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.
- Learn how historians use histories at different scales of time and space to understand the connections between the Universe, Earth, and humanity.
- Understand how historians use evidence from different disciplines and multiple perspectives to create historical narratives.
- Use your close-reading skills to evaluate how historians use multiple perspectives to create historical narratives.
Origins of History (13.82 Billion Years Before Present to the Future): Unit 1 Overview
Key Ideas
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- How can art help us understand history?
- What is world history and what’s your role in it?
- Why are there many world histories rather than one world history?
- How does your history connect with the history of people all around the world?
- What are the three frames you’ll be using in this course and what does each one mean?
- How is history different from memory?
After you watch
- The video asks if you can think of other useful frames for examining the past. What are two possible frames that could be used to evaluate world history other than the course frames of communities, networks, and production and distribution?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How is history different from memory?
- What is the job of a historian?
- What are frames and how can they help us understand the past?
- What is collective learning?
- Why is it important to consider timelines and geographic scale when studying history?
Evaluate
- Most history courses begin with humans. This course begins with prehuman history—13.8 billion years of it! Do you think studying this distant past will help you understand human history? Why or why not?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What does it mean to periodize history?
- What are origin stories? What makes Big History a unique kind of origin story, according to the author?
- What is a threshold of increasing complexity?
- How is David Christian’s narrative of Big History different from Walter Alvarez’s?
- How are David Christian and Walter Alvarez’s narratives of Big History similar?
Evaluate
- How might studying Big History support our learning in a world history course?
- Based on what you learned from the text, what do you think could be the next threshold of increasing complexity?
