MYP Humanities: World Geography– Grade 9

Course Description

Students will expand their understanding of history by studying people and events that are ushered in from the dawn of prehistory through the study of ancient civilizations. Geography is of special significance in the development of human history. Continued emphasis is placed on the everyday lives, problems, and accomplishments of people, their role in developing social, economic, and political structures, as well as establishing and spreading ideas that helped transform the world. Students develop higher levels of critical thinking by considering why civilizations developed where and when they did , why they became dominant, and why they declined. Students analyze the interactions among the various cultures, emphasizing their enduring contributions and the link, despite time, between the contemporary and ancient worlds.

Course Aims

The aims of the teaching and study of humanities are to encourage and enable the student to develop: an inquiring mind; the skills necessary for the effective study of humanities; a sense of time and place; a respect for and understanding of others’ perspectives, values and attitudes; awareness and understanding of people, cultures and events in a variety of places at different times; an understanding of the interactions and interdependence of individuals, societies, and their environments; an understanding of the causes and consequences of change through physical and human actions and processes; an understanding of contemporary humanities issues; a sense of internationalism and a desire to be proactive as a responsible global citizen; an awareness of the connections with other subjects; a lifelong interest in and enjoyment of humanities.

World History MYP – Grade 10

Course Aims:

Provide students with a sequential overview of significant periods of western history particularly those that have causal relationships to the modern western world.

Create a common body of knowledge supportive of 11th and 12th grade IB course work and testing.

Match California State Standards for World History to the greatest extent possible within constraints the above aims.

Teach academic skills specifically related to the social studies; Chronological and Spatial Thinking (compare the present with the past, evaluating consequences, understand how change happens at different rates at different times, recognize that change is complicated, use maps to interpret human movement, recognize friction between population groups, diffusion of technology), Historical Research, Evidence and Point of View (distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretation, Identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretation evaluate major debates among historians, construct and test hypotheses), Historical Interpretation (show connections between historical events and social, economic and political trends, recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than in terms of present-day norms, recognize alternate courses history could have taken, analyze human modifications to the landscape, study cost/benefit analyses to understand aggregate economic behavior).