Era 4

EXPANDING ZONES OF EXCHANGE AND ENCOUNTER 300-1000 CE

Giving Shape to World History

Beginning about 300 CE almost the entire region of Eurasia and northern Africa experienced severe disturbances. By the seventh century, however, peoples of Eurasia and Africa entered a new period of more intensive interchange and cultural creativity. Underlying these developments was the growing sophistication of systems for moving people and goods here and there throughout the hemisphere -- China's canals, trans-Saharan camel caravans, high-masted ships plying the Indian Ocean. These networks tied diverse peoples together across great distances. In Eurasia and Africa a single region of intercommunication was taking shape that ran from the Mediterranean to the China seas. A widening zone of interchange also characterized Mesoamerica.

Beyond these developments, a sweeping view of world history reveals three other broad patterns of change that are particularly conspicuous in this era

• Islamic Civilization: One of the most dramatic developments of this 700-year period was the rise of Islam as both a new world religion and a civilized tradition encompassing an immense part of the Eastern Hemisphere. Commanding the central region of Afro-Eurasia, the Islamic empire of the Abbasid dynasty became in the 8th-10th-century period the principal intermediary for the exchange of goods, ideas, and technologies across the hemisphere.
• Buddhist, Christian, and Hindu Traditions: Not only Islam but other major religions also spread widely during this 700-year era. Wherever these faiths were introduced, they carried with them a variety of cultural traditions, aesthetic ideas, and ways of organizing human endeavor. Each of them also embraced peoples of all classes and diverse languages in common worship and moral commitment. Buddhism declined in India but took root in East and Southeast Asia. Christianity became the cultural foundation of a new civilization in western Europe. Hinduism flowered in India under the Gupta Empire and also exerted growing influence in the princely courts of Southeast Asia.
• New Patterns of Society in East Asia, Europe, West Africa, and Mesoamerica: The third conspicuous pattern, continuing from the previous era, was the process of population growth, urbanization, and flowering of culture in new areas. The fourth to sixth centuries witnessed serious upheavals in Eurasia in connection with the breakup of the Roman and Han empires and the aggressive movements of pastoral peoples to the east, west, and south. By the seventh century, however, China was finding new unity and rising economic prosperity under the Tang. Japan emerged as a distinctive civilization. At the other end of the hemisphere Europe laid new foundations for political and social order. In West Africa towns flourished amid the rise of the Ghana empire and the rise of the trans-Saharan gold trade. Finally, this era saw a remarkable growth of urban life in Mesoamerica in the age of the Maya.

Why Study This Era?

• In these seven centuries Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam spread far and wide beyond their lands of origin. These religions became established in regions where today they command the faith of millions.
• In this era the configuration of empires and kingdoms in the world changed dramatically. Why giant empires have fallen and others risen rapidly to take their place is an enduring question for all eras.
• In the early centuries of this era Christian Europe was marginal to the dense centers of population, production, and urban life of Eurasia and northern Africa. Students should understand this perspective but at the same time investigate the developments that made possible the rise of a new civilization in Europe after 1000 CE.
• In this era no sustained contact existed between the Eastern Hemisphere and the Americas. Peoples of the Americas did not share in the exchange and borrowing that stimulated innovations of all kinds in Eurasia and Africa. Therefore, students need to explore the conditions under which weighty urban civilizations arose in Mesoamerica in the first millennium CE.

What Students Should Understand

Standard 1: Imperial crises and their aftermath, 300-700 CE

A. The decline of the Roman and Han empires [CORE]

B. The expansion of Christianity and Buddhism beyond the lands of their origin [CORE]

C. The synthesis of Hindu civilization in India in the era of the Gupta Empire [CORE]

D. Hindu and Buddhist expansion in Southeast Asia in the first millennium CE [RELATED]

Standard 2: Causes and consequences of the rise of Islamic civilization in the 7th-10th centuries

A. The emergence of Islam and how Islam spread in Southwest Asia, North Africa, and Europe [CORE]

B. The significance of the Abbasid Caliphate as a center of cultural innovation and hub of interregional trade in the 8th-10th centuries [CORE]

C. The consolidation of the Byzantium in the context of expanding Islamic civilization [RELATED]

Standard 3: Major developments in East Asia in the era of the Tang dynasty, 600-900 CE

A. Political and cultural expansion in Tang China [CORE]

B. Chinese influence on the peoples of Inner Asia, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan [RELATED]

Standard 4: The search for political, social, and cultural redefinition in Europe, 500-1000 CE

A. The foundations of a new civilization in Western Christendom in the 500 years following the breakup of the western Roman empire [CORE]

B. The coalescence of political and social order in Europe [RELATED]

Standard 5: State-building in Northeast and West Africa and the southward migrations of Bantu-speaking peoples [CORE]

Standard 6: The rise of centers of civilization in Mesoamerica and Andean South America in the first millennium CE

A. The origins, expansion, and achievements of Maya civilization [CORE]

B. The rise of the Teotihuacan, Zapotec/Mixtec, and Moche civilizations [RELATED]

STANDARD 1

Students ShouldUnderstand: Imperial crises and their aftermath, 300-700 CE

Students Should Be Able to:

1A Demonstrate understanding of the decline of the Roman and Han empires by:

5-12 Analyzing various causes that historians have proposed to account for the decline of the Han and Roman empires. [Evaluate major debates among historians]

5-12 Tracing the migrations and military movements of major pastoral nomadic groups into both the Roman Empire and China. [Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]

7-12 Comparing the consequences of these movements in China and the western part of the Roman Empire. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

9-12 Analyzing comparatively the collapse of the western part of the Roman Empire and the survival of the eastern part. [Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas]

9-12 Describing the consolidation of the Byzantine state after the breakup of the Roman Empire, and assessing how Byzantium transmitted ancient traditions and created a new Christian civilization. [Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 1A include:

• Construct a time line showing major historical milestones in the period from the late Roman Empire through the rule of Justinian. What inferences can be made from the information in your time line about possible causes of the decline of the Roman Empire? What other possible causes can you think of that would be hard to show on a time line?
• Compare evidences of typical architectural styles in Rome and Byzantium. How did the architecture differ? What might these differences tell you about the unity of the two parts of the Roman Empire? What problems might growing East-West differentiation have created for the Roman Empire?
• Construct a map showing the migratory movements of the Xiongnu, Germanic tribes, Huns, and Slavs. What ecological, economic, or political factors motivated these groups to move in the directions they did?
• In a chart, list the causes for the decline of the Han and Romanempires. From your chart determine similar and differing problems. Do all empires suffer from the same problems and failures that will lead to decline and fall?

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 1A include:

• Write an account of the nomadic invasions of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE, including information derived from primary sources such as Orosius, Tacitus, Ammianus Marcellinus, and Priscus, and from secondary sources. Why did the Romans call these invaders "barbarians"?
• Create a time line labeling major battles, events, and political changes that occurred from the 3rd through 7th centuries in China and Europe. Clearly delineate the division of the Roman Empire, the incursions of invaders into the Han and Roman worlds, and the fall of each.
• Draw on historical evidence to write a "state of the empire" speech as it might have been given by one of the late Han or Roman emperors, outlining the strengths and weaknesses of each empire in his time.
• Write an essay comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the Roman, Byzantine, and Han empires. Infer from your comparison why each declined and fell and why one lasted longer than theothers.

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 1A include:

• Identify key trends or events in the weakening and decline of the Han and Roman empires, such as internal corruption and graft, overextension of political capacity to rule, communication, generals setting themselves up as rulers, or the settlement of previously hostile nomads within the borders, and explain the significance of what was identified in the process of imperial decline. How were political, military, social, and economic causes of imperial decline linked to one another?
• Draw evidence from the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus regarding the Germanic peoples and analyze the way in which he represents Germanic family life. According to Tacitus, what is the role and status of women? How does the status of Germanic women compare to that of Roman women?
• Construct a chart with Europe, China, and India as headings and list the characteristics under each of these regions that changed after the arrival of the invading and conquering nomadic peoples. Based on the chart, write an essay assessing the relative impact ofthe barbarian movements on the regions of Europe, China, and India by the close of the 7th century.
• Construct a "balance sheet" or chart delineating the differences between the Roman and Byzantine empires in the 4th century CE. Show the strengths and weaknesses of each and from this hypothesize as to why one empire fell and the other continued. What caused Rome to fall and the Byzantine Empire to continue?
• Investigate the eastern portion of the Roman Empire at the beginning of the 4th century CE and write a position paper for Constantine showing what aspects of Roman rule and society should be continued and what exorcised in favor of truly Eastern institutions. How will the emperor use such knowledge to fuse the Eastern empire into a "new," independent state that will avoid the failures of the West? How would the Eastern emperors seek to "marry" western and eastern institutions and ideas into a cohesive state?

Students Should Be Able to:

1B Demonstrate understanding of the expansion of Christianity and Buddhism beyond the lands of their origin by:

5-12 Assessing how Christianity and Buddhism won converts among culturally diverse peoples across wide areas of Afro-Eurasia. [Demonstrate and explain the influence of ideas]

7-12 Analyzing causal connections between the breakup of the unified Roman and Han empires and the spread of Christianity and Buddhism. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

7-12 Analyzing comparatively the changing image and status of women in early Christian and Buddhist societies. [Compare and contrast differing values, behaviors, and institutions]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 1B include:

• Compile a chart showing the basic beliefs of Buddhists and Christians. Which aspects of each religion might appeal to people of the 3rd-5th centuries CE and why?
• Define the goals of Buddhists and Christians of the first 1,000 years with regard to their intent to spread their faith to new peoples and lands. What was the importance of the messianic nature of these new faiths?
• Develop a map of Europe, the Mediterranean world, Southwest Asia, India, Southeast Asia, and China. Delineate the extent of the spread of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Confucianism. Indicate with alternating colors areas where they overlap.
• Investigate the ways in which Buddhism and Christianity spread their "faith" to new areas and new peoples. What role did monks play in doing so?

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 1B include:

• Locate on a map and illustrate the emerging centers of Christian and Buddhist teachings, and trace the routes used by believers to spread their faith.
• Compare and contrast the roles that Ashoka and Constantine played in spreading Buddhism in India and Christianity throughout Europe. How did these emperors legitimize their religions and spread the teachings of their respective faiths?
• "Times of trouble lead to an increased interest in religion." Investigate this statement with regard to the demise of the Han and Roman empires and the commensurate growth of Buddhism and Christianity. How important was the concept of universal salvation in preaching these two religions in their early history? Did the growth of these religions hasten the fall of the Han and Roman empires or did the decline and fall of these empires stimulate the spread of Buddhism and Christianity?
• Describe the methods and routes used to introduce Christianity to Ethiopia and Ireland. How was this "new" religion received in these parts of the world?
• Research the role of women in Buddhist and Christian teachings. How did the status of women differ in Buddhist and Christian teachings?

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 1B include:

• Read and analyze selections from the letters of the Apostle Paul on the subject of the moral Christian life, centered in selfless love of one another (e.g., Colossians 3:12-17; Galations 5:13-14; Corinthians 13:1-13). Analyze how these views unified Christian faith and moral life and influenced the spread of Christianity.
• Compare and contrast the spread of religious Daoism and Buddhism in China.
• Investigate the relationship between the growth of international trade and the spread of Christianity and Buddhism in the 3rd-6th centuries CE. Did the commercial enterprise follow or precede the extension of these new religions? What was the relationship between teachers and traders?
• Read Buddha's sermon at Benares (Varanasi) and Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. Compare and contrast the messages delivered by these teachers to disciples, potential converts, and all peoples.
• Discuss the relationship between "patronage" and the advancement of religion in the context of the spread of Buddhism and Christianity during this era. What was the role of kings and princes in the recognition and promotion of religion? How and why did the concept of "peace" appeal to the rising middle class and their interest in commercial extension?
• If you were a woman in late imperial Rome, in what ways would you be better off as a Christian than a pagan? In what ways would you be worse off? Would your social class and marital status make any difference in whether you were better or worse off as a Christian?

Students Should Be Able to:

1C Demonstrate understanding of the synthesis of Hindu civilization in India in the era of the Gupta Empire by:

5-12 Describing fundamental features of the Hindu belief system as they emerged in the early first millennium CE [Evidence historical perspectives]

7-12 Explaining the rise of the Gupta Empire, and analyzing factors that contributed to the empire's stability and economic prosperity. [Analyze multiple causation]

7-12 Analyzing how Hinduism responded to the challenges of Buddhism and prevailed as the dominant faith in India. [Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]

7-12 Analyzing the basis of social relationships in India and the social and legal position of women during the Gupta era. [Interrogate historical data]

5-12 Evaluating Gupta achievements in art, literature, and mathematics. [Evidence historical perspective]

9-12 Analyzing the Gupta decline and the importance of Hun invasions in the empire's disintegration. [Analyze multiple causation]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 1C include:

• Construct a diorama based on an episode from the Ramayana. How does the story present dharma as the primary social value? What is the dharma of the ideal king, husband and wife, brother, and friend?
• Study pictures of the cave structures at Ajanta and Ellora. To whom are these sanctuaries dedicated? What does the art and architecture suggest about the relationship among various religions in India during Gupta times?
• Construct a chart with definitions of the fundamental beliefs of Hinduism including Brahma, dharma, the caste system, ritual and sacrifice, reincarnation, and karma.
• Compare a long-division problem using Roman numerals with Indian/Arabic numerals. Imagine a world without zero and explain the difficulties this would cause.

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 1C include:

• Construct a physical map of India and label the Gupta Empire. Draw the path from China to India that the Chinese pilgrims Fa Xian and Xuan Zang might have followed. What gifts might these pilgrims have taken back to China?
• Read selections from Shakuntala by Kalidasa and discuss the ways in which this play represents gender relationships in Gupta India. How reliable a source is drama for the actual beliefs and behaviors of people? What restrictions were placed on women in Gupta India? How did women fit into the caste system?
• Assume the roles of different castes and role-play an episode in the daily life in an Indian village. Did affiliation with an unprivileged caste provide any advantages? What were some disadvantages? What were the criteria for ranking castes?
• Explain in an essay the causes for the Gupta rise in India, the collapse of the Mauryan-Buddhist power, and the reinstatement of the Brahmans under the Guptas. Was it a political move on the part of the Guptas to ally themselves with the Brahmans?
• Read the account of Gupta India by the Chinese monk Fa Xian. What impressed him about life in India? How did Gupta kings promote Hinduism while fostering Buddhist culture at the same time? How did they integrate marginal groups into the political system?
• Determine the major achievements of scholars in technology, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine during the Gupta period.

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 1C include:

• Compare the Gupta golden age during the reign of Chandragupta II to that of Athens during the Age of Pericles.
• Trace the route of the Hun invasion of India and explain its consequences to Indian society. What was the impact of the invasion on India? How similar were its consequences in India to "barbarian" invasions of Europe at the end of the Roman Empire?
• To what extent did Harsha revive the golden age of the Guptas? Since the Guptas did not write history, assess how contemporary historians use art, literature, archaeology, temple inscriptions, and foreign travelers' accounts as a basis for knowledge of Gupta India.
• Explain how Buddhist monks influenced education, literature, and higher learning in India during the Gupta era. What were the famed centers of learning in India in the 4th and 5th centuries, and what did they teach? What comparable educational centers existed in the world at this time?
• Explain how the development of South Indian temple architecture such as the temple at Madurai reveals the resurgence of Hinduism in India and the spread of Hinduism to South India. What were the various functions carried out in the temple complex? How did temple towns stimulate urban and economic growth?

Students Should Be Able to:

1 D Demonstrate understanding of the expansion of Hindu and Buddhist traditions in Southeast Asia in the first millennium CE by:

5-12 Assessing the relationship between long-distance trade of Indian and Malay peoples and the introduction of Hindu and Buddhist traditions in Southeast Asia. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

7-12 Evaluating monumental religious architecture as evidence for the spread of Buddhist and Hindu belief and practice in Southeast Asia. [Draw upon visual sources]

9-12 Explaining how aspects of Buddhism and Hinduism were combined in Southeast Asian religious life. [Interrogate historical data]

5-12 Explaining how Malayo-Polynesian peoples of East and Southeast Asian origin settled the Pacific islands and New Zealand. [Evidence historical perspectives]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 1D include:

• Draw a map of Southeast Asia and, using different colors, indicate those countries that were influenced by Buddhism and those influenced by Hinduism. Which countries were influenced by both beliefs? Draw an overlay map of long-distance trade routes. How significant a connection does there seem to be between the spread of religions and trade? What questions would you ask to help establish a connection more reliably?
• Look at pictorial evidence depicting gods and goddesses of India, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia and note similarities. In what ways may these depictions indicate a relationship with Buddhism and Hinduism?
• Research the monsoons and the ocean currents, and construct a model of a seaworthy boat of this era. Map a trip from Mahabalipuram in India to a destination in Southeast Asia. How would a knowledge of the monsoons and ocean currents affect ship construction? How did the ocean currents promote cultural diffusion?
• Prepare shadow puppets like those from Southeast Asia and put on a shadow puppet play. What are the subjects of these puppet plays? What do they reveal about contact between India and Southeast Asia? What other evidence is there of contact between these two areas?

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 1D include:

• Research sources on the history of Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands of Polynesia and New Zealand. From your reading discern aspects of the cultures of these peoples that indicate that there is a "link" between these areas. Did the islanders have ancestors who came from Southeast Asia? How did they get to these islands?
• Research and prepare a map with icons showing plants and animals introduced by Polynesian settlers. Where did these plants and animals come from? How did these "introductions" affect the existing island flora and fauna or culture?
• Study the history of Southeast Asia and the Malayo-Polynesians and note the presence or absence of Hinduism and Buddhism in these areas by the end of the first millennium. Did Hindu and Buddhist clerics precede or follow trade between India and these areas?
• On a map of the Southeast Asian and Polynesian areas trace lines of known or potential trade routes. Discuss the geographic problems that a trader would encounter traveling to the Pacific islands.

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 1D include:

• From evidence of art and architecture, such as temple sculpture and adornment and tower-temple structures, explain the spread of Hindu and Buddhist thought in Southeast Asia. Make a drawing of one of the Indian temples such as Borobudur in Java and note in written form the similarities between Indian and Southeast Asian temple architecture. What do the temple sites tell about the spread of Indian influence? What were the functions of the temples?
• Find a devotional poem or prayer directed to a particular deity, such as Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna, or Devi, and analyze this attitude (bhakti) toward divinity. Does this same form appear in the adaptations of the Buddhist-Hindu culture of Southeast Asia?
• Examine Hindu-Buddhist architecture, such as stupas, cave structures at Ajanta and Ellora, and temples at Angkor Wat and Borobudur. From your examination hypothesize the influence of Indian religions on Southeast Asia.
• Compare and contrast the different types of boats and related navigational skills developed in several regions of the world at this time and decide what advantages each design offered the sailors. How did sailors/shipbuilders adapt their vessels to the particular areas to be sailed and the needs of trade?
• Write an essay examining the evidences of Hinduism and Buddhism in Southeast Asia. From your examination determine the influence of Indian culture on this area, the acceptance of these religions by the "rulers" and peoples of the area, and the ways in which Southeast Asians adopted and adapted these religions. Did the peoples of Southeast Asia initiate this contact with India or was it Indian entrepreneurial commerce that opened this area to the Buddhist-Hindu influence?
• Research the history of the Pandyas and Pallavas in South India. Map their trade relationships with West Asia, Greece, Rome, and Southeast Asia. How did the Pallavas help spread Hindu and Buddhist ideas to Southeast Asia?
• Research the Indian concept of ideal kingship and trace how this concept was introduced and spread throughout the emerging states of Southeast Asia.

STANDARD 2

Students Should Understand: Causes and consequences of the development of Islamic civilization between the 7th and 10th centuries.

Students Should Be Able to:

2A Demonstrate understanding of the emergence of Islam and how Islam spread in Southwest Asia, North Africa, and Europe by:

9-12 Analyzing the political, social, and religious problems confronting the Byzantine and Sassanid Persian empires in the 7th century and the commercial role of Arabia in the Southwest Asian economy. [Analyze multiple causation]

5-12 Describing the life of Muhammad, the development of the early Muslim community, and the basic teachings and practices of Islam. [Assess the importance of the individual]

7-12 Explaining how Muslim forces overthrew the Byzantines in Syria and Egypt and the Sassanids in Persia and Iraq. [Interrogate historical data]

5-12 Analyzing how Islam spread in Southwest Asia and the Mediterranean region. [Analyze the influence of ideas]

9-12 Analyzing how the Arab Caliphate became transformed into a Southwest Asian and Mediterranean empire under the Umayyad dynasty, and explaining how the Muslim community became divided into Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim groups. [Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]

7-12 Analyzing Arab Muslim success in founding an empire stretching from western Europe to India and China, and describing the diverse religious, cultural, and geographic factors that influenced the ability of the Muslim government to rule. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 2A include:

• Explain the effects of geography on the lifestyle of nomads and town-dwellers of the Arabian peninsula. Describe the conditions that led to the growth of trade. Why were the oases important to trade? What goods were traded, and where did they originate?
• Describe the life of Muhammad and his devotion to God. What basic beliefs and values did Muhammad proclaim?
• Identify and explain the importance of the Qur'an, the Hegira (Hijrah), the Ka'abah, the Sunnah, the Hajj, the daily prayer (Salat), the poor due (Zakat), and Ramadan to Islam.
• Draw evidence from art and architecture to illustrate Muslim influence on the Iberian peninsula. How did Muslims come to exert an influence in this area?

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 2A include:

• Read accounts of the story of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus in the Old and New Testaments and in the chapter of the Qur'an entitled "The Cow" (2:40-96; 2:124-136); and "Maryam" (19:1-58), and make a chart showing the differences between each version.
• Read selections from the short chapters at the end of the Qur'an and describe the morals and values they express. Compare Islamic morals and values to those of other faiths. What made Islam attractive to new converts and what actions by Muslims aided the process of increasing the number of adherents?
• Describe the campaigns that brought areas from Spain to India under Muslim rule. Who were the important individuals and groups who participated? What obstacles did they overcome?

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 2A include:

• Compare the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. How different were their political institutions? To what extent did their economies depend on trade? How did their social structures differ? What factors weakened these empires in the 7th century?
• Read excerpts from the Qur'an that deal with women. What can you infer from these excerpts about the position of women in Islamic communities? How did the statements of the Qur'an and the actions and sayings of the Prophet change women's position from what it had been in these communities before Islam?
• Describe a typical mosque (masjid) and explain how its layout reflects the relationship between people, their spiritual leaders, and God in Islam. Compare this to an early Christian church and Jewish synagogue.
• Write an historically valid account of the battle of Tours in 733, and explain its significance from the perspectives of a Frankish Christian chronicler and an Arab Muslim scholar of Iberia, both writing in the 9th century. How do the accounts agree and differ? What conclusions may be drawn from the differing accounts? What are the changing views of this event in modern historiography?
• Discuss the process by which Arabic became a widely spoken language and the main medium of written communication in the early Islamic centuries. What was the importance of Arabic in the Islamic religion? In what regions of Africa and Eurasia was Arabic an important language in the 8th century as compared with the 6th century? Why did Muslim converts in such regions as Egypt and North Africa learn to speak and write Arabic? Why did many Christians and Jews in Southwest Asia learn Arabic?
• Prepare a chart showing steps taken by early Muslim leaders and scholars to record and transmit the Qur'an and Hadith. Show what branches of scholarship developed from study and compilation of these documents, and compare the importance of oral and written transmission.

Students Should Be Able to:

2B Demonstrate understanding of the significance of the Abbasid Caliphate as a center of cultural innovation and hub of interregional trade in the 8th-10th centuries by:

9-12 Comparing Abbasid government and military institutions with those of Sassanid Persia and Byzantium. [Compare and contrast differing values and institutions]

7-12 Analyzing why the Abbasid state became a center of Afro-Eurasian commercial and cultural exchange. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

5-12 Analyzing the sources and development of Islamic law and the influence of Islamic law and Muslim practice on such areas as family life, moral behavior, marriage, women's status, inheritance, justice, and slavery. [Examine the influence of ideas]

7-12 Describing the emergence of a center of Islamic civilization in Iberia and evaluating its economic and cultural achievements. [Evidence historical perspectives]

9-12 Describing the cultural and social contributions of various ethnic and religious communities, particularly the Christian and Jewish, in the Abbasid lands and Iberia. [Evidence historical perspectives]

7-12 Evaluating Abbasid contributions to such fields as mathematics, science, medicine, and literature, and the preservation of Greek learning. [Interrogate historical data]

5-12 Assessing how Islam won converts among culturally diverse peoples across wide areas of Afro-Eurasia. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 2B include:

• Chart the trade routes that converged on Baghdad. Why was Baghdad a center of trade and commerce? What items were traded? How did trade promote cultural exchanges?
• Trace the route whereby knowledge of the way to manufacture paper reached Europe through Muslim lands. Why was paper such an important invention, and what role did it play in Chinese, Muslim, and later European culture?
• Role-play a conversation between a Muslim and a non-Muslim in the Abbasid era, with the former pointing out the benefits of conversion to the latter.

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 2B include:

• Compose a letter from a scholar in Muslim Spain to a colleague in Baghdad, describing economic and cultural conditions in his city. How did the use of Arabic language promote cultural exchange among Muslims in various regions?
• Read excerpts such as Sura IV from the Qur'an to discover what kind of family life and gender relations were prescribed in Islamic society. How do these compare to prescriptions concerning these topics in the Old and New Testaments?
• Examine how the Abbasids promoted learning and advanced science, mathematics, and medicine. Research individuals such as Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Abu Hanifa, Hunayn, or al Biruni, and explain how they advanced scientific knowledge.

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 2B include:

• Research the lives of prominent women such as scholars, philanthropists, poets, and artists during the Abbasid period. What factors in Muslim society enabled them to reach prominence? (Resources: N. Abbot, Two Queens of Baghdad, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1946; E. W. Fernea and B. Q. Bezirgan, Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak, Univ. of Texas Press, 1977)
• Explain the social roles and relative status of government bureaucrats, landowning notables, scholars, peasants, urban artisans, and slaves within the Abbasid empire. What influence did religion have on social roles and social standing? What advantages did conversion to Islam confer?
• Research the treatment of non-Muslims in the Abbasid empire. What was the legal status of Christians and Jews living in the empire? In what ways did they contribute to the achievements of Abbasid society?
• Role-play the part of an adviser to an Abbasid ruler, and review Sassanid Persian and Byzantine government and military institutions in comparison with Abbasid ones. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?
• Make a list of the effects that the Muslim practice of veiling and seclusion of women on the one hand, and the Muslim law giving women control over their own property, income, and inheritance even after marriage on the other, are likely to have had on women's lives. In the 9th and 10th centuries CE, was there seclusion of women among Christians? Jews? Did women control their own property, inheritance, and income among Christian and Jewish communities, which in the Islamic empire had their own laws of personal status?
• Assuming the role of an Arab merchant, write a letter to a fellow merchant in Baghdad describing your voyage from the Persian Gulf to the city of Guangzhou (Canton) on the South China coast. What was the voyage like? What sort of relations do you have with the Chinese government? What goods are you trading in? Why did you travel such a long distance to trade?

Students Should Be Able to:

2C Demonstrate understanding of the consolidation of the Byzantine state in the context of expanding Islamic civilization by:

5-12 Explaining how the Byzantine state withstood Arab Muslim attacks between the 8th and 10th centuries. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

9-12 Comparing Byzantium's imperial political system with that of the Abbasid state. [Compare and contrast differing values and institutions]

7-12 Evaluating the Byzantine role in preserving and transmitting ancient Greek learning. [Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]

9-12 Analyzing the expansion of Greek Orthodox Christianity into the Balkans and Kievan Russia between the 9th and 11th centuries. [Analyze multiple causation]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 2C include:

• Construct a map showing the expansion of Orthodox Christianity in Eastern Europe.
• Draw and label typical weapons of this period such as the compound bow and arrow, lance, body and horse armor, and Greek fire. How valuable were these weapons in the defense of the Byzantine Empire? Why was Greek fire a closely guarded secret? Is the fact that they had these weapons sufficient to explain the success of Byzantium in resisting Arab Muslim attacks?

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 2C include:

• Research and make models of various military and merchant ship designs of the 9th century such as the Mediterranean galley, the dhow, and Viking ships. What accounts for the differences in these designs? To what uses were each of these kinds of ships put? What was the relative importance of the army and the navy in Byzantine defense against Arab Muslim attacks?
• Describe the weapons, fortifications, and military preparedness of the Byzantine Empire and explain how it was able to withstand Bulgar and Arab attacks.

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 2C include:

• Describe the spread of Greek Orthodox Christianity into the Balkans, Ukraine, and Russia between the 9th and 11th centuries. What explains the acceptance of Greek over Latin Christianity in the Slavic world?
• Construct an appeal to the Byzantine emperor on the importance of preserving the works of the ancient Greek and Hellenistic scholars. What arguments would you use to convince the emperor of the necessity of maintaining Greek learning?
• Compare and contrast Constantinople and Baghdad as centers of manufacturing and long-distance trade. How did economic power translate into military and political power in each?
• Draw evidence from the legends in the Russian Chronicle regarding Vladimir of Kiev and his conversion to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Why was Vladimir inclined to accept the Greek Orthodox Church rather than Judaism, Islam, or Latin Christianity? What do the stories reveal regarding the relationship of church and state in Kievan Russia?
• Assume the role of a foreign traveler and describe your impressions of Constantinople and the imperial government of the Byzantine emperor. How would your impressions differ if you were a traveler to Baghdad describing that city and the Abbasid imperial government?

STANDARD 3

Students Should Understand: Major developments in East Asia in the era of the Tang dynasty, 600-900 CE

Students Should Be Able to:

3A Demonstrate understanding of China's sustained political and cultural expansion in the Tang period by:

9-12 Describing political centralization and economic reforms that marked China's reunification under the Sui and Tang dynasties. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

5-12 Describing the territorial expansion of the empire to Southeast and Central Asia. [Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]

5-12 Describing the cosmopolitan diversity of peoples and religions in Chinese cities of the early- and mid-Tang period. [Evaluate historical perspectives]

7-12 Assessing explanations for the spread and power of Buddhism in Tang China, Korea, and Japan. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

7-12 Evaluating creative achievements in painting and poetry in relation to the values of Tang society. [Evidence historical perspectives]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 3A include:

• On a map of China, show the physical features of the land, locate the network of canals, and indicate the greatest extent of the Tang dynasty. How did China's geography affect farming techniques? How did the Grand Canal change life in China?
• Assume the role of a diplomat or traveler from Constantinople or Baghdad to one of the cities of Tang China, and write accounts to government officials back home of what you have observed. What could your empire learn from Tang China?
• Describe the development of cities in Tang China. Where did major cities develop? Who went to live there? What caused people to migrate to cities?

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 3A include:

• Assume the role of an adviser to a Tang emperor and argue for the development of a network of roads and canals in the empire. How would you justify the cost of these public works? How might you raise the money needed? How would you organize the building project? How would they benefit the state and the public?
• Explain how Buddhism was introduced from China to Korea and Japan. Tell the story of how the Korean emperor encouraged Japan to adopt Buddhism. Why did the Soga clan advise the Japanese emperor to accept Buddhism?
• Map the extent of the Tang empire and mark the major trade routes used. What products were exchanged? How might the introduction of the crystallization process for sugar have affected Chinese life?
• Analyze Tang landscape painting and examples of Tang pottery. What ideas and values about everyday life are expressed?
• Summarize the technologies developed during the Tang dynasty and how they were used. What impact did these technologies have in China? By what routes might knowledge of these technologies have spread?

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 3A include:

• Research living conditions in China and compare urban with rural society during the Tang dynasty. How did life differ in rural areas from urban communities? How did urban centers influence growth in the arts?
• Reading retrospectives such as Journey to the West, discuss the story of the journey of the Tang monk Xuan Zang to India in quest of Buddhist scriptures and discuss the role of the "Monkey King," who accompanied him. What was the legendary significance of this story in Chinese popular culture from the Tang dynasty onward?
• Read poems by Tang poets such as Bo Juyi, Wang Wei, Du Fu, and Li Bo, and create an exhibit of painting and calligraphy done during this period. Discuss the place of poetry and painting in the lives of the scholar-officials in China. What do we know about the values of the Chinese elite at this time? What is the attitude of the poets toward common people?
• Read Li Gongzuo's Governor of the Southern Tributary State and analyze the role of women, the family, and government. Write a summary of one of the passages to depict a main idea in the story.

Students Should Be Able to:

3B Demonstrate understanding of Chinese influence on the peoples of Inner Asia, Korea, Southeast Asia, and Japan by:

7-12 Explaining how relations between China and pastoral peoples of Inner Asia in the Tang period reflect long-term patterns of interaction along China's grassland frontier. [Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]

9-12 Analyzing changes in Inner Asia, Korea, and Vietnam under the impact of Tang state and culture. [Marshal evidence of antecedent circumstances]

5-12 Describing the indigenous development of Japanese society up to the 7th century CE [Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]

7-12 Assessing the patterns of borrowing and adaptation of Chinese culture in Japanese society from the 7th to the 11th century. [Analyze the influence of ideas]

5-12 Describing the establishment of the imperial state in Japan, and assessing the role of the emperor in government. [Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]

5-12 Assessing the political, social, and cultural contributions of women in the Japanese imperial court. [Evidence historical perspectives]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 3B include:

• Construct a map of the Japanese islands showing elevation and the proximity of the islands to Korea and the Chinese mainland. What role did geography play in the development of Japan? How did it influence Japan's relations with China and Korea?
• Draw upon evidence from diaries to describe the lives of women in the court of the emperor. What was the position of women in Heian Japan?
• Investigate the importance of rice in Japan. How is the importance of rice reflected in family life? In popular celebrations?
• Research how wet rice is cultivated and outline the agricultural cycle associated with it. What role did the family play in rice cultivation in Japan? How did the family accommodate the rice cycle? How are popular festivals in Japan related to the agricultural cycle?

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 3B include:

• Reading selections from the Kojiki in Sources of Japanese Tradition, explain the legends of the creation of Japan. Explain the differences between history and legend. What do these stories tell you about Japanese history?
• On a time line, trace the development of the early cultures of Japan from the Jomon, ca. 10,000 BCE, through the "tomb culture," ca. 200 CE. What did each of these cultures introduce to the islands of Japan?
• Explain the basic beliefs of Shinto. Using works of art and literature, describe the impact of Shinto on Japan.
• Assume the role of a Buddhist monk making two voyages to Japan; the first to the capital of Nara (710-784) and second to the new capital of Heian (Kyoto) (794-857), some seventy years later. Record your impression of the influence of Buddhism in Japan and explain changes that occurred over time. How would you regard the changes? Why did the emperor in Heian restrict the Buddhist clergy?
• Investigate how the Chinese language was used as a written "lingua franca" for government throughout East Asia at this time. How does this compare with the use of Latin in the West?
• Describe courtly life and the search for beauty in Heian Japan. Why was calligraphy so important in pottery?

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 3B include:

• Examine how the Tang dynasty extended its influence in East Asia. To what extent did Korea and Vietnam adopt Chinese traditions? To what extent did Korea and Vietnam resist Chinese political domination? What was the relationship between Tang China and Japan? Why do you think a historian who has studied the influence of Confucianism and Chinese government on Vietnam referred to the latter as a "smaller dragon"?
• Analyze Prince Shotoku's "Constitution" for evidence of borrowing and adapting Chinese ideas in ancient Japan. If the Taika reforms had endured, how might Japan's imperial government have changed?
• Read selections from the Diary of Murasaki Shikibu and The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon. Discuss the importance of women as authors at the Japanese court of the Heian period. Who were these women? How did their writings reflect social roles and values of the imperial court?
• Examine the difference between spoken language and writing systems. How many writing systems are there in the world? What is unique about the Chinese writing system? Explain how the Japanese adapted the Chinese writing system to fit the spoken language of Japan.
• Select poems from the Kokinshu. What is distinctive about the waka (or tanka) form that developed in Japan at this time?
• Research the history of the commercial state of Srivijaya in Southeast Asia. Studying a map of the region, explain why the Strait of Malacca was such a strategic waterway for interregional trade. How did the pattern of the monsoon winds make Srivijaya a "hinge" of trade between China and India? Why do you think Srivijaya became a rich and powerful kingdom?

STANDARD 4

Students Should Understand: The search for political, social, and cultural redefinition in Europe, 500-1000 CE

Students Should Be Able to:

4A Demonstrate understanding of the foundations of a new civilization in Western Christendom in the 500 years following the breakup of the western Roman Empire by:

5-12 Assessing the importance of monasteries, the Latin Church, and missionaries from Britain and Ireland in the Christianizing of western and central Europe. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

5-12 Explaining the development of the Merovingian and Carolingian states, and assessing their success at maintaining public order and local defense in western Europe. [Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]

7-12 Analyzing how the preservation of Greco-Roman and early Christian learning in monasteries and Charlemagne's royal court contributed to the emergence of European civilization. [Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]

7-12 Analyzing the changing political relations between the popes and the secular rulers of Europe. [Identify issues and problems of the past]

9-12 Comparing the successes of the Latin and Orthodox churches in introducing Christianity and Christian culture to eastern Europe. [Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 4A include:

• Explain the function of monasteries in western Europe during the early medieval period and sketch a plan for a monastery that reflects those functions. What services did monasteries perform? How did monasteries preserve ancient learning? Why did monks become missionaries? Did monks and nuns fulfill the same functions?
• Read the description of Charlemagne given by his friend and biographer Einhard, and an account of Charlemagne's government, laws, and conquests in a secondary source. What can you infer from this information about his values and aims? About the difficulties he had to overcome?

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 4A include:

• Map the Carolingian world, including the tributary peoples. How did the Carolingian influence expand, what were its greatest extensions, and why did it contract?
• Write a biography of Clovis including his conversion and its results, and map the lands he conquered. What part did his wife Clothilde, and other royal women of the time, play in the Christianization of Frankish and Saxon peoples? What part did conquest play?
• From illustrations and written accounts (Einhard), describe the coronation of Charlemagne. At his coronation what did Charlemagne expect of his people and himself? What were his expectations and perhaps his goals? How were they fulfilled?
• Research and compare the lives of Charlemagne, Harun al-Rashid, and the Empress Irene. How did each of these secular leaders influence the political order within Europe?
• Discuss the usefulness of the term "Dark Ages" to characterizemedieval Europe, and consider the factors that might make for a "dark age" in any society.
• Examine the Rules of St. Benedict. Why did St. Benedict prescribe times for prayer and meditation? How harsh were these rules? Why were men and women willing to live by these rules? What importance did these rules have for monks, nuns, and missionaries?

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 4A include:

• Compare Charlemagne,s empire with Byzantium, the Abbasidempire, and the Islamic caliphate of Iberia in regard to their size, wealth, and political organization.
• Construct a chart showing several significant similarities and differences in the governance and worship in the Latin Catholic and Byzantine churches. How did the "governors" of these churches seek to promote conversion in eastern and western Europe?
• Map the extent of the Frankish conquests under Clovis and mark the four areas he divided among his sons. Predict the consequences of this division and then compare them with the actual results.
• Relate the life of the Anglo-Saxon missionary, Boniface. How did he represent "the romanization of Europe"? In what ways did he serve as an exemplar for other monks/missionaries?
• Read excerpts from The Song of Roland. Evaluate it as a factual account of Charlemagne's campaign in 778. What other purposes might the document have had? How did the campaign change the relationship between the Roman Church and western Europe? How does it express the growing relationship between the secular and religious leaders of Western civilization?

Students Should Be Able to:

4B Demonstrate understanding of the coalescence of political and social order in Europe by:

5-12 Assessing the impact of Norse (Viking) and Magyar migrations and invasions, as well as internal conflicts, on the emergence of independent lords and the knightly class. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

7-12 Assessing changes in the legal, social, and economic status of peasants in the 9th and 10th centuries. [Interrogate historical data]

7-12 Analyzing how Christian values changed the social and economic status of women in early medieval Europe. [Examine the influence of ideas]

9-12 Explaining how royal officials such as counts and dukes transformed delegated powers into hereditary, autonomous power over land and people in the 9th and 10th centuries. [Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 4B include:

• Sketch a Viking ship and, on a map, locate major Norsesettlements. Trace Viking ships' travel routes to the North Atlantic, Russia, western Europe, and the Black Sea. Where did the Vikings come from? Why did peoples of England or northern France fear them so much? Why do you think the Viking settlement in North America (Newfoundland) did not endure?
• Write a biographical report on King Alfred of England. Why was he called Alfred the Great? How did he defend his lands against the Vikings?

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 4B include:

• Keep two journals, one for a day in the life of an early medieval noble woman and one for a peasant woman. Include subjects such as marriage, family, food, work, household organization, and religion. How were the roles of women in differing social classes similar and varying? What additional burdens and disabilities affected a peasant woman who was a serf? What legal rights and protections did women have in the feudal order?
• Construct a map of major Norse settlements and routes of communication in the region extending from North America to Russia and the Black Sea. What contributions did Vikings make to long-distance trade? Should they be credited with the European "discovery" of America? Why did Norse settlements in Newfoundland and Greenland fail to survive?
• Research the status of peasants in 9th- and 10th-century Europe. Were peasants better or worse off in these centuries than they had been under Roman rule? How did the political fragmentation of Europe after Charlemagne affect the lives of peasants?

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 4B include:

• Research reasons why the Carolingian empire did not endure after the death of Charlemagne. What would a political map of western and central Europe have looked like in the 10th century? Why were European nobles able to assert independent power? What connection may have existed between Viking and Magyar invasions and the political fragmenting of large areas of Europe?
• Construct a chart comparing how the Magyar cavalry and the Viking longboat gave an advantage to invaders. How did Norse invasions of Britain affect Christian culture and learning? What happened to the Magyar invaders after the 10th century?

STANDARD 5

Students Should Understand: State-building in Northeast and West Africa and the southward migrations of Bantu-speaking peoples.

Students Should Be Able to:

5 Demonstrate understanding of state-building in Northeast and West Africa and the southward migrations of Bantu-speaking peoples by:

9-12 Analyzing how maritime trade contributed to thegrowth of the kingdom of Aksum in Northeast Africa. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

9-12 Analyzing how the contrasting natural environments of West Africa defined agricultural production, settlement patterns, and trade. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

7-12 Explaining how Ghana became West Africa's first large-scale empire and the role of divine kingship in itsdevelopment. [Interrogate historical data]

7-12 Assessing the importance of gold and salt production, trans-Saharan camel trade, and Islam in the growth of the Ghana empire and urbanization in West Africa. [Analyze multiple causation]

9-12 Inferring from archaeological evidence the importance of Jenn-E-jeno or Kumbi-Saleh as early West African commercia cities. [Interrogate historical data]

9-12 Analyzing causes and consequences of the settling of east, central, and southern Africa by Bantu-speaking farmers and cattle herders up to 1000 CE. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 5 include:

• Create a diorama of West Africa illustrating the topography of the region. Use symbols to locate agricultural products, settlements, and trade items. Include a legend and brief explanation interpreting the display.
• Compare Jenn-E-jeno with earlier river valley civilizations such as Mesopotamia. What influence did the natural environment have on agriculture, settlement patterns, and trade in each case?
• Read Ethiopian legends of the introduction of Christianity to that region. By what routes do you think Christianity might have reached Ethiopia in the 4th century? What part did exchange with other countries play in the growth of Aksum? What else besides religious ideas was passed along these routes?

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 5 include:

• Identify a person in your family who is the family historian, the "keeper of tales." Interview this person for a family story and share it with the class. What functions did the griot "keeper of tales" have in West African society? Besides oral tradition, what other sources are there for West African history during this era? In what different ways do oral traditions and other kinds of evidence, verbal and physical, give historians access to the past?
• Write a traveler's guide to the routes taken by the salt-gold trade. Include a description of Jenn-E-jeno. How did the salt-gold trade promote urbanization in West Africa?
• View slides or pictures that portray the physical and cultural diversity of West Africa and write a few words describing each. Compile the descriptions in a paragraph beginning with "WestAfrica is. . . ."
• Drawing on archaeological evidence for the growth of Jenn-E-jeno, interpret the commercial importance of this city in West African history. How did the commercial importance of Jenn-E-jeno in this era compare with that of contemporary western European commercial centers such as early Venice?
• Describe the royal court in Ghana and how it ruled Ghana. How did belief in the king's divinity contribute to Ghana's imperial success?

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 5 include:

• Construct an abstract analytical model of an empire using comparative information from the Ghana and Carolingian states. What characteristics must a state have to be considered an empire? What were some major differences between the Ghana and Carolingian empires? What similarities and differences do you find in these two empires in agriculture, trade, standard of living, expansionary tendencies, and the role of religious ideas?
• Discuss the unique characteristics and strengths of the oral tradition, and the role of the griot in West African society. Compare this to the role of the monk in medieval Europe in keeping knowledge alive. Assess the strengths of each method of recording history.
• Design a room for an exhibit in an archaeological museum for West African artifacts. Choose the items you would display and label them in a way that would contribute to the understanding of reasons for the development of Ghana into a large-scale empire.
• Read selections from the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, the Greek shipping manual of the 1st century CE, for evidence of the importance of trade in the African state of Aksum. What are some of the goods that passed through Adulis, the Aksumite Red Sea port? How was Aksum well situated to play a large role in long-distance trade? What reasons do historians give for the decline of Aksum in the 8th century?
• Map the spread and pattern of settlement of Bantu-speaking farmers and herders in eastern, central, and southern Africa by the 4th to 7th centuries CE. In what ways did knowledge of ironworking, the introduction of bananas and the Asian yam from Southeast Asia, and the presence of the tsetse fly influence settlement patterns?

STANDARD 6

Students Should Understand: The rise of centers of civilization in Mesoamerica and Andean South America in the first millennium CE.

Students Should Be Able to:

6A Demonstrate understanding of the origins, expansion, and achievements of Maya civilization by:

5-12 Describing the natural environment of southern Mesoamerica and its relationship to the development of Maya urban society. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

7-12 Analyzing the Mayan system of agricultural production and trade and its relationship to the rise of city-states. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

9-12 Interpreting the Mayan cosmic world view as evidenced in art and architecture, and evaluating Mayan achievements in astronomy, mathematics, and the development of a calendar. [Evaluate historical perspectives]

5-12 Analyzing the role and status of elite women in Mayan society as evidenced in monumental architecture or other sources. [Draw upon visual sources]

7-12 Assessing interpretations of how and why Mayan civilization declined. [Evaluate major debates among historians]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 6A include:

• Locate Mayan city-states on a map of Mesoamerica usingsymbols to indicate road systems and sea routes. Hypothesize reasons for the development of urban societies in these locations.
• Select a Mayan deity and construct a clay figure or a mask depicting its attributes. Explain the importance of religion and religious beliefs in Mayan society.
• Compare the Mayan pok a tok (a ceremonial ball game) with our modern sports. Which modern sport is pok a tok most like? Illustrate the similarities on a double drawing. Were the reasons for playing the games also similar?
• Compare Mesopotamian ziggurats with the Mayan pyramids. In what ways are they similar? In what ways are they different? Were the purposes they served similar or different?
• Study portrayals of women in Mayan monumental architecture. What can be inferred from these about the roles elite women played in Mayan society?

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 6A include:

• Draw a map illustrating the exchange of trade items,commodities, and luxury goods such as cacao, salt, feathers, jade, and obsidian. What conclusions may be drawn from the extent of Mayan trade? How important was trade to the Mayan economy?
• Use visual data, such as graphs and charts, to illustrate how the Maya altered their methods of farming depending on the topography and climate. How important was agricultural production to the Maya?
• Construct a model or visual representation of a Mayan city-state such as Palenque. Estimate the number of people who are likely to have lived in such an urban settlement. What conditions had to be met to allow such numbers to live together?
• List the major achievements of Mayan civilization and explaintheir relationship to everyday life. How did achievements in astronomy impact Mayan society? How valuable were mathematical innovations and the calendar to farmers?
• Research interpretations of why classical Mayan society declined and prepare an oral presentation analyzing and evaluating these factors.
• Read excerpts from Douglas Gifford's Warriors, Gods and Spirits from Central and South American Mythology to examine the ways in which Mayan myths reflect social values and daily survival skills.

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 6A include:

• Select two contrasting Mayan deities and, as a comparative model, select two comparable Hindu deities and through a drawing show comparisons. Write a paper discussing their commonalities.
• Using methods of an archaeologist and historian, explain how we have knowledge of Mayan civilization from deciphered hieroglyphics. How has the Mayan "Long Count" calendar served as a tool for learning about Mayan civilization? To what extent did the destruction of Mayan books by the Spanish hamper our understanding of Mayan culture? How have recent historical interpretations altered our knowledge of Mayan political organization and warfare?
• Create a schematic design including a temple/pyramid, cave, cenote, ball court, and planetarium, and explain their relationship to each other and to Mayan religious belief.
• Create a mural in the Bonampak style using glyphs integrated into the design, illustrating social organization, ritual practices such as blood letting, and warfare. Explain the mural, relating it to historical evidence of Mayan society and religious beliefs.
• Read excerpts from the Popul Vuh. Compare it with Christian views of creation. Is the Popul Vuh a reliable account of the Mayan world view? Why or why not?

Students Should Be Able to:

6B Demonstrate understanding of the rise of the Teotihuaca'n,Zapotec/Mixtec, and Moche civilizations by:

7-12 Analyzing the character of the Zapotec state in the valley of Oaxaca as reflected in the art and architecture of Monte Alb'n. [Draw upon visual sources]

9-12 Explaining the growth of the urban society centered on Teotihuaca'n and the importance of this city as a transmitter of Mesoamerican cultural traditions to later societies. [Examine the influence of ideas]

5-12 Analyzing how the diverse natural environment of the Andes region shaped systems of agriculture and animal herding. [Analyze cause-and-effect relationships]

7-12 Describing how archaeological discoveries have led to greater understanding of the character of Moche society. [Hold interpretations of history as tentative]

Grades 5-6 Examples of student achievement of Standard 6B include:

• On a map of the Western Hemisphere, locate the Zapotec,Teotihuaca'n, and Moche civilizations. In what modern countries would you find archaeological sites of each of these civilizations?
• Explain how the peoples of Teotihuaca'n and Moche adapted to the environment. How did these civilizations make use of available water resources? What methods did the Moche use to farm desert lands? How did these differ from the methods used at Teotihuac'n?
• Construct a model of Monte Alb'n based on pictorial representations and site plans. What does the model tell about the Zapotec civilization?
• Locate Monte Alb'n and Teotihuaca'n on a topographical map. Write a short description of each environment and discuss the ways that they might be similar or different.
• Analyze examples of Moche pottery. How can pottery help us learn about societies such as the Moche who left no written records? What can we learn from the Moche pottery and clay figures?

Grades 7-8 Examples of student achievement of Standard 6B include:

• Examine Mayan and Teotihuaca'n murals, and speculate on reasons for their differences. What inferences may be drawn from these murals about the societies that produced them? Why do the Teotihuaca'n murals lack battle scenes?
• Research ayllus (kinship groups) and explain how they regulated family and community life in Andean societies.
• Examine Moche art and artifacts to determine patterns of daily life among the people. What do these artifacts tell about the interests, occupations, and religious concerns of the people?
• Make a map showing the different types of agriculture practiced in the Moche/Andean area.

Grades 9-12 Examples of student achievement of Standard 6B include:

• Compare religion and ritual practices of Teotihuaca'n and Mayan civilizations. Based on the 1988 discovery of the tomb of a Moche warrior priest, what is known about religion and ritual practices in Moche society? How does this compare to what is known about the Maya or Teotihuaca'n?
• Construct a two-layer calendar using a 360-day year, 30-day month, and overlay with a different Mesoamerican calendar.
• Research the cultures of the Moche, Tihuanaco, Chimu, or other Andean societies, exploring such aspects as textile production, gold metallurgy, burial practices, and social relations between men and women.
• Develop a hypothesis to assess possible methods of contact between Mesoamerica and the Andean world. Use examples of agriculture, societal structure, and artisan crafts to consider cultural diffusion.