Lots of changes happened in Era 4. Both within individual communities, and across wide networks. Societies and systems collapsed, rebuilt, and were transformed.

Change doesn’t always happen in one direction. Sometimes, systems and communities break down. When they are rebuilt, they are often quite different.

When viewed through each of the three frames, the collapse of societies and communities can lead to dramatic changes, but not always in predictable ways.

How did physical features like oceans, rivers, and deserts help shape networks of trade? Make a prediction on a blank map—you’ll revise at the end of this era.

A black and white version of the world in 800 CE, that can be cropped to specific regions and easily printed.

A full-color thematic map of Medieval Trade Routes in 1450 CE, meant to help you support, extend, and challenge the frame narratives.

Here’s the new Era Problem! Respond to this based on what you currently know… don’t worry if it’s not much—you’re going to learn a lot more!

An individualized tracker for new words encountered in Era 4. Add to it as the era progresses.

In Era 4, continue the routine of building a class word wall, an important visual cue and literacy support.

This vocab guide provides a summary of the key vocabulary for the unit.

Vocab cards for each of the key words in this era.

Students apply what they learned in Making a Prediction Part 1, but this time they make predictions about future population growth by synthesizing information from several different charts.

Students apply what they learned in Making a Prediction Part 1, but this time they make predictions about future population growth by synthesizing information from several different charts.

The past was not peaceful. Is there more violent conflict today than in the past? Is war becoming deadlier? The data is more complicated than you might think.

What leads to collapse? Let’s look at some different factors that cause societies to collapse.

Empires are built to keep different people together under one government. That’s not easy to do, as pretty much every empire in history found out!

The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE, but we’re not sure why. Despite evidence of events leading up to the fall, historians still debate what the evidence means.

Much of China’s identity can be linked to the powerful Han Dynasty two millennia ago, and its eventual collapse has confounded historians ever since.

Collapse wasn’t just an Afro-Eurasian thing. Great Mesoamerican city-states also grew and collapsed, but in a unique cycle that allowed for rapid regrowth.

When the city of Teotihuacan was destroyed, so was the Xalla sculpture. Its reconstruction by archeologists provides a window into the belief system of the Teotihuacanos.

Causation can be a complicated historical thinking skill to master. In order to help students further develop this skill, they’ll identify what caused certain empires to fall.

The early Islamic world was a community of faith, but it was also a political community known as the Caliphate.

Beyond the Caliphate, the Islamic world was a network of people who traded, shared beliefs, and exchanged ideas.

From its origin in seventh century Arabia to its status as a global religion today, Islam has a fascinating history, which we learn from multiple sources.

Khanzada Begum was a Timurid noblewoman who played an important political role in the Mughal Dynasty, demonstrating how the household and the state often overlapped.

As Islam spread, so too did the power of Islamic leaders and the influence of Islamic merchants. In this activity, you’ll evaluate several claims about the Islamic World.

An incredibly wealthy ruler, Mansa Musa both shaped and was shaped by historical circumstances. In this activity, you’ll examine Mansa Musa and his world.

As trade recovered across Afro-Eurasia, new states expanded in parts of Africa. These states were tied to and exerted significant influence over Islamic trade networks.

What happens between “golden ages?” Although not considered “golden,” there was still a lot happening in China between the Han and Tang dynasties.

How did rulers maintain control of their states and interact with other societies? Use the Quick-Sourcing Tool to analyze the documents in this collection to find out.

Rulers of ancient states and empires used various tactics to maintain control over their territories. These primary sources help you understand and compare these tactics.

In this, the most difficult—and perhaps silliest—of all the vocab activities, you’re going to sneak some Era 4 vocab words into a conversation with a classmate.

This vocab guide provides a summary of the key vocabulary for the unit.

Vocab cards for each of the key words in this era.

The spread of technologies in central and southern Africa helped to create a vast, connected network of Bantu societies.

By 1200 CE, Oceania had become a web of far-flung communities. Despite long distances and great diversity, they used sophisticated maritime technology to stay connected.

Kupe is a founding figure for Polynesian communities in Aotearoa (New Zealand). His story helps orient these communities to the past and present.

The fall of the Roman Empire saw the rise of two Christian communities: Byzantium and Latin Christendom. They shared some cultural values but had different power structures.

All societies in the Americas engaged in trade. Mesoamerica is a great place to start looking for evidence of extensive long-distance trade networks before 1500.

What's the gist? What info is here and why does it matter? Use Three Close Reads to dive into the article!

A thousand years ago, the Ancestral Pueblo made Chaco Canyon the center of their cultural world. Their networks stretched across the vast Colorado Plateau.

The Silk Road didn’t collapse after the fall of the Han Dynasty. It continued to tie together local networks and boost economic production across Asia.

Heavenly horses, see-through clothing, camel-shaped gravestones. The ancient, vast, trade network we call the Silk Road connected Eurasia and north Africa. And it was about a lot more than silk.

The Silk Road connected Afro-Eurasian societies through trade. In this simulation, you’ll get to step into the shoes of a Silk Road merchant and see how goods moved.

Continue to examine continuity and change over time by examining what changed—and what stayed the same—in communities between Era 3 and Era 4.

The phrase “Dark Ages” sounds pretty cool. But what does it mean? How do historians periodize history, and what do they mean when they call something a “dark age”?

Images in popular culture often refer to Europe during the Middle Ages as a “dark” time period, but scholars debate the idea of the “Dark Ages.”

Were there historical periods when innovation slowed dramatically or completely stopped? Some have made a case for a “dark age” in Europe during this era—but is it convincing?

Some historians came up with the periodization “Dark Ages”. Tell us if they were wrong and come up with a better name.

During Era 4, political power in Japan underwent many changes. After a period of increasing decentralization, that trend started to reverse.

China’s Tang Dynasty gave rise to a new “golden age” by trading along the Silk Road routes, and the later Ming Dynasty built on that by expanding west across Eurasia.

Source a document from the emperor to his officials in China and understand how government officials were supposed to act and the punishments doled out if they didn’t.

Indian Ocean trade connected people across Africa and Asia into vibrant networks, with diverse groups of merchants running the show.

How has your understanding changed since the beginning of the era? Time to revisit the EP Notebook!

This video gives an overview of the human, territorial, commercial and political impact of the Crusades.

Compare the lives and public roles of women in Medieval Europe and Song China. By zooming in and comparing their lives, we can better understand how societies treated women.

Women in Medieval Europe were compared to Biblical figures like Eve and the Virgin Mary when it came to their moral and vocational roles in society.

During the early period of the Song Dynasty, women had legal, property, and inheritance rights. But women’s rights were curtailed with the rise of Neo-Confucianism.

Du Huan was a Chinese soldier of the Tang Dynasty who was captured by an Abbasid army. He traveled widely in East Africa and Arabia before returning home.

Consulting maps about the spread of religions and reflecting on what you’ve learned in Era 4, it’s time to go back and review the map you created in the first lesson.

A full-color political map of the world in 100 CE, highlighting the major states, communities, and cities you’ll learn about in WHP.

A full-color political map of the world in 800 CE, highlighting the major states, communities, and cities you’ll learn about in WHP.

A full-color political map of the world in 1200 CE, highlighting the major states, communities, and cities you’ll learn about in WHP.

A full-color thematic map of the Spread of Buddhism and Christianity in 100 CE, meant to help you support, extend, and challenge the frame narratives.

A full-color thematic map of the Spread of Islam in 800 CE, meant to help you support, extend, and challenge the frame narratives.

In this activity, you’ll take a look at the Organization and Language and Style rows of the rubric and evaluate a sample student essay. How did the author do?

In this Warm-Up activity, you’ll look closely at the Organization row of the WHP Writing Rubric to practice creating a clear, well-structured essay.

These DBQ writing samples provide example essays to help support writing instruction in different ways—use as you see fit in your classroom!

Now that you’ve written, it’s time to revise! This activity will help you identify areas to improve your writing based on the Organization row of the WHP Writing Rubric.

From Ptolemy to Copernicus and Galileo, thinkers have debated what the Universe looked like for centuries. Ultimately, scholars moved from an Earth-centered model to a Sun-centered model. How did we get there?

Whether an individual or a collection of people, Jābir Ibn Ḥayyān’s work with chemical substances was an inspiration and guide for the later creators of chemistry.

Hasan Ibn al-Haytham revolutionized our understanding of how light moves through the Universe and how we see it. He urged people to question ancient knowledge.

The Muslim mathematician al-Khwarizmi built on ancient ideas and offered new approaches to mathematics that we still rely on today.

Collapse is a challenge no society wants to face. How did the Roman Empire and Han dynasty China respond to societal and state collapse?