AP World History
Course Outline
Semester 1
This course outline details what we will study each week in AP World History. It also
explains which assignments will be expected for each chapter and when they are due.
You will also find all of the quiz and test dates as well as the end of grading periods
listed. Essay dates will be announced in class. I suggest you print this out and include a
copy in your “Helpful Tools” section of your binder in addition to having a copy of this
at home.
Explanations of how to do Cornell Notes, Key Terms, SPICE Charts, and “One Pagers”
can be found on my website under the “Handouts” tab. You can also find every Chapter
Study Guide on my website under the “Study Guides” tab.
Weeks 1-3: August 13-28
● Review Chapters 1-3
● Chapters1-3 Key Terms and Study Guide due August 27/28
o Chapters 1-3 Key Terms: civilization, culture, history, Paleolithic Age,
Neolithic Age, Agricultural Revolutions, Babylon, Sumerians, city-state,
Hammurabi, ziggurat, cuneiform, pharaoh, pyramid, hieroglyphics,
mummy, Shang, Zhou, Mandate of Heaven, Legalism, Confucius,
Daoism, Olmec, Chavin, llama, Iron Age, Minoan, Mycenae, Linear B,
mass deportation, Israel, Hebrew Bible, monotheism, Diaspora,
Phoenicians
● Unit Test on Chapters 1-3 (Foundations Period): August 27/28
Week 4: August 31-September 4
● Chapter 4 (Persia and Greece): Page 92-121
o Notes on pages 92-99 due August 31
o Notes on pages 99-121 due September 1/2
● Chapter 4 Key Terms, Study Guide, PERSIAN on Persia, and PERSIAN on
Greece due September 3/4
o Chapter 4 Key Terms: Zoroastrianism, polis, tyrant, democracy, Pericles,
Socrates, Alexander, Hellenistic Age, Alexandria
● Chapter 4 Quiz: September 3/4
Week 5: September 8-11
● Chapter 5 (Rome and Han China): Page 123-149
o Notes on pages 123-149 due September 8/9
● Chapter 5 Key Terms, Study Guide, PERSIAN on Rome, and PERSIAN on Han
China due September 10/11
o Chapter 5 Key Terms: Roman Republic, Roman Senate, Roman
Principate, Augustus, equites, pax romana, Romanization, Jesus, aqueduct,
Constantine, Byzantine Empire, Qin, Han, gentry
● Chapter 5 Quiz: September 10/11
Week 6: September 14-18
● Chapter 6 (India): Page 150-165 (stop at “Southeast Asia”)
o Notes on pages 150-160 due September 14
o Notes on pages 160-165 due September 15/16
● Chapter 6 Key Terms, Study Guide, and PERSIAN on India due September 17/18
o Chapter 6 Key Terms: monsoon, Vedas, varna, jati, karma, moksha,
Buddha, Mahayana Buddhism, Theravada Buddhism, Hinduism, Mauryan
Empire, Ashoka, Bhagavad-Gita, Gupta Empire, theater-state
● Chapter 6 Quiz: September 17/18
Week 7: September 21-25
● Chapter 7 (Trade Routes): Page 173-191
o Notes on pages 173-182 due September 21
o Notes on pages 182-191 due September 22/23
● Chapter 7 Key Terms and Study Guide due September 24/25
o Chapter 7 Key Terms: Silk Road, Sasanid Empire, stirrup, Indian Ocean
Maritime System, trans-Saharan caravan routes, Sahel, sub-Saharan
Africa, steppes, savanna, tropical rainforest, “great traditions,” “small
traditions”
● “One Pager” Review Assignment on Classical Period due September 24/25
● Unit Test on Chapters 4-7 (Classical Period): September 24/25
Week 8: September 28-October 2
● Chapter 8 (Islam): Page 196-217
o Notes on pages 196-208 due September 28
o Notes on pages 208-217 due September 29/30
● Chapter 8 Key Terms and Study Guide due October 1/2
o Chapter 8 Key Terms: Shi’ites, Sunnis, Mecca, Muhammad, muslim,
Islam, umma, caliphate, Quran, Umayyad Caliphate, Abbasid Caliphate,
hadith
● Chapter 8 Quiz: October 1/2
Week 9: October 5-9
● Chapter 13 (Muslim Empires and Trade Routes): Page 324-347
o Notes on pages 324-338 due October 5
o Notes on pages 338-347 due October 6/7
● Chapter 13 Key Terms and Study Guide due October 8/9
o Chapter 13 Key Terms: tropics, monsoon, Ibn Battuta, Delhi Sultanate,
Mali, dhow, Swahili Coast, Great Zimbabwe
● Chapter 13 Quiz: October 8/9
End of First Quarter is October 9!
Week 10: October 12-16
● Chapter 9 (Medieval Europe): Page 218-241
o Notes on pages 218-231 due October 12
o Notes on pages 231-241 due October 13/14
● Chapter 9 Key Terms, Study Guide, and PERSIAN on Medieval Europe due
October 15/16
o Chapter 9 Key Terms: Charlemagne, medieval, Byzantine Empire, Kievan
Russia, schism, manor, serf, fief, vassal, papacy, Holy Roman Empire,
investiture controversy, monasticism, Crusades
● Chapter 9 Quiz: October 15/16
Week 11: October 19-23
● Chapter 14 (Renaissance Europe): Page 349-373
o Notes on pages 349-364 due October 19
o Notes on pages 364-373 due October 20/21
● Chapter 14 Key Terms, Study Guide, and PERSIAN on Renaissance Europe due
October 22/23
o Chapter 14 Key Terms: Latin West, three-field system, Black Death, water
wheel, guild, Gothic cathedral, Renaissance, universities, scholasticism,
humanists, printing press, Great Western Schism, reconquest
● Unit Mid-Term Test on Chapters 8, 9, 13, and 14 (Post-Classical Period):
October 22/23
Week 12: October 26-30
● Chapter 10 (Tang and Song China): Page 243-265
o Notes on pages 243-254 due October 26
o Notes on pages 254-265 due October 27/28
● Chapter 10 Key Terms, Study Guide, PERSIAN on Tang China, and PERSIAN
on Song China due October 29/30
o Chapter 10 Key Terms: Tang Empire, Grand Canal, tributary system,
bubonic plague, Tibet, Song Empire, junk, gunpowder, neo-Confucianism,
movable type, Kamakura Shogunate, Champa rice
● Chapter 10 Quiz: October 29/30
Weeks 13-14: November 2-13
● Chapter 12 (The Mongols): Page 291-322
o Notes on pages 291-302 due November 2
o Notes on pages 302-316 due November 3/4
o Notes on pages 316-322 due November 5/6
● Chapter 12 Key Terms and Study Guide due November 12/13
o Chapter 12 Key Terms: Mongols, Genghis Khan, nomadism, Yuan
Empire, bubonic plague, Il-Khan, Golden Horde, tsar, Ottoman Empire,
Khubilai Khan, Beijing, Ming Empire, Ashikaga Shogunate
● Chapter 12 Quiz: November 12/13
Week 15: November 16-20
● Chapter 11 (The Americas): Page 267-298
o Notes on pages 267-277 due November 16
o Notes on pages 277-298 due November 17/18
● Chapter 11 Key Terms and Study Guide due November 19/20
o Chapter 11: chinampas, Maya, Aztecs, Tenochtitlan, tribute system,
Anasazi, chiefdom, mit’a, Inca
● Chapter 11 Quiz: November 19/20
Week 16: November 30-December 4
● Chapter 15 (Age of Exploration): Page 375-399
o Notes on pages 375-389 due November 30
o Notes on pages 389-399 due December 1/2
● Chapter 15 Key Terms and Study Guide due December 3/4
o Chapter 15 Key Terms: Zheng He, Henry the Navigator, caravel,
Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco de Gama, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand
Magellan, conquistadors, Hernan Cortes, Moctezuma, Francisco Pizarro,
Atahualpa
● “One Pager” Review Assignment on the Post-Classical Period due December 3/4
● Unit Mid-Term Test on Chapters 10, 11, 12, and 15 (Post-Classical Period):
December 3/4
Week 17: December 7-11
● Academic Review Week: We will review Chapters 1-15 to prepare for the final.
● Semester 1 Study Guide due the day of the final!
● Tip: In order to do well on the final, you will need to study above and beyond
completing the study guide.
Week 18: December 14-17
● Finals Week
● Your final is worth 10% of your overall semester grade.
● Your Semester 1 Final will have two parts:
o A cumulative multiple-choice section
o One essay (CCOT)
End of Semester 1 is December 17!