EAST MEETS WEST
What?
In our first unit we will focus in on Inter-trade and cultural connections of the Ancient and Early Modern period across the globe. Covering the period 250ad - 1250ad we will look at the increasing expansion and decline of early empires, exploring the causes and consequences of expansion. We will also focus on other factors that resulted in increasing global interaction such as trade, culture and religion.
Content
Rome – Expansion and decline
Silk Road - trade
Baghdad - culture
Crusades - religion
Our key critical thinking for this unit is to draw out the benefits and challenges of increased expansion and interaction in this period.
Content
Rome – Expansion and decline
Silk Road - trade
Baghdad - culture
Crusades - religion
Our key critical thinking for this unit is to draw out the benefits and challenges of increased expansion and interaction in this period.
Why?
So that we understand that from the early civilisations humans have had interactions across the globe and that there are benefits and costs to developing such relationships.
Lesson 1: Why do Civilisations expand?
https://school.bighistoryproject.com/pages/console#units/Unit-8Activity 1: Watch the following clip from Big History and answer the following questions. Your teacher may ask you to do this as a class discussion after you have watched it a second time or on the worksheet file below:
- What do we mean by a civilisation?
- What is a major process that occurred in many early agricultural/agrarian civilizations?
- Name 3 agricultural/agrarian civilizations that saw great expansion?
- What happened when agricultural civilizations no-longer expanded?
- Why was geographical expansion so important to a civilizations survival?
- Why were expanding civilizations so expensive?
- What was an economic limit to increasing wealth and power in a civilization?
- What did most civilizations do in order to continue to increase their wealth?
- As territotial expansion occurred militaries increased in order to protect the new territories, why were militaries so expensive?
- How did the growth of militaries during this period help facilitate the growth of trade and commerce and the spread of ideas?
- On the borders of civilizations what happened? What is this process called?
- What happened in Europe after the fall of Rome to increase collective learning and what was its impact?
- As a result of the increase in commerce in Europe during the Early Modern Period (1500-1750) what happened to many of the agricultural civilizations around the world
| 1.1_ws_why_did_civilisations_need_to_expand_.docx |
Extend Your Learning:
Read the following article for more information about how collective learning grew with the expansion of civilisations.
| global_encounters_of_the_ancient_kind.docx |
Lesson 2: Why did interconnection occur within the roman empire?
big idea - political unity as a driver of interconnectedness
Case Study 1: Political interconnection - the roman empire 250Ad
|
|
TaskWatch the video of the expansion of the Roman Empire and think about the following questions;
1. What do you notice about the pattern of growth? 2. What period sees the most growth? 3. What reasons can you think of to explain the growth? 4. Explain how the following might encourage expansion;
|
What factors were responsible for the expansion of the Roman Empire?
Activity 1: How was Rome fed and supplied? What was the benefit of expansion?
How exactly were the people of the Roman empire fed and supplied? In 50BC Rome was largely self-sufficient in the things that it needed, though this did not provide for all of its wants. As the Roman Republic expanded in the 1st Century BC and AD to encompass much of Western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East it was able to get more of the goods that it wanted. This expansion was driven largely by political forces namely consuls and emperors that sought to expand Romes power. In the activity below you will identify how political expansion brought benefits to the people of Rome and it's empire in increased wealth.
i. On the map of the Roman Empire identify each of the Roman Provinces and what benefits they brought to the empire in terms of trade. Also find out the date at which the province was annexed (conquered) by the Romans.
| blank_map_of_south_europe_and_north_africa.svg |
Activity 2: Does Rome need another province?
Studying the range of sources below write a report for the Roman emperor Claudius evaluating the benefits and costs of expanding the Roman empire into the British Isles. Below you will find a list of prompts to help you write your report:
The benefits and costs of Roman expansion
| romes_expansion_reading.docx |
Hail Caesar,
Most Divine, across the seas from Gaul the land of the Britons exists...
Your great uncle the divine Julius temporarily invaded the land of the Britons almost a century ago, you will know that the Britons are...
However the benefits that this conquest and the further expansion can bring our empire are many fold...
Politically the land of the Britons is...
Economically the land can bring many benefits to our empire...
The Social benefits to our empire and to the Britons should we expand include...
I advise you divine princeps that the land of the Britons.... (evaluate whether Rome should invade Britain and the most important benefits it will bring)
REFLECTION: To be successful it is expected that you use all of the ancient sources and secondary evidence above.
Your evaluation should balance the benefits of expansion and costs of expansion and give a reasoned conclusion.
Most Divine, across the seas from Gaul the land of the Britons exists...
Your great uncle the divine Julius temporarily invaded the land of the Britons almost a century ago, you will know that the Britons are...
However the benefits that this conquest and the further expansion can bring our empire are many fold...
Politically the land of the Britons is...
Economically the land can bring many benefits to our empire...
The Social benefits to our empire and to the Britons should we expand include...
I advise you divine princeps that the land of the Britons.... (evaluate whether Rome should invade Britain and the most important benefits it will bring)
REFLECTION: To be successful it is expected that you use all of the ancient sources and secondary evidence above.
Your evaluation should balance the benefits of expansion and costs of expansion and give a reasoned conclusion.
Additional reading and resources
| the_roman_republic_expansion.docx |
Ancient Rome
|
|
|
| roman_history.ppt |
| how_was_the_army_organised_bsa_edit.ppt |
The Roman World
null
Lesson 3: Why had the Roman Empire become so fragile by the 5th century ad?
| img-831105505-0001.pdf |
| img-831105422-0001.pdf |
Activity 1: Writing and producing a documentary
Your teacher may now ask you to write and record a documentary explaining the decline and end of the Roman Empire. You can use the file below to help you structure and record the information you will need to produce the documentary. When you have answered the questions you should categorize the reasons for the decline and end of the empire. This will help you write a documentary that is more than just narrating a story but will encourage you to analyze causes. There are ways to do this, below are some causation ideas and scaffolds to help:
- Political, Social and Economic Causes (PSE)
- Short Term and Long Term Causes
These scaffolds may help you to think more clearly about why the Empire ended and show the interconnectedness of the different causes:
| writing_a_documentary.docx |
|
|
|
Downfall of the Roman EMpire game
| fall_of_the_roman_empire_-_game.pdf |
8 Reasons Why Rome Fell
The most straightforward theory for Western Rome's collapse pins the fall on a string of military losses sustained against outside forces. Rome had tangled with Germanic tribes for centuries, but by the 300s "barbarian" groups like the Goths had encroached beyond the Empire's borders.
lESSON 4: East meets West – contemporary perspectives on the Silk Road – how do we know?
big idea- economies and Trade as a driving factor of interconnection
|
|
|
Case Study 2: The silk road - How significant was trade in connecting the East and West?
Activity One: Traveling the Silk Road - Developing Understanding
In this activity you will discover how a trade network that covered the Eurasian landmass brought interconnectedness through economic relationships. The Silk Road/Roads/Routes were a vast system of trading routes that linked humans across thousands of miles. Mainly for the exchange of material goods and wealth, ideas too, were exchanged fostering collective learning.
In this activity your teacher will give you a travel-log to record a fictional journey along parts of the Silk route. You will find out information and record experiences of what this network was like during the period between 1000- 1400AD.
You will take details of the following things along the way: names of the cities, goods traded, geography and terrain, political rulers, music and culture. You are encouraged to use all of the sources of information below.
You may decide to represent your journey in a number of ways using technology, there are some ideas and links at the bottom of this lesson. You should record your main ideas in the table below:
In this activity your teacher will give you a travel-log to record a fictional journey along parts of the Silk route. You will find out information and record experiences of what this network was like during the period between 1000- 1400AD.
You will take details of the following things along the way: names of the cities, goods traded, geography and terrain, political rulers, music and culture. You are encouraged to use all of the sources of information below.
You may decide to represent your journey in a number of ways using technology, there are some ideas and links at the bottom of this lesson. You should record your main ideas in the table below:
| activity_one_-_the_silk_road.docx |
Mapping the Silk road
| mapping_and_travelling_the_silk_road.docx |
| nma-silk-road-unit-bw.pdf |
null
Maritime traders had different challenges to face on their lengthy journeys. The development of sailing technology, and in particular of ship-building knowledge, increased the safety of sea travel throughout the Middle Ages.
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||
| on_the_silk_road_with_sam_willis.docx |
|
|
|
What were the benefits of the Silk Route? |
Activity 2: Sources Exercise: Passages from the Journey of Marco Polo
Marco Polo's extraordinary journey was captured in his Book of the Marvels of the World. There is some discussion over the authenticity of the journey, but few doubt that it gives by the standards of the time as accurate an account of the East and the Silk Road as can be expected by a Medieval European.
In Activity 2 you will use your background knowledge and understanding of Polo and the Silk Road to develop your skills as an historian in dealing with primary source material .
A historian needs to develop their skills over time to be able to confidently:
Your teacher may decide to read the sources below with you in order and discuss the skills above with you as they go. Be prepared to annotate ideas on your own copy that you can download below the gallery. You should then write answers to each of the 4 questions.
In Activity 2 you will use your background knowledge and understanding of Polo and the Silk Road to develop your skills as an historian in dealing with primary source material .
A historian needs to develop their skills over time to be able to confidently:
- Infer meaning from sources deductively and inductively
- Corroborate sources for agreement and disagreement
- Analyse the usefulness of sources for answering an enquiry question.
Your teacher may decide to read the sources below with you in order and discuss the skills above with you as they go. Be prepared to annotate ideas on your own copy that you can download below the gallery. You should then write answers to each of the 4 questions.
| marco_polo_-_evidence.docx |
Lesson 5: How far does Baghdad demonstrate the benefits of interconnection and collective learning?
Activity 1: Travel Writing: How can we write interesting and informative historical travel writing?
You are now going to look in depth at a city that is at the junction of East and West. Baghdad, in modern Iraq is reported in news through generally negative stories. In the year 2003 a US led coalition invaded Iraq and removed Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein from power. Between 2003 and 2009 America and other allies occupied Iraq during a period of reconstruction. This was not welcomed by many in Iraq and a period of civil-war and resistance began. In 2014 Iraq was further destabilized by an insurrection led by the Islamic State (Daesh). The recent history of Baghdad sharply contrasts with Baghdad's past as a center of trade and learning.
You are going to write a piece of travel writing from Baghdad in the 8-12th centuries AD and author a piece of travel writing that will describe to the reader what Baghdad was like at this time. Baghdad was at a junction of the Silk Road lying on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. As such it benefited from being highly interconnected not only with the Silk Road but the rest of the Arab Peninsular, North Africa and the Black Sea. It was also a cross roads for ideas and knowledge and as such a place for the dispersion of collective learning. In this piece of travel writing you should exhibit your flair and imagination for describing the city and most importantly stay true to the historical sources below:
You are going to write a piece of travel writing from Baghdad in the 8-12th centuries AD and author a piece of travel writing that will describe to the reader what Baghdad was like at this time. Baghdad was at a junction of the Silk Road lying on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. As such it benefited from being highly interconnected not only with the Silk Road but the rest of the Arab Peninsular, North Africa and the Black Sea. It was also a cross roads for ideas and knowledge and as such a place for the dispersion of collective learning. In this piece of travel writing you should exhibit your flair and imagination for describing the city and most importantly stay true to the historical sources below:
Use the Powerpoint and the sources to consider what great travel writing looks like...
|
|
|
| what-is-travel-writing.pptx |
| baghdad_guide.pdf |
|
| ||||
The silk road now and in the future?
China's $900 billion New Silk Road. What you need to know
It's perhaps the biggest infrastructure project the world has ever see. It's also controversial. So why is China doing it?
Evaluation Task: How beneficial was the silk road?
Create a cost-benefit analysis of the trade link (Silk Road) between the East and the West.
Cultural Exchange on the Silk Road
Information about the Cultural Exchange on the Silk Road
interconnection - the idea and the individual as a driving factor
case study 3: mohammed and ghenghis khan two drivers of interconnectedness
Lesson 6: How can religion create interconnections?
The Arabian Peninsular is one of the most challenging places for humans to survive. 1400 Years ago the people that lived there lived as nomads shepherding and trading across the wide open deserts or lived in the two large trading cities; Mecca and Medinah. The challenging environment together with fighting between tribes of nomads made existence on the peninsular harsh and extremely difficult. However in the early 7th century/1st century (your teacher will explain) an individual and a religious idea took hold and united the people of the peninsular and within 100 years had conquered a large empire spreading their idea to North Africa and the border of Europe and the Indian subcontinent. What were the ideas of the Prophet Mohammed* and how did territorial growth and religious growth spread new ideas and bring benefits and further interconnection?
|
|
|
| arabia_before_islam.pdf |
Mohammed and the rise of islam
|
|
|
|
| muhammed_and_islam.pdf |
|
|
|
|
| ||||
Lesson 7: How can individuals drive interconnection? (Ghenghis Khan)
The Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan
Task 1: The life and achievements of Genghis Khan- Understanding the story
Read the following account of the life and achievements of Genghis Khan. Highlight the key events in his life and record them on the timeline below.
| the_life_and_achievements_of_genghis_khan.docx |
Task 2: Watch the following documentary on the life of Genghis Khan
Task 3: The role of the individual: Leadership of Genghis Khan
|
| ||||
lESSON 8 How did religion drive people apart? What were the causes and consequences of the First Crusade for East and West interactions?
| the_crusades.pdf |
|
|
lESSON 9: Who benefited from the Crusades AND WHY?
| who_benefited_from_the_crusades.pdf |
How do we write good essays?
i. Review the timeline below. Identify the civilizations that you have studied in this unit 'East Meets West' along the timeline. You will notice that these civilizations were divided across many hundreds of years so it is important that when you write the essay you must show your understanding of patterns across time. You have developed your understanding of the benefits and costs of expansion and interconnection and now you must demonstrate these through your essay writing skills.
Essay Title: How beneficial was the relationship between east and west?
| 1.1_wsanswers_why_did_civilisations_need_to_expand_.docx |