• AP World History-Modern

    Course Syllabus

    Mr. Lemke

    Email: lemkejoe@orange.k12.nj.us

    Google Share: jlemke@orange.k12.nj.us

     

    Overview

    AP World History is designed to be the equivalent of a two-semester introductory college or university world history course. 

    In AP World History, students investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in six (6) historical periods from approximately 1200 C.E. to the present. 

    The course provides five (5) themes that students explore throughout the course to make connections between historical developments in different times and places: interaction between humans and the environment; development and interaction of cultures; state building, expansion, and conflict; creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems; and development and transformation of social structures.

    Students develop and use the same skills, practices, and methods employed by historians: analyzing primary and secondary sources; developing historical arguments; making historical comparisons; and utilizing reasoning about contextualization, causation, and continuity and change over time. 

     

    Textbook  

      AMSCO: World History: Modern [1200-Present] Perfection Learning (2022).

     

    Expectations

    Appropriate classroom behavior is expected and required, including

    Showing respect to your classmates, your teacher, yourself, and the classroom

    • DOING YOUR HOMEWORK!!

    • Observing all schoolwide rules

    • Punctuality

    • Coming to class with the appropriate materials and adequate sleep

    • Being deferential when talking in class

    • Using appropriate language in the classroom

     

    AP World History Exam Structure

    AP WORLD HISTORY EXAM: 3 HOURS 15 MINUTES 

    Assessment Overview: The AP Exam questions measure students’ knowledge of world history and their ability to think historically. Questions are based on learning objectives, key concepts, course themes, and AP history disciplinary practices and reasoning skills. Exam questions represent various geographical regions, with no more than 20 percent of the multiple-choice questions focusing solely on Europe. 

    FORMAT OF EXAM

    Section I Part A: Questions appear in sets of 2–5.  Students analyze primary and secondary texts, images, graphs, and maps.  Questions cover all course periods.

    Multiple Choice | 55 Questions | 55 Minutes | 40% Exam Score 

     

    Section I Part B: Students respond to 2 required questions and choose between 2 options for a third question. Questions 1 and 2 cover periods 3–8 of the course; students choose between answering either question 3 (covering periods 1–3) or question 4 (periods 4–6).  Students analyze historians’ interpretations, historical sources, and propositions about history.

    Short Answer | 3 Questions | 40 Minutes | 20% Exam Score 

     

    Section II Part A: Students assess written, visual, and quantitative sources as historical evidence.

    Students develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence.

    Question covers periods 3–6 of the course.

    Document Based | 1 Question | 60 Minutes | 25% Exam Score 

     

    Section II Part B: Students select one question from three different periods (1–2, 3–4, 5–6) of the course.  Students explain and analyze significant issues in world history.  Students develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence.

    Long Essay | 1 Question | 40 Minutes | 15% Exam Score 

    5 Thematic Learning Objectives

    Theme 1: Interactions Between Humans and the Environment

    Theme 2: Development and Interaction of Cultures

    Theme 3: State Building, Expansion, and Conflict

    Theme 4: Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems

    Theme 5: Development and Transformation of Social Structures 

    6 Historical Time Periods

    The AP World History course is structured around themes and concepts in six different chronological periods from approximately 8000 BCE to the present: 

    • Regional and Interregional Interactions (ca. 1200 to ca.1450) 

    1. The Global Tapestry 

    2. Networks of Exchange 

    • Global Interactions (ca. 1450 to ca. 1750) 

    1. Land-Based Empires 

    2. Trans-Oceanic Interconnections 

    • Industrialization and Global Integration (ca. 1750 to ca. 1900) 

    1. Revolutions 

    2. Consequences of Industrialization 

    • Accelerating Global Change and Realignments (ca. 1900 to the present) 

    1. Global Conflict 8. Cold War and Decolonization 

    2. Globalization

    Within each period, key concepts organize and prioritize historical developments. Themes allow students to make connections and identify patterns and trends over time. 

    AP History Disciplinary Practices 

    Practice 1: Analyzing Historical Evidence from Primary Sources 

    • Explain the relative historical significance of a source’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience. 

    • Evaluate a source’s credibility and/or limitations. Secondary Sources 

    • Explain how a historian’s claim or argument is supported by evidence.

    • Analyze patterns and trends in quantitative data from non-text-based sources. 

    • Evaluate the effectiveness of a historical claim or argument. 

    Practice 2: Argument Development 

    • Make a historically defensible claim in the form of an evaluative thesis. 

    • Support an argument using specific and relevant evidence.

    • Use historical reasoning to explain relationships among pieces of historical evidence. 

    • Consider ways that diverse or alternative evidence could be used to qualify or modify an argument. 

     

    AP History Reasoning Skills

    Skill 1: Contextualization 

    • Use context to explain the relative historical significance of a specific historical development or process. 

    Skill 2: Comparison 

    • Explain the relative historical significance of similarities and/ or differences between different historical developments or processes. 

    Skill 3: Causation 

    • Explain the difference between primary and secondary causes and between short- and long-term effects. 

    • Explain the relative historical significance of different causes and/or effects. 

    Skill 4: Continuity and Change Over Time 

    • Explain the relative historical significance of specific historical developments in relation to a larger pattern of continuity and/or change.

     

    Rubrics:

    See Google Classroom for all rubrics. 

     

    Grading: 

    25% Tests

    20% Quizzes

    20% Classwork (journals, logs, assignments, tasks, demonstrations, skill application).

    25% Authentic Assessments (portfolios, performance assessments, projects).

    10% Homework (including long-term projects, essays, research papers).

     

    Required Student Materials – Students are expected and required to bring the following items with them to class every day: 

    • A working Device (Either a school issued Chromebook or a computer of their own).

    • Questions regarding the previous day’s work or homework assignments.

    • Adequate sleep and a good attitude.