In this vocab activity, you’ll be given a stack of vocab words to “sneak” into a conversation with a classmate. This is probably the most difficult—and perhaps silliest—of all the vocab activities. You have to incorporate Unit 4 vocabulary as seamlessly as possible into a conversation. Although difficult, this is one of the best ways to use and apply new vocabulary—in context.

You’re going to play the word sneak game. You will be given four Unit 4 vocab words and asked to have a casual conversation with a classmate. Your job is to use your vocab words as part of that conversation, sneaking them in wherever appropriate.

Here are the steps:

1. Get your vocab cards.
2. Partner with someone else in the class. Do not show them your cards or tell them your words.
3. Have a five-minute conversation and see how many words you can sneak into the conversation while you’re chatting. There are two things you need to know for your conversation:
• You have to integrate your words in a legitimate way that makes sense.
• You may need to steer the conversation in a different direction as a way to get to use your words. One good way to do this is by asking your partner questions.
4. Be prepared to debrief your conversation with the class.

At the start of this unit, you looked at the Unit 4 driving question without much to go on. Now that you’ve seen a couple of lessons, you'll revisit the question: How and why do theories become generally accepted? This time, cite specific passages and evidence from the content in the unit that provide insights into answering the driving question.

Look back over the content covered in the unit as well as any additional information you have come across during the lesson. Write down quotes or evidence that provide new insights into the driving question for Unit 4. Use the third column of the DQ Notebook Worksheet to describe and reflect on how this new information has impacted your initial thinking about the driving question.

Geology is an active, hands-on science in which you actively explore the Earth to learn about things that happen over millions and billions of years. The material and formation of rocks and the fossils within them tell us a great deal about how our world was formed.

This video focuses on the discipline of geology. Geology is important to Big History because it’s a discipline that helps make clear how the Earth formed, how it came to have the structure that it has today, and how its surface continues to change over time. Understanding each of these topics will be important in understanding how life was able to appear on Earth.

Preview

Geologists are scientists who study the physical attributes of Earth. Often out in the field looking at rocks, fossils, and natural formations, geologists are interested in the history of the planet as well as in the processes in operation within the Earth itself.

Key Ideas – Factual

As you watch this video, use these questions to help you check for understanding.

1. According to Professor Alvarez, what are the two major types of geologists?
2. Why does the Professor Alvarez say that “atmospheres and oceans forget but rocks remember”?
3. What are the different types of tools that geologists use to study rocks?
4. What kinds of questions do geologists try to answer by studying the rock record?
5. What, according to Alvarez, is the most important question a geologist can ask?

Thinking Conceptually

Once you’ve finished watching this video, answer the following question: Do you think that geology is a more interdisciplinary science than cosmology?

Wegener’s early work in understanding the movement of the continents was not accepted by most of his fellow scientists. Ultimately, he was proven correct, although he died many years before an explanation for how the continents actually moved was discovered.

This article presents the lives and discoveries of two of the key figures in twentieth century geology. It’s important for you to understand the ideas of Wegener and Hess and how they contributed to the development of plate tectonic theory.

Skimming for Gist

Alfred Wegener was a meteorologist who was fascinated by the similar geological formations, plants, and animals that he noticed were in very distant parts of the world. He proposed the idea of continental drift to explain his observations. It wasn’t until decades after Wegener’s work that Harry Hess and a team of scientists used sonar to explore the ocean floor and discovered evidence confirming Wegener’s theory.

Understanding Content

By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions about the formation of our Earth:

1. What is continental drift?
2. What types of evidence did Wegener have to support his theory of continental drift?
3. Why were many scientists reluctant to accept Wegener’s idea of continental drift?
4. What evidence did Hess find to support Wegener’s theory?
5. What other discoveries supported the work of Hess and other supporters of the idea of seafloor spreading?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions: Does it surprise you that Wegener’s ideas about continental drift were not immediately accepted? Do you think that explanations that can explain most, but not all, of a problem should be taken seriously? Or does the explanation of a problem need to be able to resolve every issue?

In this activity in the claim testing progression, you will dig into evidence and how evidence impacts what people decide to believe. This should help you better understand how the situation and context in which claims are made and supported impact which claim tester or testers are used.

Reading
As you read the article about Wegener and Hess, you will look for supporting evidence for claims being made about continental drift. This is a great opportunity to think about how when testing claims that we find in articles, we tend to test them using the support that the author provided. Sometimes it’s helpful to corroborate that information, or look beyond just what the author provided to find further supporting or disconfirming evidence related to the author’s claim.

If you haven’t already read “Alfred Wegener & Harry Hess,” read it now. You will need the background knowledge from that article to complete this quick activity.

Think about this claim: Evidence is the best of the four claim testers. Based on what you know, do you agree or disagree with this claim?

Let’s test your answer, and the claim, by using the story of Wegener and Hess.

Take out the Claim Testing – Evidence Worksheet, and, working in groups, answer the questions. When you’re done, you will be asked to share your final response to the claim, “Evidence is the best of the four claim testers” with the class.

Marie Tharp grew up learning science and cartography from her father. Later, she studied geology at the University of Michigan. As a geophysicist at Columbia University in 1948, she found she didn’t have access to the same research opportunities as her male colleagues. In the mid-1950’s, Tharp developed a theory of a rift valley running down the Atlantic Ocean. Initially dismissed as “girl talk” by male scientists, Tharp’s research eventually proved the controversial theory of continental drift. Her work is an important piece in the story of collective learning that launched the geological revolution of the mid-twentieth century.

In Unit 4, we learn how the surface of the Earth is in constant motion. Most of the time those movements are too slow to feel—unless you’ve ever been caught in an earthquake! Plate tectonics are essential to our understanding of geological processes like earthquakes. This graphic biography introduces Marie Tharp, a scientist who played a key role in launching the modern theory of plate tectonics. But her name is often left out of the story of this geological revolution. Tharp’s story also helps you answer the question, “How and why do theories become generally accepted?”

Read 1: Observe

As you read this graphic biography for the first time, review the Read 1: Observe section of your Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios Tool. Be sure to record one question in the thought bubble on the top-right. You don’t need to write anything else down. However, if you’d like to record your observations, feel free to do so on scrap paper.

Read 2: Understand

On the tool, summarize the main idea of the comic and provide two pieces of evidence that helped you understand the creator’s main idea. You can do this only in writing or you can get creative with some art. Some of the evidence you find may come in the form of text (words). But other evidence will come in the form of art (images). You should read the text looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the main idea, and key supporting details. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What were some challenges that Marie Tharp faced in her work as a geophysicist?
2. How did Tharp’s mapping of a Mid-Atlantic Ridge and rift valley help prove the theory of continental drift?
3. Why was Tharp’s discovery important to collective learning?
4. Look at the way the panels of the biography progress, moving clockwise from top-left. How does the artist use design to depict Marie Tharp’s career as a geophysicist?

Read 3: Connect

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in this unit of the course. On the bottom of the tool, record what you learned about this person’s life and how it relates to what you’re learning.

1. What does Marie Tharp’s story tell you about how theories become generally accepted? What did it take for her ideas to be accepted as scientific fact?

To Be Continued…

On the second page of the tool, your teacher might ask you to extend the graphic biography to a second page. This is where you can draw and write what you think might come next. Here, you can become a co-creator of this graphic biography!

Greek scholars were able to learn a great deal about our world through simple observation. By simply noticing the shadows generated by the Sun, and by observing the movement of the stars, they were able to make discoveries that would take the rest of the world thousands of years to confirm through more advanced technologies.

The shape of the Earth is the product of physical laws and processes. Humans were not able to actually observe the shape of the Earth until astronauts orbited it in the twentieth century. Long before this time, though, a clever mathematician proved that the Earth was round using geometry. His story is a beautiful illustration of creative problem solving.

Skimming for Gist

Without a telescope, without a computer, with nothing more than clever observations, Eratosthenes measured the circumference of the planet. More than 1,500 years before Columbus proved the Earth was not flat, Eratosthenes had already figured out it was round.

Understanding Content

By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions about the formation of our Earth:

1. What were some of the problems about the Earth that interested Eratosthenes?
2. What observations told the Greeks that the Earth was a sphere?
3. What hypothesis did Eratosthenes test using the well at Syene and a pole at Alexandria?
4. How did Eratosthenes use this information to calculate the circumference of the Earth?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, answer these questions: How do you think the Greeks reacted to Eratosthenes’s proof? Do you think that people who believed that the Earth was flat were convinced by what he was able to show?

Geologists have worked hard to agree on the periodization of Earth history, and their quest for precision has resulted in a complex but precise geologic time scale. This geologic time scale, like the periodic table, is an invaluable tool for geologists.

The geologic time chart, like the periodic table that you learned about in Unit 3, helps scientists by organizing complex information in an understandable and accessible way. It is important to understand how the geologic time chart is laid out in order to use it effectively.

Preview

Geologists study processes that can take millions or billions of years. To help them keep the different points in history straight, geologists have broken up the history of the Earth into different chunks of time. Each has its own characteristics and history, and geologists often have their own favorite period to study.

Key Ideas – Factual

As you watch this video, use these questions to help you check for understanding.

1. What is periodization?
2. Why does Professor Alvarez call periodization in history “informal” and periodization in geology “formal”?
3. What are the major divisions of time geologists use?
4. How does the rate of change compare in the four eons?
5. Professor Alvarez says that each period of geologic history has a personality that is familiar to all geologists. What is it that he likes about the Ordovician period?

Thinking Conceptually

Answer the following question when you have finished discussing the video: Why do you think it is easier for geologists to agree on the periodization of geologic history than it is for historians to agree about the periodization of human history?

Charles Lyell helped make the case that the “present is the key to the past.” By studying the features of the Earth as they were in his time, he believed he could trace the changes that had taken place over time and discover how the Earth looked in earlier ages. His work profoundly changed the discipline of geology.

Influential writers are able to articulate complex ideas and convince their readers with an abundance of proof. Charles Lyell’s study of the formal processes by which the surface of the Earth changed over time was such an influential book. His work is important to study for what he had to say, but also because of the influence his work has had on other thinkers.

Skimming for Gist

Charles Lyell was one of the most influential scientists of the 1800s. His work in geology was widely read by scholars of his day, including Charles Darwin, who brought Principles of Geology with him on his famous voyage on the HMS Beagle. This text shows how our understanding of geology has progressed over time. It’s also interesting to see how Lyell’s scientific writing is connected to the culture and politics of the day.

Understanding Content

By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions about the formation of our Earth:

1. Why does Lyell claim that the study of the Earth is like the study of history (lines 10-25)?
2. Lyell does not use the word “interdisciplinary” in this article, but he does argue that the geologist should consult with experts from many disciplines (lines 66-87). Why?
3. How is the evidence that historians have at their disposal similar to the evidence geologists have (lines 89-111)? How is it different?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to these questions: Do you think that it is possible today to study any important question from the perspective of just one academic discipline? Or do most interesting questions require you to consider the perspectives of many disciplines?

In most fields, individuals are asked to work in teams. We are often taught that, “two heads are better than one.” We see this idea carried over into multiple disciplines, including history. This activity asks you to investigate a historical event or object from the lens of multiple disciplines. Students develop their interdisciplinary thinking and reasoning skills as they work to create questions and investigate some of the greatest puzzles in the last 13.8 billion years.

Your teacher will assign the event or object that you’ll think about when filling out the What Do You Know? What Do You Ask? Worksheet. This time, you can pick from any of the disciplines on the Disciplines Chart. Try to include some that you haven’t used for past teams as part of this activity.

Your job is to think about how you would assemble a research team to most deeply understand the event. This worksheet will help walk you through that process. You will also have to explain why your team is the best team for this job. Make sure you pay close attention while your group works through this process—next time, you’ll be constructing a team on your own!

Once you’ve completed the worksheet, be prepared to share your answers with the class. Then, think about why understanding this event as an interdisciplinary team is better than doing it from an individual perspective.

Optics is the study of light—how light moves, how it interacts with matter. Scientists who study optics build a variety of instruments to see and detect light. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, an Arab man studying in Egypt revolutionized our understanding of optics. He wrote The Book of Optics, in which he explained how light entered the human eye and described a device called the camera obscura. Al-Haytham made these discoveries by using something that we might today call the scientific method. He questioned the knowledge of ancient scholars and carried out experiments to verify his hypotheses.

This article about al-Haytham will help you to learn some of the key elements of optics as a science. It will also show you how this science developed over many centuries of experiments and human learning. By focusing on al-Haytham, it will also highlight the contribution of Muslim scholars to this process. Finally, this article will provide you with evidence to determine whether you think there was “science” before the Scientific Revolution.

Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, analysis and evidence, and claim testers. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. According to the author, what is the science of optics?
2. Who was al-Haytham and what contributions did he make?
3. According to the author, how did al-Haytham make his discoveries about how light worked?
4. How did al-Haytham’s arguments challenge the knowledge of ancient scholars?
5. Why do some historians consider al-Haytham the first scientist?
6. Look at the art at the top of this article. How would you describe what you see to someone? How does it help to illustrate some of the issues and arguments in your answers to the first five questions?

Thinking Conceptually

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. In Unit 2, you read biographies of Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton—three scientists who were key figures in the Scientific Revolution. But was there science before the Scientific Revolution? How does this article help you answer this question?

Note: We have borrowed this activity and the downloadable materials with permission from World History for Us All: https://whfua.history.ucla.edu/units/six/landscape/Era06_landscape6.php

In this activity, you’ll quickly revisit your timeline to consider when the scientific revolution occurred and whether or not there was science before the scientific revolution. This will help you think more about historical trends, the ways in which they are displayed, and how that influences your thinking. This activity should also help you think about the unit driving question, “How and why do theories become generally accepted?”

Get out your timeline and add Wegener, Hess, and Eratosthenes to it. Once you’re done, get into small groups to consider this question: When did the scientific revolution occur? Be prepared to share your answer with the class, and make sure that you use claim testers to support your ideas.

Now, think about these questions: Was there science before the scientific revolution? Is it possible that the people we placed on the timeline are the first ones to have “done” science and put forth scientific ideas?

Look at the Was There Science Before the Scientific Revolution? Worksheet. All of the documents or passages that you’ll read in it are from between the tenth and fourteenth centuries. The authors that are represented are from different backgrounds, including from the Islamic and European worlds.

Your teacher will assign a few of the passages to read. After you’ve read them, answer the following questions about each and be prepared to discuss them as a class:

1. Were hypotheses made or questions asked in your passages? What were they?
2. Was evidence provided to help answer those questions?
3. Does this qualify as science?
4. If it does, why don’t we recognize or consider the science that came before the so-called scientific revolution?

After you’ve shared your answers, think about the following questions: Why don’t we really think about or consider the science that occurred outside of Europe? Why did this happen? How does this relate to your understanding of how and why theories generally become accepted?

In this Investigation writing lesson, you’re going to circle back around to the first row of the BHP Writing Rubric, Claim and Focus, to move beyond simply identifying elements of a well-crafted argument, to analyzing and writing one. In this activity, you’ll revise another student’s essay as a way to understand not just what a good claim is, but how to actually generate one. You’re well on your way to becoming a great historical writer.

Reading
You should engage in close reading to identify the major claim in the essay you’re reading.

In this activity, you’re going to look again at a piece of student writing and evaluate its quality. This time, you’ll return to the Claim and Focus row of the BHP Writing Rubric and again zero in on the major claim or thesis being presented in the essay. However, it’s trickier this time—you aren’t getting a high-quality essay; instead, you’re getting one that needs some improvement. It’s your job to make the essay better.

Look at the Revising Investigation Writing – Claim and Focus Worksheet. Review what makes an exceptional major claim or thesis with your class. Now, read the essay that’s included with the worksheet. The writer of that essay received reasonable marks for Analysis and Evidence, Organization, Language and Style, and Applying BHP Concepts; however, the writer did not fare as well with Claim and Focus. In particular, the major claim or thesis is not clear in the writing.

As you read through the essay, underline statements or phrases that seem like they might qualify as candidates for a major claim or thesis, or might support a major claim or thesis. Once you’ve done that and perhaps have an idea of what the writer is trying to convey, help make that essay better by writing a better thesis statement or major claim for the essay.

Once you’re done, share your revised thesis statement with the class. Your classmates will likely come up with a variety of thesis statements. Just remember that the highest quality statements are those that manage to capture the main ideas being put forth in the essay.

Now that you’re done improving the essay, it’s time for Investigation 4. You’ve had a chance to practice twice, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t aim to meet the Advanced criteria for Claim and Focus!

Investigation 4 Prompt: How and why do theories become generally accepted?

In this Investigation, you’ll learn how knowledge grows from hypothesis to fact as you consider when and why people come to accept a new theory. This Investigation will help you understand the process of questioning, testing, and eventually accepting a scientific theory, an important feature of collective learning. Additionally, this assessment helps you continue to develop your ability to make evidence-based claims to support an argument for document-based questions you will encounter on standardized exams.

Day 1
It’s time for another Investigation. This time, you’ll be thinking about how the scientific community developed the theory of plate tectonics and revolutionized our understanding of geological processes. This Investigation asks you to respond to the question, When and why do people accept a theory?

First, your teacher will ask you to write down your conjectures—best guesses—about when and how theories become accepted. Keep in mind that you will use the theory of plate tectonics as a case study to explore how an idea goes from being widely rejected to widely accepted within the scientific community.

You’ll have about 5 to 10 minutes to make notes and think about how theories become generally accepted.

With your class or in small groups, share your list of ideas about when and how a theory becomes accepted. Next, your teacher will either hand out or have you download the Investigation 4 Document Library. As you review each document, you’ll use the graphic organizer to record the major claims from each source and to document the evidence that supports those claims.

Day 2
Now it’s time to write! You’ll develop a five- to six-paragraph essay arguing when and how a theory becomes accepted, using evidence from the case study of how geologists came to accept the idea of continental drift. Remember to use information from the Investigation 4 Document Library along with BHP concepts and other information you’ve learned in this unit as evidence to support your argument or opposing point of view. It’s also important that you cite the sources you use as evidence in your essay.

In order to improve your writing skills, it is important to read examples—both good and bad—written by other people. Reviewing writing samples will help you develop and practice your own skills in order to better understand what makes for a strong essay.

Your teacher will provide sample essays for this unit’s Investigation prompt and provide instructions for how you will use them to refine your writing skills. Whether you’re working with a high-level example or improving on a not-so-great essay, we recommend having the BHP Writing Rubric on hand to help better understand how you can improve your own writing. As you work to identify and improve upon aspects of a sample essay, you’ll also be developing your own historical writing skills!

In this DBQ, you’ll evaluate how our understanding of Earth’s structure and processes has changed over time. This DBQ will help you understand the process of questioning, testing, and eventually accepting scientific theories, an important feature of collective learning. Additionally, this assessment helps you continue to develop your ability to make evidence-based claims to support an argument for document-based questions you will encounter on standardized exams.

Day 1
This DBQ asks you to respond to the question, How has our understanding of Earth’s structure and processes changed over time?

First, your teacher will ask you to write down your conjectures—best guesses—about how people have proposed different theories to explain the structure and processes of the Earth. Keep in mind that you will use the knowledge you’ve gained in this unit about theories scientists proposed about the structure of the Earth.

You’ll have about 5 to 10 minutes to make notes and think about how our understanding of Earth’s structure and processes has changed over time. With your class or in small groups, share your list of ideas. Next, your teacher will either hand out or have you download the DBQ 4 Document Library. As you review each document, you’ll use the graphic organizer to record the major claims from each source and to document the evidence that supports those claims.

Day 2
Now it’s time to write! You’ll develop a five- to six-paragraph essay arguing how our understanding of Earth’s structure and processes has changed over time, using evidence from the DBQ 4 Document Library. Remember to use information from the documents along with BHP concepts and other information you’ve learned in this unit as evidence to support your argument or opposing point of view. It’s also important that you cite the sources you use as evidence in your essay.