Welcome to A.P. World History

Course Description

• In A.P. World History we will explore key themes of world history, including interaction with the

environment, cultures, state-building, economic systems, and social structures, from

approximately 8000 B.C.E. to the present.

The A.P. Exam

• Exam is Thursday, May 14th

• Graded on scale 1 to 5

• 3, 4, or 5 = college credit

• 1,2 = no college credit

The A.P. Exam FormatQuestion Type Number of

QuestionsTiming

Multiple-choice 70 questions 55 minutes

Document-based question

1 question 50 minutes

Continuity and change-over time

essay

1 question 40 minutes

Comparative essay 1 question 40 minutes

THE DBQ• 10 Documents

• Must use all 10

• Must suggest a document that is not in the DBQ you feel would help

• You must group the documents into 3 groups, based on their point of view or some similarity

Continuity and Change Over Time Essay (CCOT)

• No documents, this is a free response essay

• Must analyze a change that occurs in a society over time

• Example: Analyze continuities and changes in trade networks between Africa and Eurasia from circa 300 C.E. to 1450 C.E.

Comparative Essay• No documents, this is a free response essay

• Must compare 2 regions with each other at a specific point in time

• Important you don’t summarize one, then the other. Need to constantly go back and forth

• Example: Compare demographic and environmental effects of the Columbian Exchange on the Americas with the Columbian Exchange’s demographic and environmental effects on ONE of the following regions between 1492 and 1750. (Africa, Asia, or Europe)

Periodization

• If you were to write an autobiography at this point in your life, you may very well go chronologically

How would you break up the chapters?

• A.P. World History breaks history into 6 chapters, called periods

Period Number

Title Time Frame

Period Weights

Textbook Chapters

Period 1 Technological and Environmental Transformations

8000 B.C.E – 600 B.C.E.

5% 1-6

Period 2 Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies

600 B.C.E. – 600 C.E.

15% 7-12

Period 3 Regional and Transregional Interactions

600 C.E. – 1450

20% 13-21

Period 4 Global Interactions 1450-1750 20% 22-28

Period 5 Industrialization and Global Integration

1750-1914 20% 29-33

Period 6 Accelerating Global Change and Realignments

1914-Present

20% 34-40

Course Themes

• As we study history, we must focus on 5 major themes for each unit we study

• These themes are…

Theme 1 - Environment

Interactions between humans and the environment

• Demography (population) and disease

• Migration

• Patterns of Settlement

• Technology

Theme 2 - Culture

Development and interactions of cultures

•Religions

•Belief systems, philosophies, ideologies

•Science and technology

•Arts and architecture

Theme 3 - PoliticsState building, expansion, and conflict

• Forms of government

• Empires

• Nations and nationalism

• Revolts and revolutions

• Regional, transregional, and global structures and organizations

Theme 4 – Economics

Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems

• Agriculture and pastoral production

• Trade and commerce

• Labor systems

• Industrialization

• Capitalism and socialism

Theme 5 – SociologyDevelopment and transformations of social structures

• Gender roles and relations

• Family and kinship

• Racial and ethnic constructions

• Social and economic classes

P.E.C.E.SWe’ll use term P.E.C.E.S. to remember the 5 themes

• Politics

• Environment

• Culture

• Economics

• Sociology

Important Info/Tips

• Use my website• Keep up with course work and do

reading/assignments

• Read slow, take notes

• Don’t be absent and actively participate in class