Big History Course Outline 2014-15

1

Big History Project
2014-15 Sample Semester Course Plan

Name /
Names:

School:
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
Profile
Describe 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.



Big History Course Outline 2014-15

2
Projected Pacing Guide: Fall Semester
Unit /
Activity
Estimated Start Estimated Duration
1 August 25
th
1 week
2 September 2
nd
1.5 weeks
3 September 11
th
1.5 weeks
4 September 22
nd
1.5 weeks
5 October 1
st
1.5 weeks
6 October 13
th
2 weeks
7 October 27
nd
2 weeks
8 November 10
th
2 weeks
9 December 1
st
2 weeks
10 December 15
th
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 Schedule
Most 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.

Unit Item Due Date
1 Teacher Log Upon Completion
1 Teacher Perception Survey First Week of School
1 Student Perception Survey First Week of School
2 Teacher Log Upon Completion
2 Investigation 2 Upon Completion of Unit 2
3 Teacher Log Upon Completion
4 Teacher Log Upon Completion
5 Teacher Log Upon Completion
5 Teacher Perception Survey Upon Completion of Unit 5
5 Student Perception Survey Upon Completion of Unit 5
5 Student Concept Assessment Upon Completion of Unit 5
6 Teacher Log Upon Completion
6 Investigation 6 Upon Completion of Unit 6
7 Teacher Log Upon Completion
8 Teacher Log Upon Completion
9 Teacher Log Upon Completion
9 Investigation 9 Upon Completion of Unit 9
10 Teacher Log Upon Completion
10 Teacher Perception Survey Upon Completion of Unit 10
10 Student Perception Survey Upon Completion of Unit 10
10 Student Concept Assessment Upon Completion of Unit 10

Big History Course Outline 2014-15

3
Unit 1 What is Big History?
Start Date: August 25
th
(1 week)

Learning Outcomes
1. 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 History
1. Watch: What Is Big History?
2. Activity: Visions of the Future
3. Watch: The Big Bang - Crash Course
4. Activity: Big History Website Scavenger Hunt
5. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2

1.1Scale
1. Watch: Powers of 10
2. Activity: Powers of 10
3. DQ Notebook
4. Vocab Activity: Memorization
5. Activity: Big History on a Football Field

1.2Origin Stories
1. Opening: Universe Verse
2. Watch: Big Questions H2
3. Activity: Origin Stories Introduction
4. Read: Origin Stories Introduction
5. Read: Modern Scientific
6. Read: Chinese
7. Read: Judeo-Christian
8. Read: Iroquois
9. Read: Mayan
10. Read: Greek
11. Read: Cosmology and Faith
12. Closing: DQ Notebook

1.3What are Disciplines?
1. Opening: Who Knows What
2. Watch: Are We Alone H2
3. Vocab Activity: Comprehension
4. Activity: Easter Island Mystery
5. Watch: Ways of Knowing Introduction to Cosmology
6. Watch: Ways of Knowing Introduction to Astrophysics
7. Closing: Exit Ticket What Do You Know, What Do You Ask?

1.4My Big History
1. Opening: My Timeline
2. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 (Clip 1:14.37-1:20)
3. Read: Complexity and Thresholds
4. Activity: Threshold Concentration
Big History Course Outline 2014-15

4
5. Activity: History of Me
6. Closing: Investigation 1

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


Unit 2The Big Bang
Start Date: September

2
nd
(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 Outcomes
1. 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 Notebook
2. Vocab Activity: Memorization
3. Watch: How Did Our View of the Universe Change?
4. Read: Claudius Ptolemy
5. Read: Galileo Galilei
6. Read: Nicolaus Copernicus
7. Read: Isaac Newton
8. Read: Edwin Hubble
9. Activity: Views of the Universe Debate
10. Closing: Compare/Contrast Essay

2.1The Big Bang
1. Opening: Big Bang Snap Judgment
2. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 (Clip 8:25-12:04)
3. Vocab Activity: Comprehension/Application
4. Watch: Threshold I: The Big Bang
5. Activity: This Threshold Today
6. Watch: Questions about the Big Bang
7. Watch: Electro-Magnetism H2
8. Closing: Big Bang Infographic

2.2Claim Testing
1. Opening: Claim Testing Snap Judgment
2. Read: Approaches to Knowledge
3. Watch: How Do We Decide What to Believe?
4. DQ Notebook
5. Read: The Claim Testers: Episode 1First Contact
6. Activity: Claim Testing The Big Bang
7. Closing: Investigation 2

Program Evaluation
Investigation 2 Suggested upon completion of Unit 2 (Required)
Big History Course Outline 2014-15

5
Unit 2 Log due upon completion (Required)


Unit 3Stars & Elements
Start Date: September 11
th
(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 Outcomes
1. 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 Star
2. Watch: How Were Stars Formed?
3. Activity: My Threshold Card
4. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 (Clip 12:05-16:47)
5. Activity: Star Comic
6. Vocab Activity: Memorization
7. DQ Notebook
8. Closing: This Threshold Today

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

3.2Way of Knowing: Stars and Elements
1. Opening: DQ Notebook
2. 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 Elements
6. Read: Marie Curie Chemistry, Physics, and Radioactivity
7. Closing: Investigation 3

Program Evaluation
Unit 3 Log due upon completion (Required)


Unit 4Our Solar System & Earth
Big History Course Outline 2014-15

6
Start Date: September 22
nd
(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 Outcomes
1. 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 System
1. 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 Accretion
6. Read: How Our Solar System Formed
7. Vocab Activity: Memorization
8. Closing: This Threshold Today

4.1What Was Young Earth Like?
1. Opening: Universe Verse
2. 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 Important
1. Vocab Activity: Comprehension/Application
2. Watch: Solar System and Earth - Crash Course
3. Watch: Our Shifting Globe
4. Activity: Claim Testing Plate Tectonics
5. Read: Why We're All Lava Surfers
6. Closing: Biography of a Continent

4.3Ways of Knowing: Our Solar System and Earth
1. Opening: DQ Notebook
2. Watch: Introduction to Geology
3. Read: Alfred Wegener & Harry Hess
4. Read: Eratosthenes
5. Watch: Introduction to the Geologic Time Chart
6. Read: Principles of Geology
7. Activity: What Do You Know? What Do You Ask?
8. Closing: Investigation 4

Program Evaluation
Unit 4 Log due upon completion (Required)


Big History Course Outline 2014-15

7
Unit 5Life
Start Date: October 1
st
(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 Outcomes
1. 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 Notebook
2. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 (Clip 27:08-41:14)
3. Vocab Activity: Memorization
4. 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 Generation
2. Watch: How Did Life Begin and Change?
3. Watch: Mini Thresholds of Life
4. Activity: Are These the Right Mini Thresholds of Life?
5. Watch: Life In All Its Forms
6. Activity: The Tree of Life Infographic
7. Watch: The Evolutionary Epic Crash Course
8. Closing: DQ Notebook

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

5.3Ways of Knowing: Life
1. 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)

Big History Course Outline 2014-15

8

Unit 6Early Humans
Start Date: October 13
th
(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 Outcomes
1. 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 Evolved
1. Opening: Early Ancestors
2. Watch: Threshold 6 Humans and Collective learning
3. Watch: Human Evolution - Crash Course
4. Vocab Activity: Memorization
5. Activity: Evolution Comic
6. Read: Lucy and the Leakys
7. Read: Jane Goodall
8. Closing: Change Over Time Essay

6.1Ways of Knowing: Early Humans
1. Opening: DQ Notebook
2. Watch: Intro to Anthropology
3. Watch: Intro to Archaeology
4. Activity: What Do You Know, What Do You Ask?
5. Activity: Historos Cave
6. Closing: Little Big History Kickoff

6.2Collective Learning
1. Opening: Collective Learning Snap Judgment
2. Read: Collective Learning (Part 1)
3. Watch: Common Man H2
5. Activity: Claim Testing Collective Learning
4. Vocab Activity: Comprehension/Application
7. Watch: Early Evidence of Collective Learning
8. Closing: DQ Notebook

6.3How Did First Humans Live
1. Watch: How Did the First Humans Live?
2. Read: Foraging
3. Watch: From Foraging to Food Shopping
4. Activity: Hunter Gatherer Menu
5. Watch: Genealogy and Human Ancestry
6. Activity: Human Migration Patterns
7. Activity: Little Big History Choosing Your Focus
8. Closing: Investigation 6

Program Evaluation
Unit 6 Log due upon completion (Required)
Investigation 6 Suggested Completion of Unit 6 (Required)
Big History Course Outline 2014-15

9


Unit 7Agriculture & Civilization
Start Date: October 27
th
(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 Outcomes
1. 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 Agriculture
1. Opening: This Threshold Today
2. Watch: Threshold 7 - Agriculture
3. Watch: Why Was Agriculture So Important (Main Talk)
4. DQ Notebook
5. Vocab Activity: Memorization
6. Read: Collective Learning (Part 2)
7. Activity: Biography of a Crop
8. Closing: Little Big History Biography

7.1The First Cities and States Appear
1. Opening: Infographic
2. Watch: Where and Why Did the First Cities and States Appear (Main Talk)
3. Vocab Activity: Comprehension
4. Activity: Comparison Civilization Chart
5. Closing: Early Civilization Museum Project

7.2Ways of Knowing: Agriculture and Civilization
1. Opening: Social Status, Power, and Human Brains
2. Watch: Intro to History
3. Read: Recordkeeping and History
4. Activity: What Do You Know, What Do You Ask?
5. Watch: Migrations & Intensification - Crash Course
6. DQ Notebook
7. Activity: LBH Research Questions
8. Closing: Investigation 7

Program Evaluation
Unit 7 Log due upon completion (Required)


Unit 8Expansion & Interconnection
Start Date: November 10
th
(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 Outcomes
1. 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.
Big History Course Outline 2014-15

10

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

8.0Expansion
1. Activity: What Caused Expansion?
2. Watch: Why Did Civilization Expand
3. Watch: The Modern Revolution - Crash Course
4. Activity: World Zone Game
5. Vocab Activity: Memorization
6. Read: The Four World Zones
7. Closing: DQ Notebook

8.1Exploration & Interconnection
1. Opening: World Travelers
2. Watch: How Did the World Become Interconnected?
3. Read: An Age of Adventure
4. Activity: An Age of Adventure
5. Closing: Explorers Mini Project

8.2Commerce & Collective Learning
1. Opening: DQ Notebook
2. Watch: Systems of Exchange and Trade
3. Vocab Activity: Application
4. Read: The First Silk Roads
5. Read: Lost on the Silk Road
6. Activity: Personal Supply Chain
7. Activity: Little Big History Final Project
8. Closing: Investigation 8

Program Evaluation
Unit 8 Log due upon completion (Required)

Unit 9Acceleration
Start Date: December 1
st
(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 Outcomes
1. 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 Energy
2. Watch: Threshold 8 The Modern Revolution
3. DQ Notebook
4. Vocab Activity: Memorization
5. Watch: The Anthropocene Crash Course
6. Read: The Industrial Revolution
7. Watch: How Did Change Accelerate
8. Read: Acceleration
9. Closing: Innovation and Acceleration Debate

9.1The Anthropocene
Big History Course Outline 2014-15

11
1. 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: Comprehension
3. Read: The Anthropocene
4. Read: Welcome to the Anthropocene
5. Activity: Population Growth
6. Closing: The Impacts of Population Growth Essay

9.2Changing Economies
1. Opening: DQ Notebook
2. Read: Collective Learning (Part 4)
3. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 (1:19-1:25)
4. Read: Smith, Marx, and Keynes
5. Activity: This Threshold Today
6. 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 Future
Start Date: December 15
th
(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 Outcomes
1. 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 Back
1. Opening: Timeline Review
2. Vocab Activity: Memorization/Comprehension
3. Watch: The History of Everything Ted
4. DQ Notebook
5. Activity: Scale
6. Closing: What Do You Know? What Do You Ask?

10.1The Biosphere
1. Opening: Natural Disasters
2. Watch: Globalization II Good or Bad?: Crash Course World History
3. Vocab Activity: Application
4. Watch: Climate and the Atmosphere
5. Activity: Gapminder Card Sort
6. Closing: The Future of our Planet Debate

10.2Looking Forward
1. Opening: My Timeline Redux
2. 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 Gates
5. Watch: The Distant Future - Crash Course
Big History Course Outline 2014-15

12
6. DQ Notebook
7. 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)