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Planning for agriculture and ancient civilizations

Laura Massa

As I plan for Semester II in Big History, I am considering how many classes to devote to the study of agriculture and early civilizations. In particular, I am identifying the fundamental, must-teach topics to include. Each of my classes lasts 60 minutes, and this unit will include the Museum Project. I am thinking about dedicating 20 class periods to cover this unit. How many classes do you usually spend on it? And for those who teach Big History, do you include the Museum Project as well?      

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    What I am looking at, and we start on Monday a new semester, is getting from Prehistory and the shift from Hunting and Gathering to Agriculture to Agriculture Civilization all in January, with the Museum Project in there to allow students the option to cover more civilizations then we will zoom in on in class. So that is about 20 lessons, including two days for assessment. By 2/18, I will be at the Mongols and Crusades. (I am doing Origins World History and NOT Big History, though.) 

  • 0 in reply to Drew Fortune

    This is a good plan  I am exploring other colleagues' planning options because timing is an essential part of our work. Even though I teach Big History, I will transition from foraging to agriculture by emphasizing its drawbacks and benefits. Do you teach the steps humanity took toward agriculture? I use the video Humanity's Transition to Farming, which was previously available on the OER platform. It highlights the five stages of agriculture. I find this video useful for explaining that the transition to farming didn't happen all at once, as many students tend to think.