Cookie Policy

Our website uses cookies to understand content and feature usage to drive site improvements over time. To learn more, review our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

History of Many Shapes and Sizes

Teacher Resources

Driving Question: Why begin a course in human history before humans existed?

How does the history of the Universe and Earth relate to the history of the formation of states, trade networks, and you? In this lesson, we’ll make connections between our collective Big History and the history of everything around us, both past, present, and future.

  1. Learn how historians use histories at different scales of time and space to understand the connections between the Universe, Earth, and humanity.
  2. Understand how historians use evidence from different disciplines and multiple perspectives to create historical narratives.
  3. Use your close-reading skills to evaluate how historians use multiple perspectives to create historical narratives.
1
Universal Connections
Opener

Opener

Universal Connections
This quick activity will help you think about how you’re connected to people who live far away and who lived long ago, as well as with the deep history of Earth and the Universe.
2

Origins of History (13.82 Billion Years Before Present to the Future): Unit 1 Overview

This first overview video introduces you to the origins of history, including how you fit into this history and the role you’ll play in shaping it.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
3
Three Close Reads – Introduction
Activity

Activity

Three Close Reads – Introduction
This activity introduces one of the foundational practices in WHP – Three Close Reads. Here, students will learn this process, while reading the Unit 1 introduction article.
4
Unit 1 Introduction: History of Many Shapes and Sizes
Article

Article

Unit 1 Introduction: History of Many Shapes and Sizes
At the start of each unit in this course, a unit introduction article will help you prepare for what’s ahead. This article introduces you to how historians think of narrative and how they frame history, whether it’s your personal history or the history of the whole Universe.
5
An Introduction to Big History: Thresholds of Increasing Complexity or Four Movements?
Article

Article

An Introduction to Big History: Thresholds of Increasing Complexity or Four Movements?
The Big History story of the universe – and human’s place in it – is told from two perspectives that are outlined in this article. The first, from historian David Christian, is based on thresholds of increasing complexity. The second, from geologist Walter Alvarez, concentrates on four movements: the Cosmos, the Earth, Life, and Humanity.
6
Review and Reconsider
Closer

Closer

Review and Reconsider
This activity encourages you to revisit your original thoughts from the beginning of the lesson, as well as track how your thinking has changed as you’ve learned more about our connections to the Universe and the past in this lesson.
DBQ 0
Assessment

Assessment

DBQ 0
Time to write your first WHP DBQ! And don’t worry, this is a baseline writing assessment—meaning you’ll get to try it again at the end of the course.