Imagine living in fourteenth-century Europe and reading The Travels of Marco Polo. Use your critical thinking skills to try to figure out what Marco Polo was describing in each of the excerpts from his book. This will allow you to imagine what it must have been like for Europeans who were reading about Polo’s “discoveries” in Asia for the first time.

Your teacher will divide the class into small groups. All members of your group with read each of the four passages from the writings of Marco Polo. In each passage, Polo describes a food, object, or habit that he observed in China but was unknown to Europeans. After reading, answer the following questions:

1. What’s Polo describing in each passage?
2. What made you come to that conclusion?

Once your group has finished, your teacher may call on you to share your group’s ideas with the whole class.

This repeated activity should help you become familiar with a process for understanding unfamiliar words anytime you encounter them in the course.

Take out your vocab tracker and be sure to record new and unfamiliar words on it according to your teacher’s instructions.

This lesson gives you a chance to grasp the concept of globalization more tangibly by looking at it through three P’s: potato farming, printing, and plagues. These were all results of what happened when humans began to connect and increase their population at a rate that was staggeringly faster than it had in the first 200,000 years. This perspective also gives us some important clues about the future of globalization and what it means in terms of our ability to learn collectively.

In this video, you’ll drill down on the three P’s of collective learning: printing, potatoes, and plagues. Each offers important evidence that the two most vital ingredients for collective learning to occur are population and connectivity.

Preview

In addition to knowing the history of events, it is essential to ask why they matter. Our ability to grasp how the Universe grew and changed over nearly 14 billion years—and how it may eventually expire—gives meaning to our place in it. Theories of cosmic inflation, multiverses, and cosmic simulation may boggle the mind, but they are currently our most educated guesses.

Key Ideas – Factual

Think about the following questions as you watch the video:

1. What are two vital ingredients for collective learning to occur, and how might they vary?
2. How did Afro-Eurasia have more collective learning advantages than other world zones?
3. What happened 500 years ago that qualifies as “early globalization”?
4. Why is printing important to collective learning?
5. How did the potato affect the number of potential innovators around the world?
6. How are plagues a result of globalization, and what effect do they have on collective learning?

Thinking Conceptually

Think about the plague section of the video. While any disease that kills off masses of people is clearly a threat to collective learning, in what ways are there lessons to be learned from the plagues themselves? What advances in science can be connected to the specific pursuit of stopping a disease?

Historians sometimes refer to the Industrial Revolution as the “Great Divergence,” when industry propelled Europe and North America ahead of most of the rest of the world. In many ways, the Industrial Revolution can be considered the second Great Divergence, behind rapid technological growth in China in the tenth and eleventh centuries CE. Rapid growth of the Chinese population resulted from improved farming techniques and food processing. Higher populations meant more innovators which rendered China one of the most technologically advanced and wealthiest countries in the world from 900 to 1300 CE.

This reading will help you gain an understanding of an often forgotten explosion of collective learning that happened well-prior to the Industrial Revolution. This explosion took place not in Europe, but in China in the tenth and eleventh centuries CE.

Skimming for Gist

The story of Medieval China is an example of the power of collective learning to produce rapid advances in human complexity. These advances can be considered the first “Great Divergence” (the Industrial Revolution being the second) where an energy bonanza catapulted a particular culture ahead of the rest.

Understanding Content

By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions about collective learning in Medieval China:

1. What were some of the early advantages that China had, in terms of collective learning, which allowed it to get a head start on Europe?
2. How did innovations in rice farming lead to population growth in China?
3. How does population growth lead to innovation in a country?
4. What were some of the major innovations in China during this time period? How did they lead to greater connectivity?
5. What are the two main things that drive collective learning? How do they fit together?

Thinking Conceptually

Collective learning has two main drivers: population numbers and connectivity. Census numbers show that the fastest growing areas in the world are all located on the continent of Africa. Is it possible that Africa will be the site for the third “Great Divergence”?

Accounts of the adventures of each of these explorers added to collective learning at the time by describing the places they visited and the new objects, ideas, and people they encountered.

This short article will introduce you to the period of history that inspired famous fifteenth-century explorers such as Columbus. You’ll learn the factors that led people to voyage farther than they had before and why this is important to the interconnection of the world zones.

Skimming for Gist

Three explorers from this period, each from a different part of the world, helped show the value of exploration and interconnection. Marco Polo left Europe for China; Ibn Battuta left West Africa to explore the Muslim world; and Zheng He left China to reestablish Chinese ties with states in the Indian Ocean.

Understanding Content

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

1. How did the Mongols, the stability of Islam in Africa, and new technologies encourage long-distance travel?
2. Why were the travel accounts of Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and Zheng He important?

Thinking Conceptually

Can you think of at least five examples of how collective learning led to an increase in exploration during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries? Be prepared to discuss your examples with the class.

This collection of biographies provides detailed information about the voyages of these explorers, including information about their motivation and how they inspired future generations of explorers. These men opened the door to a more interconnected world as the contacts they made helped to create connections between distant peoples and stimulate the growth of exchange networks and long-distance trade.

Your teacher will assign you to groups and assign each group one of the three adventurers (Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, or Zheng He). Read the article that applies to the adventurer your group was assigned. After completing the reading, your group will work together to fill in the appropriate sections of the worksheet for your adventurer.

Your group will then create a short presentation (no more than 5 minutes) about your explorer, highlighting the information your group selected to fill in the chart. The presentation should include visuals including, at a minimum, a map of the explorer’s route and a portrait of the explorer. Groups will take turns teaching the rest of the class about their explorer. You’ll have to take brief notes as you watch the presentations of the other groups in order to fill out the rest of your charts. Each group will also be evaluated on their presentation skills, which will provide you with feedback in preparation for your Little Big History presentations. As you watch the presentations, use the Big History Presentation Rubric to evaluate the group presenting. You should provide presenting groups with at least three concrete suggestions on how they might improve their presentation skills.

This activity brings the entire lesson together as you’re going to research an explorer who was responsible for connecting two world zones. You must also answer a series of questions in order to learn about their motivation, purpose, accomplishments, and contribution to collective learning. A key piece of this activity is to research how we know about the explorer’s journey, which will allow you to examine the evidence they left behind.

Your teacher will divide the class into small groups. Each group will choose one explorer from the webpage provided below. Your chosen explorer must have somehow connected two world zones. Your teacher will ensure that each group chooses a different explorer to research so that your class doesn’t have six reports on Columbus!

The Mariners' Museum: Exploration Through the Ages

As your group researches, take notes to answer the following questions:

1. What world zones did the explorer connect?
2. What was the motivation for their exploration? Was it for political, economic, religious, scientific, or technological reasons?
3. Who commissioned them to explore? Or were they self-funded?
4. What did they discover? Land, people, goods, ideas, or a combination of these?
5. What years were they active as explorers?
6. What specific regions of the world did they explore?
7. How did they contribute to collective learning? Focus on things such as ideas, goods, technology, religion, and politics.
8. What specific evidence exists to prove their journeys actually took place?

Your group will then compile your research along with images such as portraits and maps to present to the class. If you have access to technology, you can choose to create a multimedia presentation. Or, you could create a more traditional poster board presentation. Or, you could get crazy and create a song, rap, or a short play.

The backstory on caffeine, the most popular drug in the world, is a global one that goes back to the collision that created the Moon and spurred the evolution of plant and animal life. History shows us that caffeine is a powerful chemical that has shaped our world. Caffeine has sparked global trade, influenced colonization, caused social injustices such as slavery, saved lives, and was a catalyst for political revolutions.

In this video, we follow caffeine in depth not only to get the Big History perspective on this substance, but also to see a great example of how trade and colonization developed around the world. This video will help you understand how trade and commerce can develop and how extensive networks are created.

Preview

How has caffeine shape our world? Caffeine is a poison for some, an addictive substance for others, and it launched a global network of trade that changed our world. This video traces caffeine through the history of our Universe.

Key Ideas—Factual

Think about the following questions as you watch the video:

1. What are the differences between what traditional history and Big History say about the Boston Tea Party?
2. Why were the British able to control a vast network of trade designed to move tea around the world, launching and era of unprecedented global trade?
3. What elements make up caffeine and what other chemical is caffeine similar to?
4. How did caffeine impact politics, and what are some examples of this?
5. How does Big History link caffeine addiction to the origins of life?
6. Why is caffeine a deadly poison for some things but not others?
7. Why did a booming caffeine trade develop all over the world in the seventeenth century?
8. How does caffeine relate to colonization?
9. Why did caffeine cause a huge surge in the population of Britain from 1700 to 1800?

As you did in the Unit 6 Human Migration Patterns activity, you’ll read both for both information (clues) and for understanding in order to complete the mapping section of this exercise. Creating the map will give you a visual representation of how humans have migrated over time, up until today. The readings will provide information about why people have migrated. Migration patterns can help you understand issues involving the economy, social justice, climate, government, and many other factors. Seeing how people move can help us understand why people move, which paints a more complete historical picture.

Causation, reading
As you read about migration and why it occurred, you should apply what you’ve learned about causation. By examining causes and effects in relation to migration, you will better understand why people moved where they did, and perhaps why they still migrate today. Attention to the types of causes will be particularly helpful to you in this activity.

This is a three-part activity. First, you’ll revisit the idea of migration. Then, you’ll read a short passage. Finally, you’ll map the migration patterns that are described in the reading. This will be similar to what you did in the Human Migration Patterns activity in Unit 6.

Humans migrate from place to place for a wide range of reasons: sometimes they move for better jobs or opportunities; sometimes they move because they’ve lost jobs; some people want to live under a different kind of government or rule. These are all examples of migrations that involve personal choice. There are also migration patterns that occur by force, such as those related to the slave trade. Migrations can also tell us a lot about the world today. For example, migration patterns can explain why pretty much all of South America speaks Spanish except for Brazil (they speak Portuguese). What does that tell you about migration patterns from Europe to South America?

You’re going to map some of the migration patterns that occurred from 1400 to 1800, which is considered Old World to New World migration. Before you do the mapping, read the passage included in the Human Migration Patterns II Worksheet and follow the specific mapping directions. Everything you need to know to map the migration patterns is in the reading. You can also do some online research to add more details to the map.

Once you’ve had a chance to map the migration patterns, share what you’ve found in small groups. Then, look at the map and think about the Old World to New World migration. What are some things we see or hear today that likely exist because of these migrations? For example, migrations from South and Central America to the United States have caused an increase in the amount of Spanish speakers in our country. Or, most countries have foods from all over the world as a result of migration. Be prepared to discuss your answers with the class.

You’re going to identify and explain where a nation colonized. By doing this, you can see the impact that colonization still has on us today around the world. The movement of people and their influence upon how culture develops in different countries explains a lot about where we are today.

In this activity, you’re going to examine issues of colonization from 1500 to 1914. You’re focusing on this time period because by 1914, approximately 84 percent of the world was controlled by Europe. Understanding colonization can help you get some insight into why cities and countries operate in the ways they do today. It can help explain the cultural make up of people, the major religions that are present in those areas, and even the languages that are spoken in those places.

You will work in groups for this activity and you will have to do some research to complete the project. In addition, you have to prepare a short presentation (5 minutes or less) so that your classmates can learn about more than one colony.

Your teacher will either assign your group to look one nation. Nations your group might be assigned to examine are:

• United Kingdom
• France
• Portugal
• Spain
• Netherlands
• United States
• Russian Empire
• Ottoman Empire
• Roman Empire
• Germany
• Belgium
• Austro-Hungarian Empire
• Denmark
• Sweden-Norway
• Italy
• Persia

Find and share the following information about your nation:

1. Where did that country/empire colonize? (Note: Many of these countries colonized in multiple places. Pick one of those places to explore in more depth).
2. How did they accomplish this colonization? Was it forced? Was there resistance?
3. When did colonization end?
4. What influence of colonization can be seen or found in that country (or area) today? (Note: This can include food, languages, the culture, customs, architecture, industry—whatever you like!)
5. A list of all the resources that you used to gather this information.

Once you’ve gathered this information, you need to think of a way to present it to the class in a format that IS NOT a typical lecture format. You can act it out, write a poem to recite, make a podcast, sing a song, create a PowerPoint or Prezi, put together a poster, make an infographic….the list goes on. Just be sure you run your idea by your teacher before you get started. Check out the Big History Presentation Rubric (included with the Issues of Colonization Mini Project Worksheet) to ensure you’re including all of the elements that are needed for a great presentation.

Navigating the Indian Ocean required knowledge of many different subjects that was passed down from generation to generation. Sometimes knowledge was shared orally between sailors and traders or in the form of long poems. Others wrote texts that included techniques and information about different port cities, tides, and monsoon winds. One of the most famous Indian Ocean sailors of the fifteenth century was Ahmad Ibn Mājid. He was so famous that people called him the “Lion of the Sea,” but he’s also well known for compiling all this information into an encyclopedic text for other sailors and merchants. His life and works are an example of the power of collective learning.

This article about the life of Ahmad Ibn Mājid will help you understand the power of collective learning. It will also help you learn about the diversity of the Indian Ocean trade routes and the skill it took to become a sailor in the fifteenth century. In addition, it will highlight the contribution of Muslim sailors and merchants in the history of trade and exploration of this period.

Preview—Skimming for Gist

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

Key Ideas—Understanding Content

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

1. What subjects did Ahmad Ibn Mājid have to study in order to become an Indian Ocean sailor?
2. Why was it important to learn about geography and astronomy if you were a sailor or merchant?
3. What types of navigational tools did sailors like Ibn Mājid use in the fifteenth century and where did these tools originate?
4. Why was knowledge of languages, culture, and Islam important if you were an Indian Ocean sailor?
5. What topics did Ibn Mājid’s most famous book, Kitāb al-fawāʾid fī ușūl wa-l-qawāʿid, cover?
6. How is Ahmad Ibn Mājid’s life a tale of collective learning?
7. Look at the art that is at the beginning of this article. How does this image help you understand Ibn Mājid’s role in collective learning?

Thinking Conceptually

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

1. What evidence does the author give for her claim that the famous Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama wouldn’t have reached his destination without the knowledge of Indian Ocean sailors and merchants? Do you agree with her? Explain your reasoning.