UNIT 1 GUIDE Table of Contents Learning Outcomes 2 Key Concepts 2 Misconceptions and Teaching Challenges 3 Vocabulary 4 Lesson and Content Overview 5 BIG HISTORY PROJECT / UNIT 1 GUIDE 1
Unit 1 What Is Big History? Unit 1 Driving Question: Why do we look at things from far away and close up? Learning Outcomes 1. Define thresholds of increasing complexity, origin stories, and scale. 2. Understand that Big History is a modern, science-based origin story that draws on many different types of knowledge. 3. Understand how you fit into the Big History narrative, using the concept of thresholds to frame your past, present, and future and the history of the Universe. 4. Understand what disciplines are and consider the viewpoints of many different scholars about the same topic. Key Concepts Big History is a course that tells the story of the Universe from the Big Bang to the present, which means you and your students are going to be looking at billions of years of history. Because telling the story of the Universe covers so much time and so many topics, it will probably require a different approach than other courses you ve taught. Scale Seeing yourselves as part of the history of everything can help you and your students understand your place in the Universe. Big History brings together a broad range of historical accounts and many different temporal and spatial scales. In your own life, you can ask yourself, What is my first memory? Or you can ask about your family history or the history of your country. But you can also ask about the history of humanity, of life on Earth, or of the Solar System. In the same way, you can ask about the history of the entire Universe, and you can then try to see how all these stories fit together. Origin Stories Every society has its own history and origin stories. Origin stories focus on the most important questions of our existence; they tell us how all the components of our world were created, and by doing so they demonstrate how each of us is linked to everything else. Big History weaves evidence and insights from many scientific and historical disciplines into accessible origin stories that account for everything within the Universe. Big History tells the origin stories as told by modern science. Ways of Knowing and Understanding The Big History course relies on information from people other than just historians, which is not typical for a history course. Your students will consider what scholars from many disciplines have to say about the past, including scholars in physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, anthropology, and of course, history. This type of approach, in which you and your students consider the viewpoints of many different scholars about the same topic, is called an BIG HISTORY PROJECT / UNIT 1 GUIDE 2
interdisciplinary approach. Your students will learn that when they use the perspectives of many different disciplines to help them answer complex questions, they ll inevitably get a fascinating and complex answer. Thresholds of Increasing Complexity Obviously, you can t cover everything that s happened in the last 13.8 billion years. In Big History, we use guiding criteria that determine what gets included in the course and what gets left out. These criteria are defined as the eight thresholds of increasing complexity. These are the ideas critical to the story of Big History and they guide decisions about the resources that have been chosen for you to use in teaching the course. You and your students will spend time learning about the ingredients and Goldilocks Conditions necessary to create each of the eight thresholds. Misconceptions and Teaching Challenges Scale Another challenging aspect for students is they may feel that their belief systems are in opposition to both the Big History narrative and the origin stories that they encounter in this unit. It s helpful to point out that there are often many different explanations for the same phenomena, and instead of trying to reconcile different stories, it can be more useful to compare the similarities and differences in the stories. This will open their eyes to other narratives and alternative explanations for history, and set the stage for open-mindedness throughout the course. Reconciling Faith and Science Another challenging aspect for students is they may feel that their belief systems are in opposition to both the Big History narrative and the origin stories that they encounter in this unit. It s helpful to point out that there are often many different explanations for the same phenomena, and instead of trying to reconcile different stories, it can be more useful to compare the similarities and differences in the stories. This will open their eyes to other narratives and alternative explanations for history, and set the stage for open-mindedness throughout the course. Thresholds of Increasing Complexity Unit 1 touches on complexity and thresholds, two critical concepts of the Big History course. Although these topics are important for students to understand, they re less concrete than other topics in the course, which may make them more challenging for some students to understand. Reassure students that they ll return to these ideas in each unit when a new threshold is introduced and over time they ll feel more comfortable with these concepts. Reading, Writing, and Discussion The Big History course is great for addressing English and Language Arts standards because it has a framework for reading, writing, and holding successful class discussions. The course provides leveled readings for all students. There are anywhere from two to four versions of each article so students at different reading levels can all engage with the material. The Big History guides to reading, writing, and discussion will help you and your students navigate and become familiar with the practices that will help them succeed in the course. It may seem like a bit of a grind at first, but if you use these guides and employ the methods they suggest, it will really pay off in the future. A few units into the course, the practices will become second nature for everyone. Instead of having to grapple with how to get through a reading, time will be spent on grappling with Big History s big ideas. BIG HISTORY PROJECT / UNIT 1 GUIDE 3
Understanding the Website A common issue for Big History teachers is that their students didn t learn how to use the website early on in the course, and this affected their experience throughout the school year. It may seem silly and not terribly academic, but it s worth your and your students time to complete the Big History Website Scavenger Hunt activity. This will save you a lot of headaches down the road. Vocabulary astrophysics The study of the properties and interactions of planets, stars, galaxies, and other astronomical objects. Big Bang A theory, first articulated in the 1920s, proposing that the Universe started out extremely hot and dense and gradually cooled off as it expanded. Big History A unified account of the entire history of the Universe that uses evidence and ideas from many disciplines to create a broad context for understanding humanity; a modern scientific origin story. complexity A quality of an object or system that has diverse components precisely arranged in connection with one another (so that new properties emerge which did not exist in the components alone). cosmology The study of the Universe on its largest scales, including its origin. emergent properties Properties of a complex system that are not present within its parts but that emerge only when those parts are combined. entropy (the law of) The natural tendency of all things to move from order to disorder. (Note: Although often called the law of entropy, it is more accurate to refer to it as the second law of thermodynamics.) Goldilocks Conditions Specific set of conditions necessary to enable greater complexity. The reference is to the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears, in which Goldilocks looks for the porridge, chair, and bed that are just right. history The study of past events. ingredients Components that are put together to form something new and more complex. interdisciplinary approach An approach to a subject that uses the viewpoints of many different kinds of scholars about the same topic. For instance, Big History relies on information from cosmologists, astrophysicists, geologists, chemists, paleontologists, biologists, anthropologists, and historians, as well as experts in other disciplines, to learn about the past. origin story A narrative about the beginning of the Universe and humanity. religion A set of beliefs and practices that concern humanity s relationship with the spiritual, the supernatural, and reality. scale Degrees of magnification, or perspective, used to measure time, space, and size. science An approach to discovering knowledge about the natural world that relies on testing ideas through observation or experiment. scientific notation A method of expressing very large and very small numbers to avoid using the many zeros that would be required otherwise. BIG HISTORY PROJECT / UNIT 1 GUIDE 4
thresholds of increasing complexity Moments in the history of the Universe when specific ingredients under the right Goldilocks Conditions come together to create something new and more complex. Universe All the matter and energy in existence, as well as the space that contains it. Lesson and Content Overview Lesson name Lesson description Content Activity 1.0 Welcome to Big History Big History starts with the big picture. Examining Big History big ideas from the beginning helps set the stage for the rest of the course. Watch: What Is Big History? Watch: The Big Bang Crash Course Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 Activity: Visions of the Future Activity: Big History Website Scavenger Hunt 1.1 Scale Big History is so big that we need to use a variety of scales to understand different topics in the course. Looking at things temporal and spatial scales helps us do this. Activity: Powers of 10 Activity: DQ Notebook Vocab Activity: Memorization Activity: Big History on a Football Field 1.2 Origin Stories People have always told origin stories stories about how the Universe and humans came to be. Big History is a modern, scientific origin story. Watch: Big Questions H2 Read: Cosmology and Faith Opening: BANG! The Universe Verse Book 1 Activity: Origin Stories Introduction Activity: Origin Stories from a Variety of Cultures Closing: DQ Notebook 1.3 What Are Disciplines? Big History enlists scholars from many disciplines including physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, anthropology, and history to help answer complex questions. Watch: Are We Alone? H2 Watch: Ways of Knowing Introduction to Cosmology Watch: Ways of Knowing Introduction to Astrophysics Opening: Who Knows What? Vocab Activity: Comprehension Activity: Easter Island Mystery Closing: Exit Ticket What Do You Know, What Do You Ask? 1.4 My Big History Students place themselves in the Big History narrative by exploring the scale of their own lives, and the core concepts of Goldilocks Conditions and thresholds of increasing complexity are introduced. Watch: A Big History of Everything H2 Read: Complexity and Thresholds Opening: My Timeline Activity: Threshold Concentration Activity: History of Me Closing: Investigation 1 Investigation: Why do we look at things from far away and close up? The first investigation in the course is focused on scale and why it is important to look at things from different spatial and temporal perspectives. David Christian and Fernand Braudel on historical scales Different geographic and time scales Worksheets BIG HISTORY PROJECT / UNIT 1 GUIDE 5
Lesson name Lesson description Content Activity Additional content Additional content items, including image galleries, can be used to augment lessons or customize your own unit. Introduction to Thresholds of Increasing Complexity (video) The Big History (video) A Student of Big History (video) Learning tips Random facts Related galleries, images, websites, and videos Web links Assessments Unit 1 includes lesson and glossary quizzes. Lesson Quizzes Glossary Challenge Actions The Unit Log is required for every unit. Unit 1 includes a survey, which students and teachers are encouraged to take. Unit Log Survey BIG HISTORY PROJECT / UNIT 1 GUIDE 6
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