Name:_______________________________________________ Date:______________
AP World History
Summer Assignment – 2015
Welcome to APWH! This is a fast-paced, challenging course with a high level of personal reward for
students who are hardworking, self-motivated, and organized. Since we will be covering a time period
stretching from 8000 BCE to the present – 36 chapters – you must complete the summer assignment so
that we may explore some topics more in depth. You do NOT need to check out a book to complete
the following assignments. These assignments will assist in building your fundamental knowledge of
World History and are intended to lay the foundation for the first unit and subsequent material covered
during the course of the year.
This assignment is due on the day we return from summer break – Thursday, August 13,2015
If you plan on skipping the summer assignment, you should reconsider taking this course. With this
assignment and a heavy load of homework – 4 to 6 hours each week – you will find that your grade
will depend on your ability to pace yourself, stay focused and to be diligent. DO NOT
PROCRASTINATE!!
Checklist to be completed by the first day of school:

Part 1: Mapping Exercise

Part 2: Vocabulary Activity



Part 3: PIRATES Chart Activities: You will have to use the Internet, or your local library to
find the information to complete the charts
Part 4: Continuity and Change Over Time Essay
Part 5: Video Assignment. View the video “Guns, Germs, and Steel” and complete the
accompanying assignment. This is available at http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/guns-germsand-steel/, or you can check out the DVD from the Pikes Peak Library District
 We will have a quiz on the first day of school over the maps, vocabulary, PIRATES charts, as well
as the video.
It is highly recommended that your purchase 5 Steps to a 5 for AP World History (McGraw Hill).
This is a practice book that will help you to study for the AP test in May. It is suggested that you
follow along in this book as we go throughout the year.
We will be available by email during the summer but please do not expect an immediate response; it
may take a few days. Good luck and we’ll see you in August!
Mrs. Johnson and Mr. Kappelmann
Email: kathleenjohnson@ffc8.org or mkappelmann@ffc8.org
Part 1: Mapping Exercise
Neatly label the world maps with the land and water features listed below in the color indicated in
parentheses. Print neatly and make sure your maps are easy to read.
AP World Regions
Refer to page 22 in the AP World History Course Description (available on the link below). Using the
world map provided in this packet, draw and label the AP Regions based on the “closer look.” You
may color it if you would like, but, that is not a requirement. However, please use a color or striping
to indicate regions that overlap.
Link for course description: https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap-worldhistory-course-and-exam-description.pdf
Bodies of Water and Rivers (use continent specific maps)
Oceans, Seas, Bays, Lakes (color them blue)
1. Atlantic Ocean
2. Pacific Ocean
3. Indian Ocean
4. Arctic Ocean
5. North Sea
6. Baltic Sea
7. English Channel
8. Norwegian Sea
9. Barents Sea
10. Mediterranean Sea
11. Adriatic Sea
12. Aegean Sea
13. Black Sea
14. Caspian Sea
15. Great Lakes
16. Red Sea
17. Persian Gulf
18. Arabian Sea
19. Bay of Bengal
20. South China Sea
21. East China Sea
22. Yellow Sea
23. Sea of Japan
Rivers (draw them blue)
1. Nile River
2. Tigris
3. Euphrates
4. Amazon River
5. Mississippi River
6. Rio Grande River
7. Indus River
8. Yellow River (Huang He)
9. Yangtze River
10. Ganges River
11. Irrawaddy River
12. Mekong River
13. Congo River
14. Danube River
Mountains and Deserts (use continent specific maps)
Mountains (Brown)
1. Alaska Range
2. Rocky Mountains
3. Appalachian Mountains
4. Andes Mountains
5. Alps
6. Atlas Mountains
7. Ural Mountains
8. Hindu Kush
9. Himalaya Mountains
Deserts (Yellow)
1. Gobi Desert
2. Kalahari Desert
3. Sahara Desert
4. Thar Desert
5. Sierra Madre Desert
6. Mojave Desert
7. Namib Desert
8. Syrian Desert
Part Two: Common World History Vocabulary
Below you will find a chart of vocabulary words that will be repeated over and over during the course. These
words will apply to many different cultures throughout history. It is important that you become familiary with
the words and their meanings. Your definitions should be hand-written in complete sentences that thoroughly
explain the word as it relates to the study of World History.
DEFINE THE WORD IN YOUR OWN
WORDS
Absolutism
Agriculture
Aristocracy
Bias
Bureaucracy
Chiefdom
City-State
Civilization
Commercial
Demography
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
WORD (WHY IS IT IMPORTANT)?
Divination
Dynasty
Empire
Epidemic
Forager
Globalization
Indentured
Servant
Interregional
Kingdom
Medieval
Merchant
Monotheism
Nation
Neolithic
Nobility
Nomad
Ocean
Pandemic
Papacy
Pastoral
Patriarchal
Periodization
Polytheism
Prehistoric
Primary
Source
Revolution
Rural
Scribe
Secondary
Source
Serf
Shaman
Slave
State
Steppes
Urban
Part 4: Continuity and Change over Time Essay
One of the three essays that you will be asked to write on the AP World History Exam is a Continuity
and Change over Time essay (CCOT). This is a style of essay that examines how something changes
and stays the same over time. For example, we could look at how world trade patterns changed
from 1450 to 1750, or how the role of women changed in the Middle East from 1900 to present.
This essay forces us to examine the beginning situation, what caused it to change, and its ending
condition. However, we must also consider what stayed the same.
This summer, w e’d like you to write your own CCOT essay about yourself. You should pick an area
to specialize in: education, friends, responsibility, religious life, family, athletics, music, or another
topic of your choosing. In regards to a time frame, start the essay wherever it’s appropriate for the
topic. More advanced essays will look at 3-‐4 different specialty areas (1 paragraph for each) and will
be able to tie them all together to give a more thorough analysis of you.
The chart below should be completed to help you plan before you write and to provide an
organizational structure for your essay. You will use a similar planning chart throughout the year as
we write other CCOT essays. If you are striving for a more advanced essay, you would have 3--‐4
different charts (1 for each category).
We don’t expect perfect essays but we do expect you to give it a try. Basic essays will have a
minimum of three paragraphs with a clear thesis. A basic essay will earn a maximum grade of a B. In
order to earn an A for this part of the summer assignment, you will need to attempt the more
advanced essay and have a logical thesis tying it together. By completing this essay, we will have a
chance to understand your writing ability as we begin the class and you will have a chance to practice
one of the three essay structures we will focus on (and the one that is typically the hardest for
students on the AP exam).
Fi na l essa ys shoul d be typed (do ubl e spa c ed, 1 2 pt. font) or ha nd - wr i tten a nd wi l l be tur ned i n
sepa r a te fr om the r est o f the su mm er a ssi gnmen t on the fi r st da y of sc hool .
Characteristics
at beginning of
Time Period
Examples of Significant Changes, Turning Points, or Developments
Note type of change (sudden, gradual, developmental)
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
Reasons Why
Changes &
Continuities
Occurred
3.
1.
2.
3.
Significant Continuities
Characteristics
at end of
Time Period
Part 5: “Guns, Germs, and Steel” Video Assignment
This is available at http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/guns-germs-and-steel/, or you can check out the
DVD from the Pikes Peak Library District
Viewing Guide- Guns, Germs, and Steel: Episode 1
Directions: Before viewing the film, read each question below so you know what information
and ideas you should be looking for as you watch Episode 1. Record your answers to each
question by providing as many facts, details, and examples as possible to answer each question.
Be prepared to discuss your answers with the class.
1. According to Jared Diamond, what are the three major elements that separate the world’s
“haves” from the “have nots”?
2. Jared Diamond refers to the people of New Guinea as “among the world’s most culturally
diverse and adaptable people in the world”, yet they have much less than modern Americans.
Diamond has developed a theory about what has caused these huge discrepancies among
different countries, and he says it boils down to geographic luck. Give several examples from the
film to support Diamond’s theory.
3. For thousands of years, people have been cultivating crops. Describe the process used to
domesticate crops and create plants that yielded bigger, tastier harvests.
4. According to Diamond, livestock also plays a significant role in a civilization’s ability to
become rich and powerful. How did the domestication of animals help people? Give several
examples.
5. List the animals that can be domesticated and where they can be found.
6. Looking at the list of animals and locations from question 5, discuss how Diamond’s theory
about geographic luck applies here.
7. How did the movement of the early civilizations of the Fertile Crescent (Middle East) further
support Diamond’s idea that geography played a key role in the success of a civilization?
8. Do you agree with Jared Diamond when he says of a civilizations ability to gain power,
wealth, and strength, “…what’s far more important is the hand that people have been dealt, the
raw materials they’ve had at their disposal.” Why or why not?
Viewing Guide- Guns, Germs, and Steel: Episode 2
Directions: Before viewing the film, read each question below so you know what information
and ideas you should be looking for as you watch Episode 2. Record your answers to each
question by providing as many facts, details, and examples as possible to answer each question.
Be prepared to discuss your answers with the class.
1. At the time that the Spanish conquistadors invaded the Inca Empire, they were armed with
state-of-the-art weaponry. Describe this weaponry.
2. What is Jared Diamond’s explanation for why the Spanish had advanced to steel swords while
Inca’s were still making tools and weapons from bronze?
3. How did the battle tactics used by the Spanish conquistadors help the small army defeat the
Inca army that outnumbered it by the thousands?
4. According to Jared Diamond, what made the Europeans “accidental conquerors”?
Viewing Guide- Guns, Germs, and Steel: Episode 3
Directions: Before viewing the film, read each question below so you know what information
and ideas you should be looking for as you watch Episode 3. Record your answers to each
question by providing as many facts, details, and examples as possible to answer each question.
Be prepared to discuss your answers with the class.
1. According to Jared Diamond, what is the one factor that allowed Europeans to develop the
forces necessary to conquer vast portions of the world?
2. Why were the Europeans who settled the South African cape so successful? Describe two
reasons.
3. How did disease allow the Europeans to conquer the native populations in the Americas and in
the African cape?
4. While the Europeans who were attempting to overtake/settle the tropical areas of the African
continent were responsible for introducing killer germs to the native populations, they also
suffered from the effects of the germs native to this part of the world. Describe how these germs
worked against the European settlers.
5. How did the native Africans protect themselves from the germs that caused diseases such as
smallpox and malaria? Give specific examples cited in the film.
6. How has the colonization of Africa created countries riddled with disease? Give specific
examples from the film.
7. What is the number one public health problem in Zambia, and who are the people primarily
affected by this?
8. How has disease contributed to the poverty in many African countries such as Zambia?
9. According to statistics from the film, how has malaria affected the net growth in Africa over
the last 50 years?
10. Describe how other tropical countries such as Malaysia and Singapore have developed rich
economies despite having many of the same geographical and health problems faced by African
nations.