able
to
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5-12
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Analyze
differences between hunter-gatherer and agrarian communities in economy,
social organization, and quality of living. [Compare and contrast differing behaviors and institutions]
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5-12
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Describe
social, cultural, and economic characteristics of large agricultural
settlements such as Çatal Hüyuk or Jericho.
[Obtain historical data]
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7-12
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Analyze
how peoples of West Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the Americas
domesticated food plants and developed agricultural communities in
response to local needs and conditions. [Compare and contrast behaviors and institutions]
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7-12
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Analyze
archaeological evidence from agricultural village sites in Southwest
Asia, North Africa, China, or Europe
indicating the emergence of social class divisions, occupational
specializations, and differences in the daily tasks that men and women
performed. [Hold interpretations
of history as tentative]
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7-12
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Assess
archaeological evidence for long-distance trade in Southwest
Asia. [Draw upon
visual sources]
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9-12
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Assess
archaeological evidence for the emergence of complex belief systems,
including widespread worship of female deities. [Interrogate historical data]
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NEXT: Era
2: Early Civilizations and the Emergence of Pastoral Peoples, 4000-1000 BCE
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