1.1: BIG GEOGRAPHY & the PEOPLING of the EARTH

FOUNDATIONS Big Bang to 600 BCE You know the test. You know the periods. Let's start by breaking down the first one: FOUNDATIONS (Big Bang to 600 BCE). Look back at that chart from yesterday on the different periods... This one:

See how Foundations (Technological and Environmental Transformations) is only 5% of the test. That's tiny. The Multiple Choice section of the AP test is 70 questions long. 5% of 70=3.5. So, you're looking at a maximum of 4 out of 70 multiple choice questions on this ENTIRE PERIOD! Therefore, let's not waste our time. Over the next three days, we will look at the key info from each of the three subsections of this PERIOD. But that's it. If you're spending more that 20 minutes looking at this stuff before the AP test YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME! 1.1: BIG GEOGRAPHY & THE PEOPLING of the EARTH 14.3 Billion years ago there was a Big Bang. That is our starting point (thanks Dr. Hawking). Fast forward a bit to 300,000 years ago. That's when you showed up (Homo Sapiens) in Africa. Around 60,000 years ago, you left Africa. That's it. That's 1.1: BIG GEOGRAPHY & THE PEOPLING OF THE EARTH. Accompanying this mass migration is the rest of 1.1. You took tools and fire to help you adapt to these new surroundings. You joinedin small kin-ship groups because there is safety in numbers. You were hunter gathe.... Sorry. Hunter-Foragers. You were as Egalitarian (equality among the sexes/classes) as you will be until present day. If only someone compiled this into a handy study guide of some sort... Wait a second... The staff here at Freeman-pedia did! Again, don't camp out in the Paleolithic era while reviewing... Be like them, linger briefly before moving on to better grounds... Enjoy the free time because next, you start farming (and that's exactly as fun as it sounds).

Neolithic Revolution

Material originally available from Freemanpedia.com/blog So, yesterday we found out people exist. And, they love them some Hunter-foraging. They started in Africa and then left with fire and coats and tools and stuff. This is the setting of AP World History. By around 10,000 BCE, people are pretty much everywhere on earth that they are now. We've set the scene. But there is still one MASSIVE change coming to the good Homo Sapiens of earth... The change? FARMING!

NEOLITHIC means FARMING (OK. It means "New Stone Age"... but for our purposes it means FARMING). People start farming around 10,000 BCE. It's a big deal. People began to settle down. Not all in the same place at the same time. But, over time FARMING catches on. I could list out the key terminology of the NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION for you here. But, luckily; the staff here at FREEMAN-PEDIA has compiled it all into a study guide available on our class website. River Valley Civilizations People exist. Check. They left Africa. Check. They farmed. Check. What happened next? Let's finish off the Foundations Era. Don't fall into the biggest trap in AP World History... THE RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS. Pyramids are cool. Harappa is cool. But, it's 1/3 of 5%... That's 1.6% of the test. Here is a brief overview of 1.3 Focus here on literature, architecture, and world belief systems (Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, & Judaism). That's what 1.3 is all about. Know the River Valleys. Know a little bit about each one. But, stop there. There's no point spending days on this. In fact, one day is enough. Check out the study guide and move on to the Classical Era.

[Type text] [Type text] [Type text]