During this unit, students will focus on the importance of making connections between events in different times and places and helps students understand that factors from other times and places influence events. Throughout this unit, students will revisit the time period they studied in 6th Grade and be introduced to the time period they will be studying this year. In addition, students will be introduced to the Historical Thinking skills.

We will also tackle the important issue of assuming that "textbooks = facts". It is important for students to understand how sources such as textbooks or websites came to the conclusions they did, and what influences shaped the information they chose to include. In this unit, students will examine the question, “How do we know what we know?” by starting with the question, “How do you know what you know?” and will engage in a “history mystery” to illustrate how knowledge is constructed. Students will be introduced to the Thinking Like a Historian skills of corroboration, sourcing, and multiple perspectives and will create a collage to demonstrate their understanding of the framing question.

Throughout this unit, students will examine scale from a historical and personal perspective, using maps as the focal point. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to demonstrate their learning about Historical Thinking Skills addressed throughout the unit.

Finally, students will also focus on geography so that they know where in the world they are learning about when we address said places in the upcoming units.