BHP Semester Course Planning Outline

Big History Course Outline 2014-15

Big History Project2014-15 Sample Semester Course Plan

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Course Learning Outcomes

Explain how thresholds of increasing complexity, differing scales of time and space, claim testing, and collective learning help us understand historical, current and future events as part of a larger narrative. Use multiple scientific and historical perspectives to create, defend, and evaluate the history of the Universe and Universal change. Deepen an understanding of key historical and scientific concepts and facts, and the use of these in constructing explanations. Engage in meaningful scientific inquiry and historical investigations by being able to hypothesize, form researchable questions, conduct research, revise ones thinking, and present findings that are well-supported by scientific and historical evidence. Critically evaluate, analyze, and synthesize primary and secondary historical, scientific, and technical texts to form well-crafted and carefully supported written and oral arguments. Communicate arguments to a variety of audiences to support claims through analysis of substantive texts and topics using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence through individual or shared writing, speaking, and other formats. Locate and understand how our own place, our communitys place, and humanity as a whole both fit into and impact the Big History narrative, using the concept of thresholds to frame the past, present, and future. Engage in historical analysis using the theories and practices from multiple disciplines, towards an integrated, interdisciplinary understanding of the history of the Universe.

Student ProfileDescribe in general terms your students demographics, learning styles, unique characteristics? (sample) I teach a semester long version of the course in Louisiana offered as an elective. My students tend to be academically strong, but have not had a lot of experience writing or presenting.

Projected Pacing Guide: Fall SemesterUnit / ActivityEstimated StartEstimated Duration

1August 25th 1 week

2September 2nd 1.5 weeks

3September 11th1.5 weeks

4September 22nd 1.5 weeks

5October 1st1.5 weeks

6October 13th 2 weeks

7October 27nd 2 weeks

8November 10th 2 weeks

9December 1st 2 weeks

10December 15th 1 week

*Assumes a 3 day US Thanksgiving Holiday the last week of November and an end of year holiday the last two weeks of December for the fall semester.

In keeping with this pacing guide, teachers would have to complete one lesson per day. In order to cover the required information, it would be best to pick and choose the activities that would work best for your class. Also, readings could be assigned as homework along with some of the activities such as the Big History Scavenger Hunt, the Vocab Activity, Origin Stories Introduction, and the History of Me. As this is the first unit and the first time students will be completing an investigation, you may want to spend a bit more time on this.

Program Evaluation Submission ScheduleMost communications from the BHP Staff will include reminders for schools on a calendar year schedule. Schools on a semester or trimester schedule will need to attend to their own submission schedule based on their schools schedule. Below is a suggested submission schedule tied to the units themselves. Note that if the end of the course coincides with the end of the US School year, all submissions are due no later than June 1.

UnitItemDue Date

1Teacher LogUpon Completion

1Teacher Perception SurveyFirst Week of School

1Student Perception SurveyFirst Week of School


2Investigation 2Upon Completion of Unit 2




5Teacher Perception SurveyUpon Completion of Unit 5

5Student Perception SurveyUpon Completion of Unit 5

5Student Concept AssessmentUpon Completion of Unit 5








10Teacher Perception SurveyUpon Completion of Unit 10

10Student Perception SurveyUpon Completion of Unit 10

10Student Concept AssessmentUpon Completion of Unit 10

Unit 1 What is Big History?Start Date: August 25th (1 week)

Learning Outcomes1. Define thresholds of increasing complexity, origin stories, and scale.2. Understand that Big History is a modern, science-based origin story that draws on many different types of knowledge.3. Understand how you fit into the Big History narrative, using the concept of thresholds to frame your past, present, and future as well as the history of the Universe.4. Understand what disciplines are and consider how the viewpoints of many different scholars can be integrated for a better understanding of a topic.

Unit 1 Driving Question: Why do we look at things from far away and close up?

1.0Welcome to Big History1. Watch: What Is Big History? 2. Activity: Visions of the Future3. Watch: The Big Bang - Crash Course 4. Activity: Big History Website Scavenger Hunt 5. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2

1.1Scale1. Watch: Powers of 102. Activity: Powers of 103. DQ Notebook4. Vocab Activity: Memorization 5. Activity: Big History on a Football Field

1.2Origin Stories1. Opening: Universe Verse2. Watch: Big Questions H23. Activity: Origin Stories Introduction4. Read: Origin Stories Introduction5. Read: Modern Scientific6. Read: Chinese7. Read: Judeo-Christian8. Read: Iroquois9. Read: Mayan10. Read: Greek11. Read: Cosmology and Faith 12. Closing: DQ Notebook

1.3What are Disciplines?1. Opening: Who Knows What2. Watch: Are We Alone H23. Vocab Activity: Comprehension 4. Activity: Easter Island Mystery5. Watch: Ways of Knowing Introduction to Cosmology6. Watch: Ways of Knowing Introduction to Astrophysics7. Closing: Exit Ticket What Do You Know, What Do You Ask?

1.4My Big History1. Opening: My Timeline2. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 (Clip 1:14.37-1:20)3. Read: Complexity and Thresholds4. Activity: Threshold Concentration5. Activity: History of Me6. Closing: Investigation 1

Program Evaluation Unit 1 Log due upon completion (Required) Teacher Perception Survey Suggested 1st Week of School (Required) Student Perception Survey Suggested 1st Week of School (Required)

Unit 2The Big BangStart Date: September 2nd (1.5 weeks) Each lesson should take approximately two days. Once again, assigning readings and certain activities (Vocab Activities, This Threshold Today, Claim Testing the Big Bang) for homework will help keep lessons moving along.

Learning Outcomes1. Explain the basics of the Big Bang theory and the primary evidence that supports this theory. 2. Using evidence from texts, explain why views of the Universe have changed over time and the roles that scientists played in shaping our understanding of the origin of the Universe. 3. Understand how to use claim testing to evaluate a claim or resource.

Unit 2 Driving Question: How and why do individuals change their minds?

2.0How Did Our Understanding of the Universe Change?1. Opening: DQ Notebook2. Vocab Activity: Memorization3. Watch: How Did Our View of the Universe Change? 4. Read: Claudius Ptolemy5. Read: Galileo Galilei6. Read: Nicolaus Copernicus7. Read: Isaac Newton8. Read: Edwin Hubble9. Activity: Views of the Universe Debate10. Closing: Compare/Contrast Essay

2.1The Big Bang1. Opening: Big Bang Snap Judgment2. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 (Clip 8:25-12:04)3. Vocab Activity: Comprehension/Application4. Watch: Threshold I: The Big Bang5. Activity: This Threshold Today6. Watch: Questions about the Big Bang7. Watch: Electro-Magnetism H28. Closing: Big Bang Infographic

2.2Claim Testing1. Opening: Claim Testing Snap Judgment 2. Read: Approaches to Knowledge 3. Watch: How Do We Decide What to Believe?4. DQ Notebook5. Read: The Claim Testers: Episode 1First Contact6. Activity: Claim Testing The Big Bang7. Closing: Investigation 2

Program Evaluation Investigation 2 Suggested upon completion of Unit 2 (Required) Unit 2 Log due upon completion (Required)

Unit 3Stars & ElementsStart Date: September 11th (1.5 weeks) Each lesson should take approximately two days. Remember: readings and certain activities (Vocab Activities, This Threshold Today, What Do You Know, What Do You Ask?) can be assigned for homework.

Learning Outcomes1. Describe how stars form. 2. Explain what happens in the life of a star and explain what happens when a star dies. 3. Explain how the death of stars results in the creation of heavier elements. 4. Explain why the formation of stars and the emergence of elements are so important in our world. 5. Understand what scholars from multiple disciplines know about a topic and the questions they can ask to gain an understanding of the topic from an integrated perspective.

Unit Driving Question: How can looking at the same information from different perspectives pave the way for progress?

3.0How Were Stars Formed?1. Opening: The Life of a Star2. Watch: How Were Stars Formed? 3. Activity: My Threshold Card4. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 (Clip 12:05-16:47)5. Activity: Star Comic 6. Vocab Activity: Memorization 7. DQ Notebook8. Closing: This Threshold Today

3.1Creation of Complex Elements1. Opening: Is it in There?2. Watch: Threshold 3 New Chemical Elements3. Watch: What Did Stars Give us? 4. Vocab Activity: Comprehension5. Watch: Stars and Elements - Crash Course 6. Read: A Little Big History of Silver7. Watch: Silver Supernova H2 8. Activity: Grading Silver Supernova 9. Closing: Little Big History of an Element

3.2Way of Knowing: Stars and Elements1. Opening: DQ Notebook2. Watch: Ways of Knowing Intro to Chemistry 3. Activity: What Do You Know, What Do You Ask?4. Watch: Crash Course Chemistry Periodic Table of Elements 5. Read: Dmitri Mendeleev Building the Periodic Table of Elements6. Read: Marie Curie Chemistry, Physics, and Radioactivity7. Closing: Investigation 3

Program Evaluation Unit 3 Log due upon completion (Required)

Unit 4Our Solar System & EarthStart Date: September 22nd (1.5 weeks) Each lesson should take approximately two days. The following activities can be assigned as homework: Vocab Activities, This Threshold Today, Claim Testing Plate Tectonics, DQ Notebook students should be familiar with this activity by now and can probably complete this activity at home if necessary, and What Do You Know? What Do You Ask?

Learning Outcomes1. Explain why planets are more complex than stars. 2. Use evidence to explain how the Earth and its atmosphere developed and changed over time. 3. Explain the basic mechanisms and key pieces of evidence for plate tectonics, and how plate tectonics impacts life on Earth. 4. Define geology, the types of questions geologists ask, and the tools they use to answer those questions. 5. Explain why geology is important to understanding the history of the Earth.

Unit 4 Driving Question: How and why do theories become generally accepted? In the directions ask students to use collective learning to help support their answers.

4.0Earth & the Formation of Our Solar System1. Opening: Planet Card Sort 2. Watch: Threshold 4 Earth & the Solar System 3. Watch: How Did Earth and the Solar System Form? 4. Watch: The Sun H2 5. Activity: Active Accretion6. Read: How Our Solar System Formed7. Vocab Activity: Memorization8. Closing: This Threshold Today

4.1What Was Young Earth Like?1. Opening: Universe Verse2. Watch: What Was the Young Earth Like?3. Watch: The Early Atmosphere 4. Activity: Evaluating Writing 5. Closing: DQ Notebook

4.2Why is Plate Tectonics Important1. Vocab Activity: Comprehension/Application2. Watch: Solar System and Earth - Crash Course 3. Watch: Our Shifting Globe 4. Activity: Claim Testing Plate Tectonics5. Read: Why We're All Lava Surfers6. Closing: Biography of a Continent

4.3Ways of Knowing: Our Solar System and Earth1. Opening: DQ Notebook2. Watch: Introduction to Geology3. Read: Alfred Wegener & Harry Hess 4. Read: Eratosthenes 5. Watch: Introduction to the Geologic Time Chart 6. Read: Principles of Geology7. Activity: What Do You Know? What Do You Ask?8. Closing: Investigation 4


Unit 5Life Start Date: October 1st (1.5 weeks) Each lesson should take approximately two days. The following activities can be assigned as homework: Vocab Activities, DQ Notebook, Claim Testing What is Life?, The Tree of Life Infographic, A Year in the Life of a Species, and Convincing Narratives.

Learning Outcomes1. Describe the conditions that made it possible for life to emerge on Earth. 2. Explain the differences between life and non-life. 3. Describe the major events in the development of life on Earth and explain what is meant by the term biosphere. 4. Use evidence to explain adaptation and evolution, including Darwins theory of natural selection and DNA.

Unit 5 Driving Question: How are we still evolving?

5.0What is Life? 1. Opening: DQ Notebook2. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 (Clip 27:08-41:14)3. Vocab Activity: Memorization4. Activity: How Closely Related Are We? 5. Watch: The Origin of Life - Crash Course 6. Read: Life and Purpose 7. Closing: Claim Testing What is Life?

5.1How Did Life Begin and Change?1. Opening: Spontaneous Generation2. Watch: How Did Life Begin and Change? 3. Watch: Mini Thresholds of Life4. Activity: Are These the Right Mini Thresholds of Life? 5. Watch: Life In All Its Forms6. Activity: The Tree of Life Infographic7. Watch: The Evolutionary Epic Crash Course8. Closing: DQ Notebook

5.2How Do Earth and Life Interact? 1. Opening: Living in the Extremes of the Biosphere 2. Vocab Activity: Comprehension/Application3. Read: What is the Biosphere? 4. Watch: How do Earth and Life Interact? 5. Activity: A Year in the Life of a Species6. Watch: How We Proved an Asteroid Wiped out the Dinosaurs 7. Closing: Convincing Narratives

5.3Ways of Knowing: Life1. Activity: The Voyage of the Beagle 2. Read: Darwin, Evolution, and Faith 3. Read: Watson, Crick & Franklin 4. Watch: Codes H2

Program Evaluation Unit 5 Log due upon completion (Required) Teacher Perception Survey Suggested Completion of Unit 5 (Required) Student Perception Survey Suggested Completion of Unit 5 (Required) Student Concept Assessment Suggested Completion of Unit 5 (Required)

Unit 6Early HumansStart Date: October 13th (2 weeks) Each lesson should take approximately three days. The following activities can be assigned as homework: Vocab Activities, Evolution Comic, Change Over Time Essay, DQ Notebook, What Do You Know, What Do You Ask?, Claim Testing Collective Learning, Hunter-Gatherer Menu, and Human Migration Patterns. This unit has a number of activities in it so you may want to pick and choose the ones that would work best for your students.

Learning Outcomes1. Describe human evolution, using evidence and connection to other species of mammals.2. Explain whether or not symbolic language makes humans different.3. Describe how early humans lived. 4. Explain collective learning.

Unit 6 Driving Question: What makes humans different from other species?

6.0How our Ancestors Evolved1. Opening: Early Ancestors 2. Watch: Threshold 6 Humans and Collective learning3. Watch: Human Evolution - Crash Course 4. Vocab Activity: Memorization5. Activity: Evolution Comic6. Read: Lucy and the Leakys7. Read: Jane Goodall8. Closing: Change Over Time Essay

6.1Ways of Knowing: Early Humans1. Opening: DQ Notebook2. Watch: Intro to Anthropology3. Watch: Intro to Archaeology4. Activity: What Do You Know, What Do You Ask?5. Activity: Historos Cave 6. Closing: Little Big History Kickoff

6.2Collective Learning1. Opening: Collective Learning Snap Judgment2. Read: Collective Learning (Part 1)3. Watch: Common Man H25. Activity: Claim Testing Collective Learning4. Vocab Activity: Comprehension/Application7. Watch: Early Evidence of Collective Learning8. Closing: DQ Notebook

6.3How Did First Humans Live1. Watch: How Did the First Humans Live? 2. Read: Foraging 3. Watch: From Foraging to Food Shopping 4. Activity: Hunter Gatherer Menu5. Watch: Genealogy and Human Ancestry6. Activity: Human Migration Patterns7. Activity: Little Big History Choosing Your Focus8. Closing: Investigation 6

Program Evaluation Unit 6 Log due upon completion (Required) Investigation 6 Suggested Completion of Unit 6 (Required)

Unit 7Agriculture & CivilizationStart Date: October 27th (2 weeks) Each lesson should take approximately four days. The following activities can be assigned as homework: Vocab Activities, This Threshold Today, DQ Notebook, and What Do You Know, What Do You Ask?

Learning Outcomes1. Define agriculture and describe where it emerged.2. Identify the features of agrarian civilizations.3. Understand the similarities and differences between the lifestyles of hunter-gatherers and farmers.4. Describe how early civilizations formed and their key features.

Unit 7 Driving Question: Was farming an improvement over foraging?

7.0The Rise of Agriculture1. Opening: This Threshold Today2. Watch: Threshold 7 - Agriculture3. Watch: Why Was Agriculture So Important (Main Talk)4. DQ Notebook5. Vocab Activity: Memorization6. Read: Collective Learning (Part 2)7. Activity: Biography of a Crop8. Closing: Little Big History Biography

7.1The First Cities and States Appear1. Opening: Infographic2. Watch: Where and Why Did the First Cities and States Appear (Main Talk)3. Vocab Activity: Comprehension4. Activity: Comparison Civilization Chart5. Closing: Early Civilization Museum Project

7.2Ways of Knowing: Agriculture and Civilization1. Opening: Social Status, Power, and Human Brains2. Watch: Intro to History3. Read: Recordkeeping and History4. Activity: What Do You Know, What Do You Ask?5. Watch: Migrations & Intensification - Crash Course 6. DQ Notebook7. Activity: LBH Research Questions 8. Closing: Investigation 7


Unit 8Expansion & InterconnectionStart Date: November 10th (2 weeks) Each lesson should take approximately four days. The following activities can be assigned as homework: Vocab Activities, DQ Notebook, and Personal Supply Chain.

Learning Outcomes1. Analyze what propelled the expansion and interconnection of agrarian civilizations.2. Investigate the implications of interconnected societies and regions by looking at how commerce has spread.3. Explain how new networks of exchange accelerated collective learning and innovation.

Unit Driving Question: What are the positive and negative impacts of interconnection?

8.0Expansion 1. Activity: What Caused Expansion?2. Watch: Why Did Civilization Expand3. Watch: The Modern Revolution - Crash Course 4. Activity: World Zone Game5. Vocab Activity: Memorization6. Read: The Four World Zones 7. Closing: DQ Notebook

8.1Exploration & Interconnection1. Opening: World Travelers2. Watch: How Did the World Become Interconnected?3. Read: An Age of Adventure4. Activity: An Age of Adventure5. Closing: Explorers Mini Project

8.2Commerce & Collective Learning1. Opening: DQ Notebook2. Watch: Systems of Exchange and Trade3. Vocab Activity: Application4. Read: The First Silk Roads5. Read: Lost on the Silk Road6. Activity: Personal Supply Chain7. Activity: Little Big History Final Project 8. Closing: Investigation 8


Unit 9Acceleration Start Date: December 1st (2 weeks) Each lesson should take approximately four days. The following activities can be assigned as homework: Vocab Activities, This Threshold Today, DQ Notebook, and The Impacts of Population Growth Essay.

Learning Outcomes1. Describe accelerating global change and the factors that describe it. 2. Understand the key features that define the Anthropocene.3. Describe how economies have developed and changed since the Industrial Revolution.

Unit Driving Question: To what extent has the Modern Revolution been a positive or a negative force?

9.0Acceleration 1. Opening: The Appetite for Energy2. Watch: Threshold 8 The Modern Revolution3. DQ Notebook4. Vocab Activity: Memorization5. Watch: The Anthropocene Crash Course6. Read: The Industrial Revolution7. Watch: How Did Change Accelerate 8. Read: Acceleration9. Closing: Innovation and Acceleration Debate

9.1The Anthropocene1. Watch: How Was the Modern World Created (The Anthropocene & Near Future: Crash Course Big History #8 will replace this upon final review)2. Vocab Activity: Comprehension3. Read: The Anthropocene4. Read: Welcome to the Anthropocene5. Activity: Population Growth6. Closing: The Impacts of Population Growth Essay

9.2Changing Economies1. Opening: DQ Notebook2. Read: Collective Learning (Part 4) 3. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 (1:19-1:25)4. Read: Smith, Marx, and Keynes5. Activity: This Threshold Today6. Closing: Investigation 9

Program Evaluation Unit 9 Log due upon completion (Required) Investigation 9 Suggested Upon Completion of Unit 9 / no later than June 15 (Required)

Unit 10The FutureStart Date: December 15th (1 week) Each lesson should take a little over a day to complete. The following activities can be assigned as homework: Vocab Activities, DQ Notebook, Scale, and What Do You Know, What Do You Ask?

Learning Outcomes1. Explain the Big History story and its defining features and patterns.2. Identify important human end environmental issues that affect the future of our species and the biosphere. 3. Propose a vision of the future based on new understandings of the past.

Unit 10 Driving Question: Whats the next threshold?

10.0Looking Back1. Opening: Timeline Review2. Vocab Activity: Memorization/Comprehension3. Watch: The History of Everything Ted 4. DQ Notebook5. Activity: Scale 6. Closing: What Do You Know? What Do You Ask?

10.1The Biosphere1. Opening: Natural Disasters2. Watch: Globalization II Good or Bad?: Crash Course World History 3. Vocab Activity: Application4. Watch: Climate and the Atmosphere5. Activity: Gapminder Card Sort6. Closing: The Future of our Planet Debate

10.2Looking Forward1. Opening: My Timeline Redux2. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 (Clip 1:25-1:28) 3. Read: Complexity and the Future 4. Watch: Visions of the Future Bill Gates5. Watch: The Distant Future - Crash Course 6. DQ Notebook7. Activity: Visions of the Future

PBL Activities Whats The Next Threshold

Program Evaluation Unit 10 Log due upon completion (Required) Teacher Perception Survey Suggested Completion of Course / no later than June 15 (Required) Student Perception Survey Suggested Completion of Course / no later than June 15 (Required) Student Concept Assessment Suggested Completion of Course / no later than June 15 (Required)

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BHP Semester Course Planning Outline