Big History School: Core - Big History School

0.1 What is Big History?

0.1.1

Website navigation: scavenger hunt

0.1.2

Learning log: big question unit 0

0.1.3

Video: What is Big History?

0.1.4

Story: describe the future

0.2 Modern scientific origin story

0.2.1

Video: Big History - a modern scientific origin story

0.2.2

Comparison: origin stories

Reading: origin story – Modern scientific

Reading: origin story - Chinese

Reading: origin story - Judeo-Christian

Reading: origin story - Iroquois

Reading: origin story – Mayan

Reading: origin story – Greek

Reading: origin story – Tat Roog

Reading: origin story – Hindu

Reading: origin story – Ancient Egyptian

Reading: origin story – Aboriginal Australian

0.3 Scale in Big History

0.3.1

Video: Scale in Big History

0.3.2

External link: Powers of 10

Observation: powers of 10

0.3.3

Conversion: Big History human timeline

0.3.4

Timeline: Universe, Earth, humans

0.4 Claim testing

0.4.1

Video: What is knowledge?

0.4.2

Video: What is claim testing?

0.4.3

Claim testing: intro

0.4.4

Learning log: big question unit 0 revisit

1.1 Thresholds of increasing complexity and the Big Bang

1.1.1

Claim testing: take 1 the Big Bang

1.1.2

Learning log: big question unit 1

1.1.3

Video: What are thresholds of increasing complexity?

1.1.4

Video: Threshold 1 the Big Bang

Threshold graphic: threshold 1 the Big Bang

1.1.5

External link: The beginning of everything

1.1.6

Demo: Big Bang balloon

1.1.7

Infographic: Big Bang

1.2 How did our understanding of the Universe change?

1.2.1

Video: What is collective learning?

1.2.2

Video: How did our understanding of the Universe change?

1.2.3

Reading: Views of the Universe - Claudius Ptolemy

Reading: Views of the Universe - Galileo Galilei

Reading: Views of the Universe - Nicolaus Copernicus

Reading: Views of the Universe - Isaac Newton

Reading: Views of the Universe - Henriette Leavitt

Reading: Views of the Universe - Edwin Hubble

Timeline: changing views of the Universe

1.2.4

Research task: gravitational waves

1.2.5

Debate: views of the Universe

1.3 Big Bang (CK)

1.3.1

Claim testing: take 2 the Big Bang

1.3.2

Reading: What is interdisciplinarity?

1.3.3

Video: Introduction to astrophysics

1.3.4

Your research team: the Big Bang

1.3.5

Learning log: big question unit 1 revisit

2.1 How were stars formed?

2.1.1

Claim testing: take 1 stars and galaxies

2.1.2

Learning Log: big question unit 2

2.1.3

Video: Threshold 2 stars and galaxies

Threshold graphic: threshold 2 stars and galaxies

2.1.4

Video: How were stars formed?

2.1.5

Image sequence: life cycle of a star

External link: The life cycles of stars

2.1.6

Comic strip: life of a star

2.1.7

Research task: threshold news

2.2 How do we study stars?

2.2.1

External link: Hertzprug Russell diagram

2.2.2

Graph plot: Hertzprug-Russell diagram

2.2.3

External link: Parallax and star distance

Demo: observing parallax

2.2.4

Reading: Viewing stars through time

2.2.5

Image sequence: telescopes through time

2.3 Stars and galaxies (CK)

2.3.1

Claim testing: take 2 stars and galaxies

2.3.2

External link: Hear from an astronomer

2.3.3

Research task: astronomy and astrophysics

2.3.4

Your research team: stars and galaxies

2.3.5

Learning log: big question unit 2 revisit

3.1 Creation of new chemical elements

3.1.1

Claim testing: take 1 new chemicals

3.1.2

Learning log: big question unit 3

3.1.3

Video: Threshold 3 new chemicals

Threshold graphic: Threshold 3 new chemicals

3.1.4

Object analysis: is it in there?

3.1.5

External link: What did stars give us?

3.1.6

Reading: Dmitri Mendeleev

3.1.7

Video: How to read the periodic table

Matching task: periodic table

3.1.8

Research task: superhero element

3.2 What does the Universe do with chemical elements?

3.2.1

Video: What does the Universe do with chemical elements?

3.2.2

Reading: What do humans do with chemical elements?

3.2.3

Research task: threshold news

3.3 New Chemicals (CK)

3.3.1

Claim testing: take 2 new chemicals

3.3.2

Reading: Marie Curie - chemistry, physics and radioactivity

3.3.3

Your research team: new chemicals

3.3.4

Learning log: big question unit 3 revisit

4.1 Formation of our solar system and earth

4.1.1

Claim testing: take 1 planetary bodies

4.1.2

Learning log: big question unit 4

4.1.3

Video: Threshold 4 planetary bodies

Threshold graphic: threshold 4 planetary bodies

4.1.4

Image sequence: planet formation

4.1.5

External link: How did Earth and the solar system form?

4.1.6

Demo: active accretion

4.1.7

Measurement scale: model of the solar system

4.2 What was young earth like?

4.2.1

Multiple scales: what do you see? What don't you see?

4.2.2

Video: What was the young Earth like?

4.2.3

Reading: Earth's early atmosphere

4.2.4

Infographic: chemical abundances

4.3 Why is plate tectonics important?

4.3.1

Video: Plate tectonics

4.3.2

Reading: Planet terror

4.3.3

Research: biography of a continent

4.3.4

Research: threshold news

4.4 Planetary bodies (CK)

4.4.1

Claim testing: take 2 planetary bodies

4.4.2

Video: Introduction to the geologic time chart

4.4.3

Timeline: development of a theory - geology

Reading: theories of geology - Eratothenes

Reading: theories of geology - Charles Lyell

Reading: theories of geology - Alfred Wegner & Harry Hess

4.4.4

Your research team: planetary bodies

4.4.5

Learning log: big question unit 4 revisit

5.1 What is life?

5.1.1

Claim testing: take 1 life

5.1.2

Learning log: big question unit 5

5.1.3

Video: Threshold 5 life

Threshold graphic: threshold 5 life

5.1.4

Comparison: how closely related are we?

5.1.5

Video: Life and purpose

5.2 How did life begin and change?

5.2.1

Video: How did life begin and change

5.2.2

Video: The tree of life

5.2.3

Interpretation: the tree of life

5.2.4

Reading: Voyage of the Beagle

5.2.5

Mapping: the voyage of the Beagle

5.2.6

External link: How does DNA work?

5.2.7

Labelling: DNA

5.3 How do earth and life interact?

5.3.1

External link: What is Ecology and the biosphere?

5.3.2

Article: living in the extremes of the biosphere

5.3.3

Reading: Earth and life

5.3.4

Research task: life of a species

5.3.5

Video: Hear from a biologist

5.3.6

External link: How we proved an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs

5.3.7

Reading: How to survive a mass extinction

5.4 Life (CK)

5.4.1

Claim testing: take 2 life

5.4.2

Reading: theories of evolution and life - Lamarck

Reading: theories of evolution and life - Charles Darwin

Reading: theories of evolution and life - Crick, Watson & Franklin

Reading: theories of evolution and life - Francis Collins & Craig Venter

Timeline: development of a theory - evolution & life

5.4.3

Your research team: life

5.4.4

Learning log: big question unit 5 revisit

5.5 Invent a species (PBL option)

5.5.1

PBL: invent a species

6.1 How our ancestors evolved

6.1.1

Claim testing: take 1 humans

6.1.2

Learning log: big question unit 6

6.1.3

Video: Threshold 6 humans

Threshold graphic: threshold 6 humans

6.1.4

Reading: How did our primate ancestors evolve?

6.1.5

Reading: How did our human ancestors evolve?

6.1.6

Image sequence: early human ancestors

6.1.7

Comic strip: natural selection within a species

6.1.8

Reading: Lucy

6.2 Collective learning

6.2.1

Video: What makes humans different?

6.2.2

Reading: Early evidence of collective learning

6.2.3

Essay: How has our knowledge of human origins changed over time?

6.3 How did the first humans live?

6.3.1

Video: How did the first humans live?

6.3.2

Reading: First humans and foraging

6.3.3

Reading: Paleolithic grocery shopping

6.3.4

Research: hunter gatherer food diary

6.3.5

Mapping: human migration patterns

6.4 Humans (CK)

6.4.1

Claim testing: take 2 humans

6.4.2

Research: zoom in early humans

6.4.3

Video: Hear from an anthropologist

6.4.4

Your research team: humans

6.4.5

Learning log: big question unit 6 revisit

7.1 The rise of agriculture

7.1.1

Claim testing: take 1 agriculture and civilisation

7.1.2

Learning log: big question unit 7

7.1.3

Video: Threshold 7 agriculture and civilisation

Threshold graphic: threshold 7 agriculture and civilisation

7.1.4

Reading: Why was agriculture so important?

7.1.5

Research: biography of a crop

7.1.6

Compare: would you rather be a forager or a farmer?

7.2 First cities and states appear

7.2.1

Video: Where and why did the first cities and states appear?

7.2.2

Video: Agrarian civilisations

7.2.3

Research: social status, power and human burials

7.2.4

Reading: Record keeping and history

7.2.5

Compare: civilisations

Reading: civilisations - Uruk

Reading: Civilisations - Mesoamerica (Olmec)

Reading: Civilisations - Jericho

Reading: Civilisations - East Asia (Shang)

Reading: Civilisations - Greco-Roman

Reading: Civilisations - Aksum

Reading: Civilisations - Ghana

7.2.6

Research: threshold news

7.3 World zones

7.3.1

Video: The four world zones

7.3.2

Reading: Growth and connection in the 4 world zones

Compare: 4 world zones

7.3.3

Case study: societal zoom in - world zones

7.3.4

Thought experiment: raise taxes or conquer?

7.3.5

Video: Why did civilisation expand?

7.3.6

External link: The silk roads

7.3.7

Reading: A burst of innovation

7.3.8

Compare: explorers

Reading: explorer profile - Ibn Battutta

Reading: explorer profile - Marco Polo

Reading: explorer profile - Zheng He

Reading: explorer profile - Henry the navigator

7.4 Agriculture & civilisation (CK)

7.4.1

Claim testing: take 2 agriculture and civilisation

7.4.2

Video: Hear from a data scientist

7.4.3

Video: Hear from an ancient historian

7.4.4

Your research team: agriculture and civilisation

7.4.5

Learning Log: big question unit 7 revisit

7.5 Invent a civilisation (PBL option)

7.5.1

PBL: invent a civilisation

8.1 Linking the world zones

8.1.1

Claim testing: take 1 our connected world

8.1.2

Learning log: big question unit 8

8.1.3

Video: Threshold 8 our connected world

Threshold graphic: threshold 8 our connected world

8.1.4

Video: How did the world become interconnected?

8.1.5

Reading: Systems of exchange and trade

8.1.6

Compare: mapping the connected world

8.1.7

Video: The Columbian Exchange

8.1.8

Reading: Development of the global economy

8.1.9

Plot: personal supply chain

8.2 Energy and acceleration

8.2.1

Video: Global commerce and information accelerate

8.2.2

Reading: Industry and new sources of energy

8.2.3

Case study: societal zoom in - industrial transformation

8.2.4

Timeline: our connected world innovations

8.2.5

Reading: Industrial transformation & conflict

8.2.6

Video: Industrial transformation & social change

8.2.7

Societal comparison: agriculture v industrial

8.2.8

Case study: burst of innovation

8.3 The Anthropocene

8.3.1

Video: Humans and the biosphere

8.3.2

Graphing: the great acceleration

8.3.3

Video: Planetary boundaries

Interpretation: planetary boundaries

8.3.4

Debate: population or consumption growth?

8.4 Our connected world (CK)

8.4.1

Claim testing: take 2 our connected world

8.4.2

Video: Hear from a geographer

8.4.3

Video: Hear from a climate ecologist

8.4.4

Your research team: our connected world

8.4.5

Learning log: big question unit 8 revisit

9.1 Thinking about the future

9.1.1

Claim testing: take 1 the future

9.1.2

Timeline: scale review

9.1.3

Video: Thinking about the future

9.1.4

Video: What can we predict?

9.1.5

Predict: threshold 9 the future

9.2 Near futures

9.2.1

Video: Four scenarios for the near future

9.2.2

Evaluation task: energy solutions

9.3 Remote futures

9.3.1

Reading: Remote futures of the continents, planets and the Universe

9.3.2

Table: remote futures

9.3.3

External link: Are we alone? Open letter from Breakthrough Initiatives

Reading: The Fermi Paradox

Predict: Anyone out there?

9.3.4

Video: The future of humanity

9.3.5

Claim testing: take 2 the future

Unit 0: What is Big History?

Unit 1: Big Bang

Unit 2: Stars and Galaxies

Unit 3: New Chemicals

Unit 4: Planetary Bodies

Unit 5: Life

Unit 6: Humans

Unit 7: Agriculture and Civilisations

Unit 8: Our Connected World

Unit 9: The Future