California Grade 7 Social Studies Curriculum Unit Bundle (79 PDF)

79 Assignments:

Students read a 500 to 600-word article on the topic

Students answer questions based on the topic

* See Preview for a look at the entire Assignment which is based on the California Standards for Social Studies

7.1 Students analyze the causes and effects of the vast expansion and ultimate disintegration of the Roman Empire.

Assignment: Expansion & Disintegration of Rome

7.1.1 Study the early strengths and lasting contributions of Rome (e.g., thesignificance of Roman citizenship; rights under Roman law; Roman art, architecture, engineering, and philosophy; preservation and transmission of Christianity) and its ultimate internal weaknesses (e.g., rise of autonomous military powers within the empire, undermining of citizenship by the growth of corruption and slavery, lack of education, and distribution of news).

Assignment: Contributions of Rome

7.1.2 Discuss the geographic borders of the empire at its height and the factors that threatened its territorial cohesion.

Assignment: Height of the Roman Empire

7.1.3 Describe the establishment by Constantine of the new capital in Constantinople and the development of the Byzantine Empire, with an emphasis on the consequences of the development of two distinct European civilizations, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic, and their two distinct views on church-state relations.

Assignment: Constantine & Constantinople

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7.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages.

Assignment: Islam in the Middle Ages

7.2.1 Identify the physical features and describe the climate of the Arabian Peninsula, its relationship to surrounding bodies of land and water, and nomadic and sedentary ways of life.

Assignment: The Arabian Peninsula

7.2.2 Trace the origins of Islam and the life and teachings of Muhammad, including Islamic teachings on the connection with Judaism and Christianity.

Assignment: The Origins of Islam

7.2.3 Explain the significance of the Qur’an and the Sunnah as the primary sources of Islamic beliefs, practice, and law, and their influence in Muslims’ daily life.

Assignment: Qur’an and Sunnah

7.2.4 Discuss the expansion of Muslim rule through military conquests and treaties, emphasizing the cultural blending within Muslim civilization and the spread and acceptance of Islam and the Arabic language.

Assignment: Muslim Expansion

7.2.5 Describe the growth of cities and the establishment of trade routes among Asia, Africa, and Europe, the products and inventions that traveled along these routes (e.g., spices, textiles, paper, steel, new crops), and the role of merchants in Arab society.

Assignment: Arab Trade

7.2.6 Understand the intellectual exchanges among Muslim scholars of Eurasia and Africa and the contributions Muslim scholars made to later civilizations in the areas of science, geography, mathematics, philosophy, medicine, art, and literature.

Assignment: Muslim Scholars

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7.3 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of China in the Middle Ages.

Assignment: Ancient China in the Middle Ages

7.3.1 Describe the reunification of China under the Tang Dynasty and reasons for the spread of Buddhism in Tang China, Korea, and Japan.

Assignment: Reunification of China

7.3.2 Describe agricultural, technological, and commercial developments during the Tang and Sung periods.

Assignment: Developments of the Tang & Sung Periods

7.3.3 Analyze the influences of Confucianism and changes in Confucian thought during the Sung and Mongol periods.

Assignment: Confucianism

7.3.4 Understand the importance of both overland trade and maritime expeditions between China and other civilizations in the Mongol Ascendancy and Ming Dynasty.

Assignment: Trade in Ancient China

7.3.5 Trace the historic influence of such discoveries as tea, the manufacture of paper, wood block printing, the compass, and gunpowder.

Assignment: Inventions of Ancient China

7.3.6 Describe the development of the imperial state and the scholar-official class.

Assignment: The Imperial State of China

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7.4 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the sub-Saharan civilizations of Ghana and Mali in Medieval Africa.

Assignment: Medieval Ghana & Mali

7.4.1 Study the Niger River and the relationship of vegetation zones of forest, savannah, and desert to trade in gold, salt, food, and slaves; and the growth of the Ghana and Mali empires.

Assignment: The Niger River

7.4.2 Analyze the importance of family, labor specialization, and regional commerce in the development of states and cities in Medieval West Africa.

Assignment: Society in Medieval West Africa

7.4.3 Describe the role of the trans-Saharan caravan trade in the changing religious and cultural characteristics of West Africa and the influence of Islamic beliefs, ethics, and law.

Assignment: Trans-Saharan Caravan Trade

7.4.4 Trace the growth of the Arabic language in government, trade, and Islamic scholarship in West Africa. 5. Describe the importance of written and oral traditions in the transmission of African history and culture

Assignment: Growth of the Arabic Language

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7.5 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Medieval Japan.

Assignment: Medieval Japan

7.5.1 Describe the significance of Japan’s proximity to China and Korea and the intellectual, linguistic, religious, and philosophical influence of those countries on Japan.

Assignment: China & Korea: Influence of Japan

7.5.2 Discuss the reign of Prince Shotoku of Japan and the characteristics of Japanese society and family life during his reign.

Assignment: Prince Shotoku

7.5.3 Describe the values, social customs, and traditions prescribed by the lord-vassal system consisting of shogun, daimyo, and samurai and the lasting influence of the warrior code in the twentieth century.

Assignment: Lord-Vassal System of Japan

7.5.4 Trace the development of distinctive forms of Japanese Buddhism.

Assignment: Japanese Buddhism

7.5.5 Study the ninth and tenth centuries’ golden age of literature, art, and drama and its lasting effects on culture today, including Murasaki Shikibu’s Tale of Genji.

Assignment: Medieval Japanese Culture

7.5.6 Analyze the rise of a military society in the late twelfth century and the role of the samurai in that society.

Assignment: Military Society & the Samurai

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7.6 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Medieval Europe.

Assignment: Medieval Europe

7.6.1 Study the geography of the Europe and the Eurasian land mass, including its location, topography, waterways, vegetation, and climate and their relationship to ways of life in Medieval Europe.

Assignment: Geography of Medieval Europe

7.6.2 Describe the spread of Christianity north of the Alps and the roles played by the early church and by monasteries in its diffusion after the fall of the western half of the Roman Empire.

Assignment: Spread if Christianity in Europe

7.6.3 Understand the development of feudalism, its role in the medieval European economy, the way in which it was influenced by physical geography (the role of the manor and the growth of towns), and how feudal relationships provided the foundation of political order.

Assignment: Medieval Feudalism

7.6.4 Demonstrate an understanding of the conflict and cooperation between the Papacy and European monarchs (e.g., Charlemagne, Gregory VII, Emperor Henry IV).

Assignment: European Monarchs & the Papacy

7.6.5 Know the significance of developments in medieval English legal and constitutional practices and their importance in the rise of modern democratic thought and representative institutions (e.g., Magna Carta, parliament, development of habeas corpus, an independent judiciary in England).

Assignment: Government & Politics of Medieval Europe

7.6.6 Discuss the causes and course of the religious Crusades and their effects on the Chris tian, Muslim, and Jewish populations in Europe, with emphasis on the increasing contact by Europeans with cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean world.

Assignment: The Crusades

7.6.7 Map the spread of the bubonic plague from Central Asia to China, the Middle East, and Europe and describe its impact on global population.

Assignment: The Bubonic Plaque

7.6.8 Understand the importance of the Catholic church as a political, intellectual, and aesthetic institution (e.g., founding of universities, political and spiritual roles of the clergy, creation of monastic and mendicant religious orders, preservation of the Latin language and religious texts, St. Thomas Aquinas’s synthesis of classical philosophy with Christian theology, and the concept of “natural law”).

Assignment: The Medieval Catholic Church

7.6.9 Know the history of the decline of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula that culminated in the Reconquista and the rise of Spanish and Portuguese kingdoms.

Assignment: The Reconquista of Spain

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7.7 Students compare and contrast the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the Meso-American and Andean civilizations.

Assignment: Social Structures of the Early Americas

7.7.1 Study the locations, landforms, and climates of Mexico, Central America, and South America and their effects on Mayan, Aztec, and Incan economies, trade, and development of urban societies.

Assignments: Geography of the Mayan, Geography of the Aztec Empire, Geography of the Inca Empire

7.7.2 Study the roles of people in each society, including class structures, family life, war fare, religious beliefs and practices, and slavery.

Assignments: Mayan Society, Aztec Society, Inca Society

7.7.3 Explain how and where each empire arose and how the Aztec and Incan empires were defeated by the Spanish.

Assignments: Rise & Fall of the Mayan Civilization, Rise & Fall of the Aztec Empire, Rise & Fall of the Inca Empire

7.7.4 Describe the artistic and oral traditions and architecture in the three civilizations.

Assignment: Art & Architecture of the Mayans, Art & Architecture of the Aztecs, Art & architecture of the Incas

7.7.5 Describe the Meso-American achievements in astronomy and mathematics, including the development of the calendar and the Meso-American knowledge of seasonal changes to the civilizations’ agricultural systems.

Assignment: Meso-American Achievements

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7.8 Students analyze the origins, accomplishments, and geographic diffusion of the Renaissance.

Assignment: The Renaissance

7.8.1 Describe the way in which the revival of classical learning and the arts fostered a new interest in humanism (i.e., a balance between intellect and religious faith).

Assignment: Humanism

7.8.2 Explain the importance of Florence in the early stages of the Renaissance and the growth of independent trading cities (e.g., Venice), with emphasis on the cities’ importance in the spread of Renaissance ideas.

Assignment: Florence & The Renaissance

7.8.3 Understand the effects of the reopening of the ancient “Silk Road” between Europe and China, including Marco Polo’s travels and the location of his routes.

Assignment: Reopening the Silk Road

7.8.4 Describe the growth and effects of new ways of disseminating information (e.g., the ability to manufacture paper, translation of the Bible into the vernacular, printing).

Assignment: Information During the Renaissance

7.8.5 Detail advances made in literature, the arts, science, mathematics, cartography, engineering, and the understanding of human anatomy and astronomy (e.g., by Dante Alighieri, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo di Buonarroti Simoni, Johann Gutenberg, William Shakespeare).

Assignment: Advancements of the Renaissance

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7.9 Students analyze the historical developments of the Reformation.

Assignment: The Reformation

7.9.1 List the causes for the internal turmoil in and weakening of the Catholic church (e.g., tax policies, selling of indulgences).

Assignment: Turmoil in the Catholic Church

7.9.2 Describe the theological, political, and economic ideas of the major figures during the Reformation (e.g., Desiderius Erasmus, Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale).

Assignment: Ideas of the Reformation

7.9.3 Explain Protestants’ new practices of church self-government and the influence of those practices on the development of democratic practices and ideas of federalism.

Assignment: New Protestant Practices

7.9.4 Identify and locate the European regions that remained Catholic and those that became Protestant and explain how the division affected the distribution of religions in the New World.

Assignment: Catholic & Protestant Boundaries

7.9.5 Analyze how the Counter-Reformation revitalized the Catholic church and the forces that fostered the movement (e.g., St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits, the Council of Trent).

Assignment: The Counter-Reformation

7.9.6 Understand the institution and impact of missionaries on Christianity and the diffusion of Christianity from Europe to other parts of the world in the medieval and early modern periods; locate missions on a world map.

Assignment: Christian Missionaries

7.9.7 Describe the Golden Age of cooperation between Jews and Muslims in medieval Spain that promoted creativity in art, literature, and science, including how that cooperation was terminated by the religious persecution of individuals and groups (e.g., the Spanish Inquisition and the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain in 1492).

Assignment: Golden Age of Medieval Spain

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7.10 Students analyze the historical developments of the Scientific Revolution and its lasting effect on religious, political, and cultural institutions.

Assignment: The Scientific Revolution

7.10.1 Discuss the roots of the Scientific Revolution (e.g., Greek rationalism; Jewish, Chris tian, and Muslim science; Renaissance humanism; new knowledge from global explo ration).

Assignment: Roots of the Scientific Revolution

7.10.2 Understand the significance of the new scientific theories (e.g., those of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton) and the significance of new inventions (e.g., the telescope, microscope, thermometer, barometer).

Assignment: New Scientific Theories

7.10.3 Understand the scientific method advanced by Bacon and Descartes, the influence of new scientific rationalism on the growth of democratic ideas, and the coexistence of science with traditional religious beliefs.

Assignment: Advancements in Science

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7.11 Students analyze political and economic change in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries (the Age of Exploration, the Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason).

Assignment: Political & Economic Change

7.11.1 Know the great voyages of discovery, the locations of the routes, and the influence of cartography in the development of a new European worldview.

Assignment: Voyages of Discovery

7.11.2 Discuss the exchanges of plants, animals, technology, culture, and ideas among Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the major economic and social effects on each continent.

Assignment: Cultural Exchange

7.11.3 Examine the origins of modern capitalism; the influence of mercantilism and cottage industry; the elements and importance of a market economy in seventeenth-century Europe; the changing international trading and marketing patterns, including their locations on a world map; and the influence of explorers and map makers.

Assignment: Origins of Capitalism

7.11.4 Explain how the main ideas of the Enlightenment can be traced back to such movements as the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution and to the Greeks, Romans, and Christianity.

Assignment: Ideas of the Enlightenment

7.11.5 Describe how democratic thought and institutions were influenced by Enlightenment thinkers (e.g., John Locke, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, American founders).

Assignment: Enlightenment Thinkers

7.11.6 Discuss how the principles in the Magna Carta were embodied in such documents as the English Bill of Rights and the American Declaration of Independence.

Assignment: Principles of the Magna Carta