Welcome to A.P. World History
Course Description
• In A.P. World History we will explore key themes
of world history, including interaction with the
environment, cultures, state-building, economic
systems, and social structures, from
approximately 8000 B.C.E. to the present.
The A.P. Exam
• Exam is Thursday, May 15th
• Graded on scale 1 to 5
• 3, 4, or 5 = college credit
• 1,2 = no college credit
The A.P. Exam Format
Question Type
Number of
Questions
Timing
Multiple-choice
70 questions
55 minutes
Document-based
question
1 question
50 minutes
Continuity and
change-over time
essay
1 question
40 minutes
Comparative essay
1 question
40 minutes
THE DBQ
• 10 Documents
• Must use all 10
• Must suggest a
document that is not in
the DBQ you feel would
help
• You must group the
documents into 3
groups, based on their
point of view or some
similarity
Continuity and Change Over Time Essay (CCOT)
• No documents, this is a free response essay
• Must analyze a change that occurs in a society
over time
• Example:
Analyze continuities and changes in trade networks
between Africa and Eurasia from circa 300 C.E. to 1450 C.E.
Comparative Essay
• No documents, this is a free response essay
• Must compare 2 regions with each other at a
specific point in time
• Important you don’t summarize one, then the
other. Need to constantly go back and forth
• Example: Compare demographic and environmental
effects of the Columbian Exchange on the Americas with
the Columbian Exchange’s demographic and
environmental effects on ONE of the following regions
between 1492 and 1750. (Africa, Asia, or Europe)
Periodization
• If you were to write an autobiography at this
point in your life, you may very well go
chronologically
How would you break up the chapters?
• A.P. World History breaks history into 6
chapters, called periods
Period
Number
Title
Time Frame
Period
Weights
Textbook
Chapters
Period 1
Technological and Environmental
Transformations
8000 B.C.E
– 600 B.C.E.
5%
1
Period 2
Organization and Reorganization
of Human Societies
600 B.C.E. –
600 C.E.
15%
2-5
Period 3
Regional and Transregional
Interactions
600 C.E. –
1450
20%
6-15
Period 4
Global Interactions
1450-1750
20%
16-22
Period 5
Industrialization and Global
Integration
1750-1900
20%
23-27
Period 6
Accelerating Global Change and
Realignments
1900Present
20%
28-36
Course Themes
• As we study history, we must focus on 5 major
themes for each unit we study
• These themes are…
Theme 1 - Environment
Interactions between humans
and the environment
• Demography
(population) and disease
• Migration
• Patterns of Settlement
• Technology
Theme 2 - Culture
Development and interactions of cultures
• Religions
• Belief systems, philosophies, ideologies
• Science and technology
• Arts and architecture
Theme 3 - Politics
State building, expansion, and conflict
• Forms of government
• Empires
• Nations and nationalism
• Revolts and revolutions
• Regional, transregional, and global structures and
organizations
Theme 4 – Economics
Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems
• Agriculture and pastoral production
• Trade and commerce
• Labor systems
• Industrialization
• Capitalism and socialism
Theme 5 – Sociology
Development and transformations of social structures
• Gender roles and relations
• Family and kinship
• Racial and ethnic constructions
• Social and economic classes
P.E.C.E.S
We’ll use term P.E.C.E.S. to remember the 5 themes
• Politics
• Environment
• Culture
• Economics
• Sociology
Important Info/Tips
• Use my website (have to go to Salk site)
• Keep up with course work and do
reading/assignments
• Read slow, take notes
• Don’t be absent and actively participate in class