Seventh grade students will review the tools and mental constructs used by historians and geographers. They will develop an understanding of Ancient World History, Eras 1 – 4. Geography, civics/government, and economics content is integrated throughout the year. As a capstone, the students will conduct investigations about past and present global issues. Using significant content knowledge, research, and inquiry, they will analyze the issue and propose a plan for the future. As part of the inquiry, they compose civic, persuasive essays using reasoned arguments.

Ultimately, why something happened in the past is the question that history is all about. And here’s the fun part (or the hard part!). It’s up to you to answer the why question. You will read about many things that happened in the past and some reasons why people think they happened. People who look at the same facts sometimes come to different conclusions. Answering the other “W” questions will help you answer the question, why: Why did this happen? Answering Why -- that’s what thinking like a historian is about.

Students will learn about 3 major philosophies that impacted the government and culture of Ancient China. This lesson was developed by Michael Jackson as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

Students will read an excerpt from the book "I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives".The book centers around the evolution of a relationship between two teens, one middle class girl from the USA and one very poor boy from Zimbabwe, that started as a pen pal assignment for school. Students will consider the value of money to each teen based and compare that to their own perspective. Students will consider food prices and income in each country to determine the ability of each family to afford a healthy diet. Students will use proportions to find the cost of a variety of food items in each country. As an extension, students will create a shopping list for each family based on food costs in each country and evaluate the nutritional value of the foods they chose.This lesson was developed by Rebecca Blanchard as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.