Chapter 1 Notes
Vocabulary:
decade: 10 years
century: 100 years
millenium: 1000 years
epoch: a period of time in history or a person’s life
era: a long period of time
prehistory: time before humans developed writing
calendar: a system for arranging dates in order
Julian Calendar: developed by Julius Caesar at the founding of Rome
Gregorian Calendar: developed by Gregory XIII at the birth of Jesus
B.C.: before Christ, used in the Gregorian Calendar
A.D.: anno domini (“the year of our lord”), used in the Gregorian Calendar
B.C.E.: before the common era, used in the Gregorian calendar to avoid religious reference
C.E.: common era, used in the Gregorian calendar to avoid religious reference
timeline: a way to track the passage of time
period: a length of time
Prehistory: time up to 3500 B.C., before writing was developed
Ancient History: 3500 B.C. to A.D. 500
Middle Ages: A.D. 500 to A.D. 1400
Modern History: after A.D. 1400 to present
Outline Chapter 1, Lesson 1:
I.
Why Study History?
a. History is the study of people and events of the past
b. Historians study history
c. History explains why things are the way they are
d. Learning about the past helps us
i. understand the present
ii. make decisions about the future
II.
Measuring Time
a. Periods in History
i. Decade
ii. Century
iii. Millennium
iv. Eras
b. Prehistory: time up to 3500 B.C., before writing was developed
c. Ancient History: 3500 B.C. to A.D. 500
d. Middle Ages: A.D. 500 to A.D. 1400
e. Modern History: after A.D. 1400 to present
f. Calendars
i. Julian Calendar
1. Developed by Julius Caesar
2. Started counting years at the founding of Rome
3. Included a leap year every 4 years
4. Lost 1 day every 128 years
ii. Gregorian Calendar
1. Developed by Pope Gregory XIII
2. Started counting years at the birth of Jesus
3. Includes a leap year
4. Looses a day after thousands of years
g. Dating Events
i. B.C. written after the date; counted backwards from the birth of Jesus
ii. A.D. written before the date
iii. B.C.E.
iv. C.E.
v. No year 0, the year 1 is after the birth of Jesus
h. Using Timelines
i. Show the order of events within a period of time
ii. Events are placed in chronological order
III.
Digging up the Past
a. History and Science
i. Archaeology is the study of the past by looking at what people left
behind
1. Artifacts: objects made by people
ii. Paleontology is the study fossils
1. Fossils: remains of plant and animal life
iii. Anthropology is the study of human culture and how it develops over
time
1. Study artifacts and fossils to see what people valued and
believed
b. Human Discoveries
i. discovery of “Lucy”
1. In 1974, by Donald Johanson
2. In Ethiopia, Africa
3. Lived 3.2 million years ago
4. 3 ½ feet tall and weight 60 pounds
5. Australopithicus afarensis species
6. Humans = homo sapiens (“wise man”) developed 150,000195,000 years ago
Outline Chapter 1, Lesson 2:
I.
What is the Evidence
a. Primary and Secondary Sources
i. Evidence: something that shows proof that something is true
ii. Source: a document or reference work
iii. Primary source: first hand pieces of evidence
1. Written or created by people who saw or experienced an event
2. Letters, diaries, records, clothing, and tools
iv. Secondary source: created after the event
1. Biographies, textbooks, history books
b. Reliable Sources
i. Can the source be used as fact?
c. What is Point of View?
i. Can be bias; cannot be trusted
II.
Writing About History
a. Historians study primary sources and secondary sources to get a wellrounded view of what happened.
b. Looking at History
i. Scholarly journal: historians that become experts on their subject
write articles
c. Focusing Research
i. Some researchers study a day (Pompeii) or periods
d. Drawing Conclusions
i. Historians look for facts and evidence.
ii. Then, a final decision is reached by reasoning.
e. Historical Interpretation
i. Two possible conclusions can be derived
Outline Chapter 1, Lesson 3:
I.
Research
a. Look for credentials (an author’s name)
b. Locate URLs
i. .gov = government website; very accurate data
ii. .edu = educational website; may contain opinions and facts
iii. .org = organization; may contain opinions and facts
c. avoid plagiarism
i. put information in your own words
ii. include the author’s name if you use their direct words (place “ “
around them)
iii. use a footnote when using a direct quote from a source