Shourya Arashanapalli - McIlvain
Matthew Minshall - McIlvain
Matthew Trinh - McGray
Vincent Wu - McIlvain
Matthew Minshall - McIlvain
Matthew Trinh - McGray
Vincent Wu - McIlvain
Be on the Lookout for the AP Exam on May 17th, 2018!
What in the world is AP World History? (see what I did there?)
AP World History is not just your average history course of memorizing facts and regurgitating them out on a test paper. Rather, it is using those facts to synthesize them with broader ideas to understand the scope of the world before us. The objective of this course is not to provide randomly specific info for the sake of historical importance; it is to help the student understand how events in history fit together in the big picture. This notion of a big picture is divided into 5 important big ideas, or as referred to by the College Board, the 5 Themes:
- Interaction Between Humans and the Environment
- Development and Interaction of Cultures
- State Building, Expansion, and Conflict
- Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems
- Development and Transformation of Social Structures
Curriculum Overview
Each of the 5 themes will be covered in learning about the Earth's history, but first the vast, vast history must sectioned for us to study. Different eras have their own individual ideas that explain why and what occurred the ways that they did, and so the course is mapped out in 6 periods that does just that. The 6 periods are:
Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations, to c. 600 B.C.E. (5%)
Theme 1: Interaction Between Humans and the Environment
Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations, to c. 600 B.C.E. (5%)
- Key Concept 1.1. Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth
- Key Concept 1.2. The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural Societies
- Key Concept 1.3. The Development and Interactions of Early Agricultural, Pastoral, and Urban Societies
- Key Concept 2.1. The Development and Codification of Religious and Cultural Traditions
- Key Concept 2.2. The Development of States and Empires
- Key Concept 2.3. Emergence of Interregional Networks of Communication and Exchange
- Key Concept 3.1. Expansion and Intensification of Communication and Exchange Networks
- Key Concept 3.2. Continuity and Innovation of State Forms and Their Interactions
- Key Concept 3.3. Increased Economic Productive Capacity and Its Consequences
- Key Concept 4.1. Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange
- Key Concept 4.2. New Forms of Social Organization and Modes of Production
- Key Concept 4.3. State Consolidation and Imperial Expansion
- Key Concept 5.1. Industrialization and Global Capitalism
- Key Concept 5.2. Imperialism and Nation-State Formation
- Key Concept 5.3. Nationalism, Revolution, and Reform
- Key Concept 5.4. Global Migration
- Key Concept 6.1 Science and the Environment
- Key Concept 6.2 Global Conflicts and Their Consequences
- Key Concept 6.3 New Conceptualizations of Global Economy, Society, and Culture
Theme 1: Interaction Between Humans and the Environment
- Demography and disease
- Migration
- Patterns of settlement
- Technology
- Religions
- Belief systems, philosophies, ideologies
- Science and technology
- The arts and architecture
- Political structures, forms of governance
- Empires
- Nations and nationalism
- Revolts and revoltuion
- Regional, transregional, and global structures and organizations
- Agricultural and pastoral production
- Trade and commerce
- Labor systems
- Industrialization
- Capitalism and socialism
- Gender roles and relations
- Family and kinship
- Racial and ethnic constructions
- Social and economic classes
Historical Thinking Skills
Causation: understand and explain the cause and effect relation between different aspects in history
Comparison: understand and explain the similarities and differences between different aspects in history
Contextualization: be able to place a historical event in context which other event and be able to explain the importance of that event
Continuity and Change Over Time: be able to explain the development of a certain aspect in the whole historical story of the world
Argument Development: be able to create and support a claim based off given historical evidence and previous historical knowledge
Comparison: understand and explain the similarities and differences between different aspects in history
Contextualization: be able to place a historical event in context which other event and be able to explain the importance of that event
Continuity and Change Over Time: be able to explain the development of a certain aspect in the whole historical story of the world
Argument Development: be able to create and support a claim based off given historical evidence and previous historical knowledge
Test Format
The AP World Exam is a 3 hour and 15 minute test that includes a 95 minute multiple choice and short answer section and a 100 minute free response section. Period 1 only makes up 5% of the exam, while Period 2 takes up another 15%, while the remaining periods occupy the remaining 80%. While the first 2 Periods are essential, they are simply treated as the necessary historical precursor for the later, more significant events that occur afterwards.
The Part 1 Exam includes the Multiple Choice (MC) Section as well as the Short Answer Question (SAQs) Section. The Multiple Choice section has 55 questions with a time limit of 55 minutes. It is worth 40% of your grade. The Short Answer Question section has 3 questions, Comparison, CCOT, and Interpretation. You are given a time limit of 40 minutes, and it is worth 20% of your grade.
Part 2 of the Exam includes the Free Response Section. The Free Response Section has the Document Based Question (DBQ) and a Long Essay Question (LEQ). In the DBQ you are given 7 documents and for the LEQ you choose 1 of 3 prompts and write an essay. You are given a total of 100 minutes to complete this section.
The Part 1 Exam includes the Multiple Choice (MC) Section as well as the Short Answer Question (SAQs) Section. The Multiple Choice section has 55 questions with a time limit of 55 minutes. It is worth 40% of your grade. The Short Answer Question section has 3 questions, Comparison, CCOT, and Interpretation. You are given a time limit of 40 minutes, and it is worth 20% of your grade.
Part 2 of the Exam includes the Free Response Section. The Free Response Section has the Document Based Question (DBQ) and a Long Essay Question (LEQ). In the DBQ you are given 7 documents and for the LEQ you choose 1 of 3 prompts and write an essay. You are given a total of 100 minutes to complete this section.
Multiple Choice
Stimulus Multiple choice questions will also be given in which the test taker is given a graphic or passage and is asked to apply their knowledge to the given graphic, picking one out of four multiple choice answers.
Stimulus Multiple choice questions will also be given in which the test taker is given a graphic or passage and is asked to apply their knowledge to the given graphic, picking one out of four multiple choice answers.
SAQ (Statistical Analysis Question)
In which a graph, map, chart, picture, or graphic is given to the student that somehow relates back to a part of history studied during the course. The student is expected to make this connection and understand how the graphic relates back to world history.
DBQ (Document Based Question)
That relates back to a given document that relates to world history
FRQ (Free Response Question)
In which a student is expected to make a clear and concise response given no extra material from which to relate back to other than their own prior knowledge.
LEQ (Long Essay Question)
In which the test taker is asked to compare broad topics in a clear and detailed sense.
In which a graph, map, chart, picture, or graphic is given to the student that somehow relates back to a part of history studied during the course. The student is expected to make this connection and understand how the graphic relates back to world history.
DBQ (Document Based Question)
That relates back to a given document that relates to world history
FRQ (Free Response Question)
In which a student is expected to make a clear and concise response given no extra material from which to relate back to other than their own prior knowledge.
LEQ (Long Essay Question)
In which the test taker is asked to compare broad topics in a clear and detailed sense.