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Course Syllabus
Advanced Placement World History
Welcome to Advanced Placement World History!
Program: AP World History is offered as an elective course, taught at a college level, to academically advanced
students, grades 10-12 entering the high school. The school has an open enrollment policy and encourages all
qualified students to take AP World History.
Course Design: The AP World History course is an academic, yearlong course with an emphasis on non-Western
history. The course relies heavily on college-level texts, primary source documents, and outside readings. Students
will be required to participate in class discussions, and in-group and individual projects. A special emphasis will be
given to historical writing through essay and document analysis. In addition, objective exams, simulations, and
historical problem-solving activities will also be given.
Typical weekly schedule:
Monday- Work with the chapter content. Text analysis, document analysis, lecture, jigsaw, presentations of
information, skill building, developing habits of mind, etc.
Tuesday- Work with the chapter content. Text analysis, document analysis, lecture, jigsaw, presentations of
information, skill building, developing habits of mind, etc.
Wednesday- Collaborative work with sample quiz questions.
Thursday- Skill-building. Document analysis, change over time analysis, comparative analysis, cross-cultural study,
study of interactions, analysis of politics, economics, religion, material and non-material culture, social structures,
intellectual developments, technology, art.
Friday- Chapter Quiz, Tests, Essay Work
The Course:
Primary Text:
Adas, Michael, Gilbert, Marc J., Stearns, Peter, and Schwartz, Stuart B. (2006). World Civilizations: The Global
Experience. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.
Supplemental Texts (list not exhaustive):
Reilly, Kevin. (2004). Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Wiesner, Merry. (2002). Discovering the Global Past: A Look at the Evidence. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Chronological Boundaries of the Course- The course will have as its chronological frame the period from
approximately 8000 BCE to the present. An outline of the periodization with associated percentages for course
content is listed below.
8000 BCE-600 CE 19-20%
600 CE- 1450 22%
1450-1750 19-20%
1750-1914 19-20%
1914- present 19-20%
Course Themes:
1. The impact of interaction among major societies (trade, systems of international exchange, war, and
diplomacy).
2. The relationship of change and continuity across the world history periods covered in this course.
3. The impact of technology and demography on people and the environment (population growth and decline,
disease, manufacturing, migrations, agriculture, weaponry).
4. Systems of social structure and gender structure (comparing major features within and among societies, and
assessing change).
5. Cultural and intellectual developments and interactions among and within societies.
6.
Changes in functions and structures of states and in attitudes toward states and political identities (political
culture), including the emergence of the nation-state
(types of political organization).
Course Grading:
Grades will be calculated based on the following percentages:
Examinations/Quizzes- 40%
Essays- 40%
Analysis/Problem-Solving- 20%
School District Honors/AP Policy
1.
Students who are encouraged by teachers and counselors to self-select these courses are generally highly
capable. Students entering these courses will be reassured that, while the work may be more challenging
and more difficult, the grading system will not penalize those who chose to enter. It is expected that the
preponderance of grades at mid-semester and semester grading periods should be A’s and B’s.
2.
Students should have the opportunity to improve grades within guidelines established by the teachers which
might include rewriting an assignment, retaking a test, and/or completing additional projects. The focus for
any opportunities for improvement will be on learning. The student will be encouraged to learn from
instructional feedback and have the opportunity to improve his/her grade by improving his/her
performance. The guidelines for improvement may include that the original assignment must be turned in
on time unless proven unforeseen circumstances exist.
3.
Any student who does not choose to take advantage of opportunities to improve his/her grade and whose
performance falls below a “C” grade in such a class will have the opportunity to have a
teacher/student/parent conference to consider the following facts before a recommendation is made to
change the student to a regular class or to continue in the honors or AP course:
*
Ability of student to meet standards of the class
*
Attitude of the student toward learning
*
Other related facts, such as attendance, mental, social and/or emotional maturity, and
identification as gifted
*
Potential for entering a regular class without adversely affecting the receiving teacher
*The Bremerton High School Social Studies Department will use an academic contract with all students
whose grade falls below a C. The academic contract will state necessary steps to raise the grade and a finite
amount of time in which the student will need to raise their grade to at least a C. If the student fails to do so,
he or she will be placed in another, more appropriate class.
Format for the Exam
World History is a recent addition to the roster of AP Exams. The exam was administered for the first time in May
2002. The AP World History Exam tests knowledge of topics included in a full-year introductory college course in
world history. The exam highlights six overarching themes: impact of societal interactions, change and continuity
across world history periods, impact of technology and demography, social and gender structures, cultural and
intellectual developments, and functions and structures of states. The exam addresses historical habits of mind or
skills (constructing and evaluating arguments, using primary documents and data, assessing change and continuity
over time, and handling diversity of interpretations) as well as world historical topics (global patterns, comparison
within and among societies, and understanding of ideas and values).
The multiple-choice section of the exam measures students' knowledge of world history from the Foundations
period (c. 8000 B.C.E. to 600 C.E.) to the present. Approximately 19 to 20 percent of the questions deal with the
Foundations period, 22 percent cover the period 600 C.E. to 1450, 19 to 20 percent cover the period 1450 to 1750,
19 to 20 percent deal with the period 1750 to 1914, and 19 to 20 percent cover the period 1914 to the present.
In the free-response section of the exam, students answer three questions: a document-based question; a question
that deals with change over time and is focused on large global issues such as technology, trade, culture, migrations,
or biological developments; and an essay question requiring students to compare a wider set of issues and focus on
interactions of at least two societies.
The AP World History Exam is three hours and five minutes long. In Section I, students are given 55 minutes to
answer 70 multiple-choice questions. In Section II, students are given a 50-minute exercise in the use of historical
evidence (the document-based question or DBQ), which includes a 10-minute reading period; a 40-minute question
that deals with change over time; and a 40-minute comparative question that focuses on broad issues in world
history.
The exam will be administered for this school year on May 13 th. Passing this exam will give a student college credit
(up to 15 credits) or a waiver for World History in most colleges.
This course will move at an extremely quick pace. Students will be responsible for reading one or two chapters per
week, as we need to finish the thirty-six-chapter text, World Civilizations- The Global Experience, before the
exam in May. There may also be outside readings from additional sources. One should keep in mind that this class is
designed to be a college level course taught within the high school. Students will likely find that when he or she
enters college in a few years, this course will have more than prepared him or her for the work to be completed at
the college level.
Each student will receive a calendar each month with the specific readings and assignments that are required that
month. Due dates for assignments and test dates will also be on the calendars. Calendars, notes, assignments,
workshop materials and this syllabus should be kept in a class notebook. I would strongly suggest getting a threering binder with dividers for use in this course.
I truly am looking forward to this course, as I hope you are as well. Get ready to work harder than you ever have
before, but also to be rewarded more greatly.
By signing below, you assert that you have read this document in its entirety and agree to abide by it.
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student
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parent/guardian