1  

June 30, 2012

AP World History Students:

Welcome to Advanced Placement World History. We are looking forward to meeting all of you next year. The scope of our course is broad - the history of the entire world from 8000 B.C.E. to the present -- roughly 10,000 years of history! Laying the foundation for the course begins now, in the summer before. In order to prepare you for some of the major themes and assignments we will have in class next year, your required summer assignment will be to read An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage (ISBN 978-0-8027-1991-1). This book may be found at local book stores or purchased on line via the bookstore websites or Amazon. The cost of the book is roughly $16 plus tax. In addition to the reading of this book, you will have to complete the attached required assignments (the assignments will also be posted on our websites at: http://www.epsilen.com/christinash2 and http://www.epsilen.com/jenniferkle ) and you can join our NEW FaceBook group called CY Ranch WHAP 2012-2013 to ask questions, discuss the book, and get help throughout the summer and next school year. The assignments are due on September 7, 2012. This is your first MAJOR GRADE for WHAP (World History AP)! While it is preferable to have your own copy so that you can take notes in it, underline, etc., you are free to check the public libraries for the book. Whatever you do, do not wait until the last week of the vacation to try to get a copy and do the assignment! AP World History is not a course to procrastinate in, so get a copy as soon as possible. An Edible History of Humanity is a book that takes an innovative and (hopefully) interesting perspective to initiate our yearlong discussion of world history. The author looks at how food has helped to shape societies around the world – beginning with the early hunter-gatherers through major empires into modern day. The major foods include maize, rice, barley, wheat, spices, sugar, potatoes, and canned food, just to name a few, and their impact on various aspects and events of society and history. The purpose in reading the book is to get a sense of how civilizations and cultures develop and how numerous forces (political, technological, economic, social, religious, cultural, ecological) all affect people’s daily lives. When you are hanging out eating chips and salsa or enjoying a sweet frozen treat this summer, you will realize that there are historical forces at work that have put those foods in your pantry or freezer. This book explores those forces. During the first week of school you will engage in a seminar type discussion of the book and other assessments. All parts of this project will count as a major grade towards your first six weeks grade. The seminars and discussions will count as daily grades towards the first six weeks grade. Lastly, we encourage you to open your eyes to the world by tuning into world news! Hopefully the world news will make more sense to you after studying Geography this year. We are living through history and there is so much going on in the present that is related to past history. Your understanding of each (past and present) will further your understanding of the other! (Any news source is fine— TV, radio, Internet, magazines, newspapers—we just encourage you to seek out INTERNATIONAL news sources as well as local and national news). In addition, there are great FREE resources on iTunes that give you an opportunity to stay up to date while you are on the go. Both of us will be traveling the first part of the summer, but will regularly, so feel free to email us questions or thoughts on the reading and we will respond. Have a great summer, and we look forward to teaching every one of you in the August! Have a great summer and happy reading! Mrs. Christina Shively and Mrs. Jennifer Kleiber Christina.shively@cfisd.net and Jennifer.kleiber@cfisd.net AP World History Cypress Ranch High School

  2  

SUMMER READING PROJECT 2012 The project will be due on Friday, September 7th

PART I: READING JOURNAL: The reading journal is a type of double-entry note-taking that students use while reading a text. In the first column, students write the questions for the chapters. In the second column, you will write the page numbers where you found your answers. In column three, you will write your answers in complete sentences. DO NOT JUST QUOTE THE TEXT. You should paraphrase the information in the text to create a response that is meaningful to you. You will create a reading journal for each chapter of An Edible History of Humanity, including the Introduction and Epilogue. These may be typed and placed in a folder with brads or handwritten in a spiral. No binders! PROCEDURE: Divide your page into 3 columns.

Reading Questions Page # Answer (in complete sentences/paragraphs)

Questions to answer as you read: In the first column, write the questions for the chapters that are provided below. In the second column, write the page numbers where you found information to answer the questions. In column three, write your answers in complete sentences or paragraph format. DO NOT JUST QUOTE THE TEXT. You should paraphrase the information in the text to create a response that is meaningful to you. Part 1: EDIBLE FOUNDATIONS OF CIVILIZATION

1. Summarize the introduction. 2. What made maize attractive to man as a farming crop? 3. Explain the impact of mutations on maize, wheat and rice. 4. Explain how early civilizations tied crops to their creation stories. 5. Analyze the statement that “the adoption of farming…was the worst mistake in the history of the

human race.” Use the book to support your answer. 6. Describe the reasons for the shift from hunting and gathering to farming. 7. Give specific examples of how farmers spread out, taking their knowledge with them. 8. Analyze the statement that farming “has done more to change the world, and has had a great impact

on the environment, than any other human activity,” using the book to support your answer. Part 2: FOOD AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE

1. Describe how the stratification of society was made possible and how it transformed the nature of human existence.

2. Explain why people had previously regarded the accumulation of food and power to be so dangerous and destabilizing and why this eventually changed.

3. Compare the relationship of hunter-gatherer bands, food and other hunter-gatherer bands. 4. Explain how powerful leaders emerged and how they ended up in control of the agricultural surplus

and maintained power. Include 3 examples from the book. 5. How/in what ways was food used to reveal power structure in civilizations? Give specific examples

from the book. 6. Explain how the modern world is still connected to food.

Part 3: GLOBAL HIGHWAYS OF FOOD

1. Analyze the impact of spices on trade, geography and the spread of religion. 2. Describe the role that spices played with the plague. 3. Explain how spices influenced European exploration and colonial empires, giving specific examples

from the book.

  3  

Part 4: FOOD, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIALIZATION 1. Explain the role that botany played in the search for new plants. 2. Summarize the spread of sugar cane and its role in the world events. 3. Trace the role of the potato in society and its impact on population size, government and economic

policies. 4. Discuss the impact of bio-fuels on farming and food costs as well as on the environment.

Part 5: FOOD AS A WEAPON

1. Describe the impact of food on the American Revolution and the French Army under Napoleon. 2. Analyze the role of food in the American Civil War up through World War II. 3. Analyze the impact of the Berlin Airlift on Cold War politics. 4. Compare the famines in the Soviet controlled Ukraine in the 1930s and in China during the “Great

Leap Forward.” How did the famine in the Ukraine influence the eventual fall of the Soviet Union in 1991?

5. Explain how food has been and continues to be a way to make a political statement. Part 6: FOOD, POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT

1. Explain the importance of Nitrogen and Ammonia to agriculture. 2. Explain how and why “dwarf” varieties became so popular and productive. 3. What is the “Green Revolution”? 4. Analyze the impact of the Green Revolution on world economies and population. 5. Describe the problems with the Green Revolution. How might a second Green Revolution improve on

those problems? 6. Summarize the Epilogue.

OVERALL EVALUATION: 1. What do you think of Standage’s approach to history? Is this a useful way to think about history?

What other approaches might one take? 2. Did you like this book? Why or why not?

PART II: ELECTRONIC ILLUSTRATED TIMELINE

Your timeline should include 5 dates with corresponding facts for each one of the SEVEN major “food(s)” (maize, rice, wheat, spices, sugar, potatoes and canned food) for a total of 35 dates with 35 corresponding facts on the timeline. Within these dates, at least 2 regions of the world affected by the major “food(s)” in each of the 6 sections must be addressed. Provide an icon for each date that reflects the “food(s).” You may use PREZI.COM, PowerPoint, or Word. If you do not have online access this summer, you may submit a paper-based timeline. All timelines should be typed, include images or illustrations, and be printed and in your folder/spiral. (Local county/city libraries have computer access)

PART III: VOCABULARY JOURNAL:

We want to make sure that we start off the year with a basic vocabulary that will grow as the year progresses. These terms will be used in the first unit of our course, as well as throughout the school year. Create a chart in your folder/spiral and define the following terms. You may use any VALID source (such as a dictionary or a historical website, BUT NO WIKIPEDIA!) Remember, you are looking for the historical/geographic definitions. If appropriate, include dates! These must be typed and placed in your folder or handwritten in your spiral

Term Source Definition

Example: Akkadian Empire

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Akkadian_Empire

A Semitic state near the ancient city of Akkad in Mesopotamia. It came to its greatest power under the leadership of Sargon (2296-2240 B.C.E.).

  4  

Terms:

• Aryans

• Babylonians

• Bias

• Cataract (geographic definition)

• Chavin

• City-State

• Civilization

• Cosmopolitan

• Cultural Diffusion

• Cuneiform

• Dynasty

• Dynastic Cycle

• Fertile Crescent

• Hammurabi’s Code

• Harappa

• Ideology

• Labor System

• Late Bronze Age

• Law Code

• Loess

• Mandate of Heaven

• Matrilineal

• Mesopotamia

• Mohenjo-Daro

• Monsoon Rain

• Neolithic

• Olmec

• Oracle Bones

• Paleolithic

• Papyrus

• Patriarchy

• Periodization

• Pharaoh

• Pictograph

• Rosetta Stone

• Semitic

• Shaman

• Shang Dynasty

• Social Mobility

• Sumerians

• Theocracy

• Tribute

• Vassal

• Xia Dynasty

• Zhou Dynasty

PROJECT RUBRIC:

  Item  for  Analysis   Total  Points  Possible  

Reading    Journal   34  questions  answered     170  

Timeline   5  dates  with  corresponding  facts  for  each  of  the  7  major  foods  (including  2  regions  of  the  world  from  each  section)  

70  

Picture/Icon  for  each  date  and  fact   35  

Vocabulary  Journal   45  terms  defined  with  source     90  

Total  Points  Possible     365  

 

Your  percentage  will  be  determined  by  taking  the  total  points  that  you  earn  and  dividing  that  total  by  365.  

• Example:  A  student  earned  300  out  of  the  365  total  points.  

o 300  divided  by  365  =  82%  

o The  82  would  go  into  the  grade  book  as  your  project  grade  for  the  summer  reading.