Unit 5: Political Powers and Achievements
Unit Description: New state structures emerge after the fall of the Classical empires, leading to a greater diffusion of ideas throughout Eurasia and the eventual rise of new empires that experienced Golden Ages.
Stage 1- Desired Results
Essential Questions
What new powers emerged in Europe and Asia in the Middle Ages and how did this affect the relationships between societies?
What techniques did states and empires use to expand their borders and control their societies?
How did stability within these empires and states contribute to important cultural, technological, and scientific innovations?
Enduring Understandings
Students understand that...
New power arrangements emerged across Eurasia. Political states and empires employed a variety of techniques for expanding and maintaining control. Periods of relative stability allowed for significant cultural, technological, and scientific innovations.
Common Core Standards and Performance Indicators:
Unifying Themes:
Individual Development and Cultural Identity (ID)
Development, Movement, and Interaction of Cultures (MOV)
Power, Authority, and Governance (GOV)
Science, Technology, and Innovation (TECH)
Social Studies Content Area Standards:
Social Studies Practices (begin on page 3)
Common Core Learning Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science,and Technical Subjects (begins on page 76)
Knowledge
Students know that...
9.5a Following the fall of the Roman Empire, divergent societies emerged in Europe.
9.5b Political states and empires employed a variety of techniques for expanding and maintaining control, and sometimes disrupted state-building in other regions.
9.5c Periods of stability and prosperity enabled cultural, technological, and scientific achievements and innovations that built on or blended with available knowledge, and often led to cultural diffusion.
Skills
Students will be able to...
Students will examine the political, economic, and social institutions of feudal Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire, including the role of Justinian and Theodora during the Middle Ages.
Students will compare and contrast the institutions in feudal Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire ca. 500 to ca. 1200.
Students will examine the locations and relative sizes of postclassical states and empires at the heights of their power, including the Abbasid Caliphate, Byzantine Empire, Mongol Empire, and Song and Tang dynasties, noting relative position, power within their regions and the areas they influenced.
Students will compare and contrast the empire-building processes of the Mongols and the Islamic caliphates, noting important disruptions in other regions.
Students will compare and contrast the achievements and innovations of the Tang and Song dynasties with the Abbasid Caliphate.
Students will explore the spread and evolution of technology and learning from East Asia to Western Europe via the Middle East (e.g., gunpowder, ship technology, navigation, printing, paper).
Students will examine feudal Japan, tracing the previous arrival of elements of Chinese culture (e.g., Buddhism, writing, poetry, art) and how those elements were adopted in and adapted to Japanese society.
Key Vocabulary:
feudalism
fief
self-sufficient
guild system
doctrine
heresy
secular
anti-Semitism
Magna Carta
Parliament
schism
autocrat
Caliphate
sultan
civil service system
caravel
astrolabe
Khanate
tributary state
scholar-gentry
archipelago
Shogunate
Stage 2- Assessment Evidence
Summative Tasks
The Middle Ages: Dark Ages, Age of Faith, Age of Feudalism, or a Golden Age? (DBQ page 25)
Recognizing Bias: Justinian the Great CRQ
Knights and Samurai Compared Mini-Q Packet
End of unit assessment: 35 questions covering parts of 9.1 - 9.4 and a heavy focus on 9.5. Followed by a thematic essay on a post-classical empire.
Formative Tasks
Jewish Expulsions and Migrations in Medieval Europe: brief map and reading that asks students to identify causes and effects
Students will create a Venn Diagram comparing the Abbasid Empire to the Tang/Song Empire.
Feudalism in Western Europe "A Vassal Pledges his Loyalty" Students note perspective and evaluate effectiveness of feudalism
The Treatment of Dhimmi in the Muslim Empire: students make inferences and a claim with evidence
x Assessing the Abbasid: Supporting Opinions with Evidence (page 30) Students evaluate a statement about the abbasid by placing an "X" on a spectrum and cite evidence.
Growth of Royal Power in the High Middle Ages: Cause and Effect Skill Practice
Feudal illustrations and letters: 8 sources with questions on perspective and comparison
Charlemagne: Interpreting Different Points of View from Primary and Secondary Documents: 4 documents with multiple choice questions and a writing assignment assessing source reliability
Stage 3- Related Lessons
Lesson Plans and Content
Videos, Documents, and Resources
A series of Medieval primary sources, including:
Were the Dark Ages Really Dark? (SHEG)
an application from a vassal to a Lord asking for protection
a general grant of immunity from a king to a bishop
a fief granted personally from King Louis VII of France to a bishop
a contract involving reciprocity between the lord and the vassal
Understanding the Black Death with PowerPoint (SHEG)
How did the Islamic Empire Expand? (SHEG)
The First Crusade with PowerPoint (SHEG): What happened when Crusaders entered Jerusalem during the First Crusade?
x The Mongols Impact on China (page 59-63) Analyze secondary sources to determine if the Yuan's changes were positive or negative
Role of Monasteries in Medieval European Society
Chart of Islamic Contributions
Internal and External Influences on Japan Chart
Japan's Feudal Hierarchy Chart
Chinese Technological Achievements and their Adoption in the West Chart
China's Influence on It's Neighbors Web Diagram
The Rise and Decline of the Byzantine Empire Flowchart
Suggestions for Diverse Learners
The Lord's Land game: claim land and acquire knights. Includes a summary sheet to show understanding (pages 22-26)
The Children's Crusade Fact or Legend? (pages 57-60)
Consider the Source: The Black Death (pages 88-89): Read an excerpt from The Decameron and determine how reliable it is
Song Dynasty role play: brief readings on different sectors of Song society and how their life is better or worse with the new dynasty (page 52)