Scale
Depending on the scale you choose, the same event can tell multiple stories. Equip students to analyze history at different levels—from individual lives to global networks—building the critical skill of shifting perspective. These classroom-ready lesson plans and materials help you guide students through zooming in and zooming out of history.
How to Teach Scale
Big History Lesson Guide: Scale
Give students the tools to navigate 13.8 billion years of Big History using scale-switching and claim testing. Teacher instructions and guiding questions are included.
Maps Index
Let students experience scale-switching by zooming in and out, and guide them to notice how scale affects the meaning we make from maps.
Blog: Scale-Switching, Frames, Origin Stories: Where Do I Start?
Hook new classes by starting small and personal, then “zoom out.” Use origin stories, scale-switching activities, and thinking frames so students see their own lives inside history.
How Do You Introduce the Concept of Scale?
Check out teachers’ ideas to help students understand scale.
Teach Tomorrow: Lessons on Scale
Lesson 1.2
Scale
Looking at the history of the Universe from different scales of time and space will help you see both the big picture and the tiny details that make up our shared history.
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Lesson 1.2
What Is World History?
World history is the study of connections linking humanity across our long history. Developing skills like claim testing and scale switching will help you reveal those connections.
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Scale Activities and Resources
Scale Switching
Article
Scale Switching
Scale switching helps us see connections between the story of how you ended up in a Big History class and the history of human migration, the formation of Earth, and the death of stars.
Scale: History of Me
Activity
Scale: History of Me
You have five minutes to write a history of you. What will you include and at what scale will you tell your story?
The Universe’s Cosmic Calendar
Activity
The Universe’s Cosmic Calendar
Scale switching is an important skill when you’re trying to visualize the history of the Universe in one year.
Zooming Out
Opener
Zooming Out
How does your understanding of an image change as you zoom out?
Unit 1 Introduction: History of Many Shapes and Sizes
Article
Unit 1 Introduction: History of Many Shapes and Sizes
History might seem simple—it’s just a list of names, dates, and events, right? Historians would beg to differ. Learn why in this article.
Zooming In
Closer
Zooming In
When we look at things at a large scale, we see the big picture. But when we’re zoomed out too far, we often miss smaller details about the lives of the individuals who make history happen.