AP World History
Chapter 1 Preview Activity

ACADEMIC VOCABULARY: The terms below represent academic vocabulary you are likely to encounter in this book, as well as throughout many of the courses you will take. Use the reading above and a dictionary to define the terms, give examples of what the words represent, and create an illustration representing the meaning of the word.

Term / Definition / Example / Illustration or Sentence
development
revolutionary
unprecedented
settlement
specialization
accumulate
elaboration

AP World History
Reading an AP Textbook

Introduction: Understanding how the textbook is organized will greatly increase your ability to understand what is important, and what is information that is nice to know, but not vital when it comes to preparing for the AP exam. In this activity, you will learn to identify the key features in the textbook and use these features to create a graphic organizer that you will use to take notes.

The Image: At the beginning of each chapter, there is an image with a caption. This image is a primary source that historians have used to learn about the period addressed in the chapter. This image will give you an idea of the artistic developments of the period. Look at the image on PAGE 4 of your textbook. Write one thing you learn from this image in the space below.

  1. ______

The Story: Every chapter begins with a story, usually between 3 – 5 paragraphs in length. This story is a way to hook the reader and get you thinking about the period you are about to read about. It also personalizes history, to help you understand historical empathy (putting yourself “in their shoes”). Read the story of Lucy on PAGE 5 of the textbook.

  1. Who was Lucy, and why is she important to understanding humans? ______

______

The Table of Contents: On first page of each chapter, there is a bar on the right edge of the page with section titles (in bold face print) and subtitles (in italics). This will help you organize your chapter outlines, as well as help you set a reading pace. You should be able to read one section in one sitting. Look at the table of contents on PAGE 5. Write the section titles in the spaces below.

3. ______

4. How many subsections are there in the chapter? ______

The Thesis: Every chapter has a THESIS. This is the author’s argument, or main points that he/she will make about the topic given in the chapter. Learning to identify the thesis will make your life as an AP student easier. It will let you know what points to focus on, and it will also model what a thesis statement for an AP essay should look like. The thesis will sometimes be spread out between paragraphs in the introduction of the chapter. If you read the table of contents, then you should already have an idea of the three main topics of discussion (look at number 3 above). Keep these in mind as they will help you identify the thesis.

Remember how each chapter begins with a story? Well, toward the bottom of the page, the author begins to break away from the story and begins to talk about a broader topic. For example, on the bottom of PAGE 5, the last paragraph no longer talks about Lucy. Check for yourself.

This is your clue that the author is shifting from getting your attention, to telling you what the rest of the chapter will be about. Think of it as an essay. The first page of the chapter is the attention getter. Then toward the bottom of the first page, the author begins to give some background. The last paragraph (and sometimes the last two) make a claim, or argument about history. This is the thesis. Read last two paragraphs of the introduction (the first two paragraphs on PAGE 6). Nowcopy two sentences from the bookthat claim something to be true in the space below.

5.______

Creating a Graphic Organizer: Now that you have identified the thesis, underline or highlight the key words or subjects being addressed in the previous two sentences you copied. This will help you organize information as you read. Below are the words and phrases that you should have identified. How would you make this into a chart?

Humans have exploited the natural environment

Human beings laid social foundations for future humans

Human beings laid economic foundations for future humans

Human beings laid cultural foundation for future humans

HINT: Do these sound like the topics you studied in 9th Grade Geography? (Human-environment interaction, social, cultural and economic developments). There is a reason for that. If you focus on the social, political, cultural, economic and human-environment interaction, you will better understand why some human societies have developed along different paths. This is a skill that you will refine in AP World History.

Sample Chart (Reduced to smaller scale for illustration purposes)

How did early humans exploit their environment? / What social foundations did early humans lay?
What economic foundations did early humans lay? / What cultural foundations did early humans lay?

7. Create a one page graphic organizer for Chapter 1 on a separate sheet of paper. You will use this as a review of the big picture items for Chapter 1.

The Chapter Sections: Each Chapter has three or four sections that focus on one particular aspect. Usually, you will find that the first section is a general overview of everything, and the second, third and fourth sections go into more detail on the social, economic and cultural developments. Each section begins with a 1-2 paragraph introduction. Follow the same steps from the activities above in order to identify the argument for that particular section. As you read the rest of the section, focus on finding evidence used by the author to back up the claim.

8. Read the first two paragraphs of “The Evolution of Homo Sapiens” on PAGE 6 and copy the sentence you believe to be the author’s claim. ______
______

9. Now use the sub-section headings to create a graphic organizer for this section. It should look something like this (except it will take up a whole page) for the first subsection of Chapter 1. You may also want to use Cornell Notes formatting within each space. We will talk more about these later.

Study Questions / The Hominids
Study Questions / Homo Sapiens

The Ancillaries: The last things you want to focus on are the special inserts. These include images, maps, charts, primary source documents (very important that you read these) and other additional material to help you better understand the section. In an AP class, you do not want to ignore these, since these are the types of visuals seen on the AP Exam.

10. Look at the picture on page 7. What does that picture tell you about the techniques historians use to study ancient history?

______

______

11. Study the map on pages 8 and 9. What conclusions can you draw about the spread of early humans and hominids? Write 4 statements that can be supported by the information on the map.

a. ______

b. ______

c. ______

d. ______

12. Read the “Contexts and Connections” insert on pages 11 and 12. What point does the author make about human migration?

______

______

______

Independent Practice 1: You will now practice the skills you have just learned on your own. The following assignments must be completed on a separate sheet of paper and turned in as a packet, or they can be completed in your Interactive Notebooks.

  1. Read the introduction to section 2 –Paleolithic Society - and list the main points made by the author.
  2. On the same piece of paper as #1, create a graphic organizer for the section.
  3. Read the section and take notes on the main points on the graphic organizer you created.
  4. Study the images and answer the following question in a well written paragraph:

What evidence from the past have historians relied on to understand societies that existed before the development of writing?

Independent Practice 2: The following assignments correspond to the third section in the book and must be completed on a separate sheet of paper and turned in as a packet, or they can be completed in your Interactive Notebooks.

  1. Read the introduction to section 3 –The Neolithic Era and the Transition to Agriculture- and list the main points made by the author.
  2. On the same piece of paper as #1, create a graphic organizer for the section.
  3. Read the section and take notes on the main points on the graphic organizer you created.
  4. Study the images and answer the following question in a well written paragraph:

What are three major ways in which agriculture changed human societies?