Crash Course Video Summer Assignments

Directions:

●  Your assignment is to watch the first 4 (out of 42+ total) of the “Crash Course” videos and to answer the questions for each video

●  Please type your answers, and provide space between answers and the next question...in other words make this document organized as well as accurate and complete

●  The idea behind this is to give you a relatively painless head start on the curriculum and to give you a bit of background before we really dive into the content of the course

●  Each video is 12 minutes and the information comes fast and furious so I suggest you read the questions for each segment before watching, and you will likely have to watch each several times to get the needed information

●  Students this year have found these to be very helpful and even entertaining

●  Be able to map and locate the places mentioned in the videos

Links/Resources:

❏  Nerdfighteria: Best resource, it includes transcripts, etc. Use it! http://nerdfighteria.info/category/116

❏  or you can use YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9

Be able to map and locate the places mentioned in the videos.

Date Due:

First day of class

Points:

20 each video.

Crash Course #1 “Agricultural Revolution”

Early vegetarians returning home from the kill

●  Nerdfighteria: http://nerdfighteria.info/video/116/Yocja_N5s1I

●  YouTube:www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yocja_N5s1I&list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9&index=1

  1. How do we have evidence of Hunter-Gatherers (H-G) and their lifeways? (New word that means “ways of life”, do not use “lifestyle”).
  1. What do most early civilizations have in common?
  1. What advantages did H-G have over early agricutlrualists?
  1. Where did agriculture emerge? Which food crops are associated with which areas?
  1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of agriculture?
  1. What impact does agriculture have on the environment?
  1. What other lifeway emerged besides being a H-G or a farmer (agriculturalist)?
  1. What were the advantages and disadvantages to Pastoralism (being a herder)?
  1. Welcome to the MONGOLS! We love talking about the Mongols! We are…wait for it… ______.
  1. What advantages do you think that Eurasia had with its zoological set of animals compared to the Americas?
  1. Evaluate John Green’s thesis that “the greatest evolutionary advantage an animal species can have is being useful to humans.” Agree/disagree, why?
  1. If H-G had a “better and healthier” lifeway, why did people become agriculturalists?
  1. What point do you think John Green is making about the use of the word “savage”? How might this also apply to concepts of being “civilized” or “uncivilized”?
  1. What do historians say are the drawbacks to complex civilizations and agriculture?
  1. What other impacts do complex civilizations have on the environment?
  1. What does John Green say about “revolutions”?
  1. What does DFTBA mean?

Crash Course #2 “Indus Valley Civilization”

●  Nerdfighteria: http://nerdfighteria.info/video/116/n7ndRwqJYDM

●  YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ndRwqJYDM&list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9&index=2

  1. How is the concept of “civilization” a useful construct? When is it not a useful construct?
  1. How does John Green define what constitutes a civilization? How does this compare to other definitions of civilization you have learned?
  1. Where did the earliest civilizations emerge? Why there? List them all!
  1. Why was the Indus Valley a prime location? How did the environment impact the people who lived there?
  1. How do we know, what we know, about the IVC?
  1. How did they use technology to interact with the environment to improve their quality of life?
  1. What evidence exists of long-distance trade and with whom?
  1. What appears to be unique about the IVC, based on your knowledge of other civilizations?
  1. What theories do historians have about the fate of the IVC? As historians, what evidence might one look for to support or disprove these three theories?

Crash Course #3 “Mesopotamia”

●  “Mesopotamians” Music Video Link for #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAMRTGv82Zo

●  Nerdfighteria: http://nerdfighteria.info/video/116/sohXPx_XZ6Y

●  YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohXPx_XZ6Y&list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9

  1. Identify the members of the band “The Mesopotamians” (link above) with a one sentence bio for each, identifying role, time, and place.
  2. John Green begins by discussing one of the most obvious consequences of agriculture…what is it and what are the most immediate consequences for those societies?
  3. Grade 9 Humanities Question- Gilgamesh…Rural vs. Urban: explain what John Green is talking about?
  4. Historically speaking, why do you think cities tend to win? But did cities always win? Explain.
  5. Why do you think early cities devoted resources to building monumental architecture, like ziggurats?
  6. How does Mesopotamia compare with the Indus River Valley (IRV)? Identify both similarities and differences. Think of why a specific similarity and a specific difference might exist. (This is analysis; one of the more challenging skills you will need to develop).
  7. How might the environment of Mesopotamia influence or shape people’s perceptions of their gods?
  8. What is the significance of the emergence of palaces? How did kings gain power over priests? How did they keep it?
  9. CUNIEFORM: What three points does John Green make about the advent of writing?

a)

b)

c)

  1. How did the environment of Mesopotamia shape the economy of the society?
  2. What factors led to the downfall of the Mesopotamian city-states and to what effect? (A causes and effects question)
  3. MONGOLS! The Mongols are the exception to what general rule?
  4. What was Hammurabi’s most significant contribution?
  5. Compare new city-states with the old city-states of Mesopotamia. Identify 3 specific similarities and 3 specific differences. State a reason for at least one similarity and one difference.
  6. Who provided the basis for the development of territorial kingdoms? How? Why does this “base” prove to be unsteady?
  7. What legacy did the Assyrians leave?
  8. What are the challenges of empire what is the usual result? Or to put it in math terms:

______+ ______= ______

18. How did Assyrian kings attempt to legitimize their rule?

Crash Course #4 “Ancient Egypt”

Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JqlAD7dn-E

Nerdfighteria: http://nerdfighteria.info/video/116/Z3Wvw6BivVI

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3Wvw6BivVI

  1. What did you learn from the Music Video (link above)? Be specific. Make educated guesses/inferences/predictions...don’t leave it blank!
  2. What point is John Green making about the different “lenses” we use when we study history?
  3. How did the Nile River shape the worldview of the Egyptians? How did this compare to the Mesopotamian worldview?
  4. How was Egyptian Civilization different from most other River Valley Civilizations? Why do you think this was?
  5. What does the construction of the pyramids represent? (not “what was the purpose of the pyramids?”)
  6. What was the motivation for building the pyramids? (not “what was the purpose of the pyramids?”)
  7. What changes took place in the transition from the Old Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom?
  8. Amon-Ra or Top Ramen…you decide…
  9. What protected Egypt from outside peoples? How were the Egyptians eventually conquered by Semitic peoples of the Middle East?
  10. What changes took place in the transition from the Middle Kingdom to the New Kingdom?