Course Syllabus
World History and Geography A

Description

This course is the first semester of a two-semester course sequence offering a comparative study of how and why economic, social, political and intellectual factors shaped and defined the history of civilizations from regions across the world in the ancient, medieval, and early modern eras. This course also incorporates a geographical perspective to help students visualize, comprehend, and ask questions about why the human and physical systems occur in particular patterns and combinations, where they are on Earth’s surface, why they are there, and the consequences for people and the environment. This course has been designed to align with the principles of the State of Michigan’s High School Social Studies Content Standards and Expectations. Prerequisites:  None

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...

• Evaluate and explain global patterns and developments over time while connecting more local patterns to larger interregional and global patterns
• Apply different analytical schemes, including global, regional, national and local to understand developments over time
• Compare and contrast within and among regions and societies, and across time
• Examine the historical and geographic factors that shape human similarities and differences, including cultural diversity and universal standards
• Examine how historians and geographers use conceptual tools to organize the past
• Examine key features of hunter-gatherer societies, pastoral nomads, civilizations, and empires, including their political, economic, and social systems
• Identify the location and causes of frontier interactions and conflicts, and internal disputes between cultural, social and/or religious groups
• Identify patterns of human behavior
• Identify historical trends and themes
• Engage in critical analysis of sources
• Describe, compare, and evaluate historical and geographical data
• Examine how humans have shaped the physical environment
• Create presentations that demonstrate comprehension and application of course content
• Use technology to present ideas

Course Outline:

Unit 1: Foundations Era

Unit 2: Interactions in the Classical World (300 - 1500)

Unit 3: Growth of Intra-Regional Trade (300 -1500)

Unit 4: Regional Growth (to the 1500s)

Unit 5: Transoceanic Travel (15th to 18th Centuries)

Unit 6: Regional Development--Asia (through the 18th Century)

Unit 7: Regional Development--Europe and Americas (through the 18th Century)

Unit 8: Global Changes and Developments (16th Century through 1914)

Resources Included: Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.

Additional Costs: None

Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue diplomas. A final score out of total points earned will be submitted to your school mentor for conversion to their own letter grading system.

Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.

Technology Requirements: Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.

Ensure that your school or district network and device administrator establishes network access permissions or exceptions for online resources relevant to the course in which you are choosing to enroll. Ref., Michigan Virtual Course Allow List

Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements.

Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.

Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building, discussion-based assessments (one-on-one conversations with your teacher), and other forms of authentic assessments.

Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:

• Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• Download and install software
• Use a messaging service similar to email
• Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• Open attachments shared in messages
• Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
• Save a file as a .pdf
• Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• Insert images or links into a file or html editor
• Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• Use presentation and graphics programs
• Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• Create and maintain usernames and passwords

Additional Information: None