OVERVIEW AND SYLLABUS U. S. HISTORY 8 TH GRADE Ms. Scott Building 3A Room Extension Planning period: 7th

EXPECTATIONS/CONSEQUENCES Expectations:  Be on time and prepared for class (i.e.. Pencils, paper, erasers and blue or black pens)  Respect others and their personal property.  Be prepared for class.  Obey all school rules.  Follow the dress code.  Productive behaviors only.  ALWAYS RESPECT Ms. Scott !!!!!!!!!!!! Consequences:  1 st offense verbal warning.  2 nd offense------parental contact/begin behavior form.  3 rd offense------conference with parent/guidance/continue behavior form.  4 th offense referral.

Essential Questions 1. Why do we study history? 2. What tools do we use to measure time? 3. What is a primary source? 4. What is a secondary source? 1. What are the five themes of geography? 2. What stories do maps and globes tell? 3. What are places and regions? 4. How do physical systems impact the world? 1. What makes an economy? 2. How do people decide what to produce? 3. What determines the strengths and weaknesses of a nation’s economy? 4. How do nations trade with each other?

GRADING SCALE  A  89-80B  79-70C  69-60D  59-0F

GRADING CRITERIA  Assessment/Quizzes40%  Homework10%  Participation/Class work 30%  Project/Special assignments 20% 100%

 Culture and Traditions  Continuity and Change  Geography and History  Individual Action  Groups and Institutions  Government and Democracy  Science and Technology  Economic Factors  Global Connections  Civic Rights and Responsibilities THEMES IN THE “AMERICAN HISTORY”

CULTURE AND TRADITIONS  Being aware of cultural differences helps us understand ourselves and others.  People from around the world for generations have sung of the “land of the Pilgrim’s pride, land where our fathers died” even though their ancestors arrived on these shores long after these events occurred.

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE  Recognizing our historic roots helps us understand why things are the way they are today.  This theme includes political, social, religious, and economic changes that have influenced the way Americans think and act.

GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY  Understanding geography helps us understand how humans interact with their environment.  The United States succeeded in part because of its rich natural resources and its vast open spaces.  In many regions, the people changed the natural landscape to fulfill their wants and needs.

INDIVIDUAL ACTION  Responsible individuals have often stepped forward to help lead the nation.  America’s strong family values helped create such individuals.  These values spring in part from earlier times when the home was the center of many activities, including work, education, and daily worship.

GROUPS AND INSTITUTIONS  Identifying how political and social groups and institutions work helps us work together.  Americans formed groups and institutions to act in support of their economic, political, and religious beliefs.

GOVERNMENT AND DEMOCRACY  Understanding the workings of government helps us become good citizens.  Abraham Lincoln explained the meaning of democracy as “government of the people, by the people, for the people.  Democracy, at its best, is “among “ the people.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY  Americans have always been quick to adopt innovations.  The nation was settled and built by people who blended their old ways with new ways.  Americans’ lives are deeply influenced by technology, the use of science and machines. Perhaps no machine has so shaped modern life as the automobile.  Understanding the roles of science and technology helps us see their impact on our society and the roles of they play in the future.

ECONOMIC FACTORS  The free enterprise economy of the United States is consistent with the nation’s history of rights and freedoms.  Freedom of choice in economic decisions supports other freedoms.  Understanding the concept of free enterprise is basic to studying American history.

GLOBAL CONNECTIONS  The world seems smaller than it did only 50 years ago. Modern transportation and communication have brought people around the globe closer together.  As a result, countries today are more dependent on one another.  As citizens of the United States and members of the global community, we have a responsibility to be informed.

CIVIC RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES  For a democratic system to survive, its citizens must take an active role in government.  The foundation of democracy is the right of every person to take part in government and to voice one’s views on issues.  An appreciation for the struggle to preserve these freedoms is vital to the understanding of democracy.

THE AMERICAN JOURNEY Chapter 1-section 1 “Early Peoples” Ms. Scott

DID YOU KNOW?  Beringia, the ancient land bridge between Asia and North America, may have been around miles wide. Early hunters who migrated across this land bridge to follow animals were not aware that they had crossed onto a new continent.

DISCUSSION QUESTION  Why did these early people spread out across the Americas?

THE JOURNEY FROM ASIA  The first people migrated from Asia to North, Central and South America during the last Ice Age. They reached the Americas thousands of years ago.  This migration took centuries, and people spread out across the Americas as far east as the Atlantic Ocean and as far south as the tip of south America.

 These early people crossed a land bridge from Siberia in northeastern Asia to present day Alaska. This land bridge, Beringia, now lies under the waters of the Bering Strait.  These early Americans were nomads, moving from place to place in search of food.  These early peoples were skilled hunters. They used every part of the animal for food, clothing, weapons, and tools.

SETTLING DOWN  As large animals such as the mammoth disappeared, Native Americans hunted smaller game and ate plants and berries.  Native Americans began to find new food sources by learning to plant and raise crops.

 People living near the coast or rivers learned to fish.  Settlers formed villages and communities. Some people remained nomadic hunters.  Early peoples eventually developed their own cultures.

DISCUSSION QUESTION  How did early Native Americans learn to adapt to their environment?

CHAPTER 1 SECTION 2 “Cities and Empires”

DID YOU KNOW?  The present-day metropolitan Mexico City area sits on the same site as the great Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.  Today the population is more than 20 million people.

EARLY AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS  Several great civilizations arose in present-day Mexico and in Central and South America. The most advanced were the Olmec, the Maya, the Aztec, and the Inca. Each thrived for centuries.  The Olmec people lived in what is now Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, between 1500 B.C. and 3000 B.C.  The Olmec built stone pavement and drainage systems and sculpted large stone monuments. Their civilization influenced their neighbors.

DISCUSSION QUESTION  Why do you think early American civilizations developed along large bodies of water?

THE MAYA  The Maya civilization flourished in present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize.  The people built large cities, each having at least one stone pyramid.  Tikal was the largest Mayan city and had five pyramids.

 The Mayan Civilization was a theocracy, or a society of ruled by religious leaders.  The Maya believed that the gods controlled all that happened on Earth. Atop the pyramids were religious and governmental centers.  The Maya became skilled astronomers and developed a writing system called hieroglyphics.  Mayan traders transported their goods such as maize, vegetables, jade, turquoise jewelry, and cacao beans on their backs and along the water.  No one knows what caused the decline of the Maya around A.D. 900, but descendants of the Maya still live in parts of Mexico and Central America.

DISCUSSION QUESTION  Why do you think the Maya believed that the gods controlled what happened on Earth?

THE AZTEC  Founded in 1325, Tenochtitlan was the home of the of the Aztec and their capital city.  Workers toiled day and night to make causeways liking the island to the mainland and filling in Lake Texcoco, upon which the city was built.  Tenochtitlan was also a center of trade.  The Aztec people were warriors and conquered nearly all rival communities. They built a military empire.  From the conquered people, the Aztec took weapons, maize, cotton club, and copper. The Aztec forced their captives to work as slaves.

THE INCA  The Inca Empire developed in the western highlands of South America.  Cuzco, the capital city, was founded around AD  The Inca ruler Pachacuti and his son, Topa Inca, conquered neighboring lands to build their empire.  It was the largest of the early American civilizations.

 The Inca empire stretched more than 3,000 miles from present-day Colombia to northern Argentina and Chile.  The population of the Inca empire at is height was more than nine million people.  The Inca were very advanced.  They built 10,000 miles of paved roads.  Rope bridges crossed canyons and rivers.  They developed a record-keeping system using guipus so that runners could take messages from one part of the empire to another.

 The language, Quechua, became the official language of the empire.  They developed a system of terracing the land by building platforms so that they could plant crops on slopes.  They were a religious people, worshipping the sun god.

DISCUSSION QUESTION  Why is the Inca considered a great civilizations ?

AMERICAN JOURNEY Chapter 1-Section 3 “North American Peoples” Ms. Scott

DID YOU KNOW?  Native Americans who hunted buffalo, such as the Apache and Navajo, relied on the animal for meat. The buffalo, however, served other uses such as hides for clothing, pouches, and dolls; hair for headdresses and pillow stuffing; tails for whips; hoofs for glue, and horns for cups and spoons.

EARLY NATIVE AMERICANS  Many Native American cultures existed in North America before Europeans arrived in the 1500s.  The Hohokam lived in the desert of present-day Arizona. Their civilization flourished from about AD 300 to They built irrigation channels to bring water to the hot, dry land from the nearby Gila and Salt Rivers and left behind pottery, carved stone, and shells.