Indigenous Societies: Culture, Exchange, Power Unit 7 Overview:
World History I, 9th Grade
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Essential Question
To what extent did geographic isolation limit or strengthen Indigenous societies in Mesoamerica and Oceania before 1600 CE?
Driving Concept 3: Ancient Empires (800 BCE to 700 CE)
In this driving concept, students will begin to analyze the social, political, cultural, religious, and economic traits of societies to understand how humans interacted with each other and with their environment to create complex civilizations between 800 BCE and 700 CE. Students will trace the rise of historical empires and evaluate their legacy on our present world. Teachers should choose at least one society from each region below to explore as case studies.
Driving Concept 4: Reorganization of Societies and Increasing Networks of Exchange (400-1200 CE)
In this driving concept, students will continue to use social, political, cultural and economic lenses to analyze the emergence of new empires and societies, including how these empires interacted to cause each other’s success and decline. Students will analyze patterns of trade, war, migration and cultural diffusion to analyze global power dynamics. Teachers should choose at least one society from each region below to explore as case studies.
Driving Concept 5: Early Modern Empires (1000 CE-1600 CE)
In this driving concept, students will analyze the development of nation-states and early modern empires and analyze the methods that empires used to centralize power and expand globally. Students will study the roots of imperialism and colonialism, to deepen their understanding of global power dynamics as well as lay the foundation for the World History II course. Teachers should choose at least one society from each region below to explore as case studies.
Indigenous Societies: Culture, Exchange, Power Unit 7 Overview:
World History I, 9th Grade
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About This Unit
Unit 7: Indigenous Societies: Culture, Exchange, Power (800 BCE - 1600 CE) explores how Indigenous societies in Mesoamerica and Oceania developed, adapted, and expressed complex systems of culture, belief, and power in diverse geographic environments. Building on prior learning about empires and networks, students will use social, political, economic, and cultural lenses to analyze how geography, isolation, and interaction shaped the development of societies before 1600 CE. Through case studies including Polynesian societies, Rapa Nui, the Maya, Aztec, and Inca, students will investigate how people adapted to environmental challenges, organized societies, and created meaningful cultural systems. They will examine evidence such as maps, oral traditions, archaeological findings, and cultural artifacts to understand migration, navigation, and daily life. Students will also evaluate how artifacts and historical interpretations shape modern understandings of the past, including questions of ownership, representation, and respect for Indigenous cultures.
Use the Best Practices Repository for information on implementing every strategy and lesson activity!
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Unit 7: Timeline
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Unit 7: Timeline continued
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Note: These dates are rough approximations based on archeological and scientific evidence that are generally accepted by scholars and historians. Dates can be corroborated by this source and other scholarly works.
Indigenous Societies: Culture, Exchange, Power Unit 7 Overview:
World History I, 9th Grade
thinkingnation.org
Priority Standards | |
1.23 | Compare the emergence of empires across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, including their methods of consolidating and maintaining power between 800 BCE and 700 CE. |
1.25 | Assess the importance and enduring legacy of major technological, religious and cultural achievements of ancient empires in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Africa between 800 BCE and 700 CE. |
1.26 | Evaluate the different government structures of ancient empires in Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa between 800 BCE and 700 CE, including a comparison of how citizens exercised power across different civilizations. |
1.27 | Compare and contrast social hierarchies of ancient empires in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas and the ideologies that guided them between 800 BCE and 700 CE. |
1.29 | Analyze the differences among gender roles during this time, including the role of women in different societies and the ways in which women exercised power between 800 BCE and 700 CE. |
1.31 | Analyze the effects of new long-distance trade networks on collaboration and conflict among empires between 800 BCE and 700 CE. |
1.35 | Analyze the social and cultural changes and continuities between ancient empires and their successors in the same place between 400-1200 CE. |
1.36 | Analyze the role of religion, belief systems and culture in the governance and maintenance of societies in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Oceania and Europe between 400-1200 CE. |
1.37 | Explain the ways geography influenced the development of economic, political, religious, and cultural centers in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Oceania and Europe and how the centers facilitated population and cultural diffusion between 400-1200 CE. |
1.39 | Analyze the roles of men and women in different societies, including ways in which women exercised power, between 400-1200 CE. |
1.40 | Evaluate the economic, political, religious, cultural and social impacts of migration and cultural diffusion in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe due to trade, military expansion and migration between 400-1200 CE. |
1.43 | Analyze the factors that contributed to the expansion and/or emergence of powerful nation-states and empires in Asia, Europe, Oceania, Africa and the Americas between 1000 CE and 1600 CE. |
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Indigenous Societies: Culture, Exchange, Power Unit 7 Overview:
World History I, 9th Grade
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Additional Standards | |
1.21 | Evaluate the credibility and perspectives of different sources in understanding Ancient Empires, and use them to answer specific questions about societies between 800 BCE and 700 CE. |
1.33 | Use maps to analyze the decline of ancient empires and the emergence of new empires from 400-1200 CE. |
1.42 | Evaluate the credibility and perspectives of different sources in understanding Early Modern Empires, and use them to answer specific questions about societies between 1000 CE and 1600 CE. |
1.50 | Identify a compelling question related to the UNESCO World Heritage List or the ownership of artifacts from antiquity. |
1.52 | Use information such as authorship, point of view, purpose, intended audience, and historical context to evaluate the credibility of source materials about UNESCO World Heritage Sites or ownership of artifacts. |
1.53 | Using evidence, construct a claim about a compelling question regarding a UNESCO World Heritage Site or the ownership of artifacts from antiquity. |
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Priority Standards | |
1.44 | Compare and contrast the methods rulers used to legitimize and consolidate power within Asia, Europe, Oceania, Africa and the Americas, including bureaucracies, religion, militarism, feudalism, architecture, taxation and art between 1000 CE and 1600 CE. |
1.45 | Analyze the impact of centralizing power on both trade and conflict among and within states and empires in Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania and the Americas between 1000 CE and 1600 CE. |
1.47 | Analyze the roles of men and women in different societies, including ways in which women exercised power between 1000 CE and 1600 CE. |
1.49 | Explain the causes and effects of technological innovations and early urbanization on societies in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas between 1000 CE and 1600 CE. |
Indigenous Societies: Culture, Exchange, Power Unit 7 Overview:
World History I, 9th Grade
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Unit Preview | ||
Subtopic(s) | Compelling Question | Standard(s) |
Oceania | How do geography and cultural artifacts help explain societies in Oceania? | 1.23, 1.25, 1.31, 1.33, 1.35, 1.36, 1.37, 1.40, 1.42, 1.50, 1.52, 1.53 |
Pre-Columbian Societies of Latin America | How did pre-Columbian societies in Latin America develop and sustain complex civilizations? | 1.21, 1.23, 1.25, 1.26, 1.27, 1.29, 1.31, 1.36, 1.37, 1.39, 1.40, 1.42, 1.43, 1.44, 1.45, 1.47, 1.49 |
Unit Assessment: Annotated Source Collection | All Unit Standards | |
Evaluating Evidence: Unit Focus Skill
Thinking historically means identifying the evidence related to a claim, assessing its validity, and corroborating it by comparing multiple sources' interpretations of events, developments, or processes.
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Oceania: Topic 1 Overview
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SUPPORTING QUESTION | How did geography and the environment shape societies across Oceania? | How do different types of evidence explain Polynesian navigation and migration? |
STANDARD(S) | 1.23, 1.25, 1.31, 1.33, 1.37 | 1.33, 1.37, 1.42 |
FOCUS SKILL(S) | Contextualization Evaluating Evidence Historical Significance | Contextualization Evaluating Arguments Evaluating Evidence |
DO FIRST | Frayer: Oceania Map Match | Frayer: Prehistory Give One, Get One |
ACTIVITY 1 - LAUNCH | Inquiry Journal Topic 1: Supporting Questions | †Document Analysis - “Sea People” - THINKS |
ACTIVITY 2- PRACTICE | “Every Country in Oceania” Video Reflection | †Document Analysis - “Sea People” - ARG |
ACTIVITY 3- EXHIBIT | “What is the Context?” - Oceania Regions - Jigsaw | Understanding Polynesian Migration Stations |
CONCLUSION | Exit Ticket: Classroom Mingle | Exit Ticket: Triangle, Square, Circle |
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Oceania: Topic 1 Overview
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SUPPORTING QUESTION | How did settlement, environment, and geography shape early life on Rapa Nui? | Why do cultural artifacts matter, and how can people respectfully preserve and interpret them? |
STANDARD(S) | 1.35, 1.36, 1.37, 1.40, 1.50, 1.53 | 1.36, 1.37, 1.50, 1.52, 1.53 |
FOCUS SKILL(S) | Evaluating Evidence Continuity and Change Over Time Geographic Relationships | Evaluating Evidence Historical Significance |
DO FIRST | Frayer: Rapa Nui Video Reflection | Frayer: Indigenous Vocabulary Matching |
ACTIVITY 1 - LAUNCH | Oceania Case Study: Rapa Nui Webquest | The Meaning and Ownership of the Past Stations |
ACTIVITY 2- PRACTICE | Historical Thinking Skills: Geographic Relationships Guide & Graphic Organizer | Evaluating Evidence Graphic Organizer Historical Significance Graphic Organizer |
ACTIVITY 3- EXHIBIT | Newspaper Activity | Museum Panel Creation |
CONCLUSION | Exit Ticket: 3, 2, 1 Prompts | Inquiry Journal Topic 1: Compelling Questions |
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Pre-Columbian Societies of Latin America: Topic 2 Overview
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SUPPORTING QUESTION | What evidence do historians use to understand pre-1600 American civilizations, and what are the limitations of that evidence? | How did the Maya, Aztec, and Inca use technology and engineering to adapt to environmental challenges? | How did the Maya, Aztec, and Inca societies organize and maintain power? |
STANDARD(S) | 1.21, 1.36, 1.42, 1.43 | 1.25, 1.37, 1.49 | 1.23, 1.26, 1.37, 1.43, 1.44 |
FOCUS SKILL(S) | Contextualization Evaluating Evidence | Contextualization Evaluating Evidence | Contextualization Comparison |
DO FIRST | Frayer: Incomplete Record Notice, Think, Wonder | Frayer: Aqueduct Quickwrite | Frayer: Sapa Inca Prediction |
ACTIVITY 1 - LAUNCH | Inquiry Journal Topic 2: Supporting Questions | Making Predictions: Geography of Indigenous America | Governance Systems Jigsaw |
ACTIVITY 2- PRACTICE | “What is the Context?” - Pre-1600 American Civilizations | Summary Sort | Comparison Graphic Organizer |
ACTIVITY 3- EXHIBIT | 3, 2, 1 Source Analysis | Innovation and Society Jigsaw | N/A |
CONCLUSION | Evaluating Evidence Graphic Organizer | Exit Ticket: Quickwrite | †Form Assessment- Mesoamerica - COM |
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Pre-Columbian Societies of Latin America: Topic 2 Overview
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SUPPORTING QUESTION | To what extent was long-distance trade in Latin America similar to or different from long-distance trade in Afro-Eurasia? | How did religion and gender roles shape society in the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations? |
STANDARD(S) | 1.31, 1.37, 1.40, 1.45, 1.49 | 1.27, 1.29, 1.36, 1.37, 1.39, 1.47 |
FOCUS SKILL(S) | Contextualization Comparison Evaluating Evidence | Evaluating Evidence Historical Significance Evaluating Arguments |
DO FIRST | Frayer: Pochteca Quote Analysis | Frayer: Differentiated Video Reflection |
ACTIVITY 1 - LAUNCH | “What is the Context?” Long-Distance Trade in Latin America + Reduce It Strategy | Religion and Gender Roles Jigsaw |
ACTIVITY 2- PRACTICE | Comparing Long Distance Trade Networks | †Document Analysis - “The Muxe of Mexico” - ARG |
ACTIVITY 3- EXHIBIT | “Pick a Side” Class Discussion | N/A |
CONCLUSION | Exit Ticket: Build a Thesis | Inquiry Journal Topic 2: Compelling Question |
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Assessment Overview
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| LESSON 10 (60 MINS) | |
ESSENTIAL QUESTION | Place-Based Lesson Extension See page 13 for lesson options and view Best Practice Repository for additional information about implementation | To what extent did geographic isolation limit or strengthen Indigenous societies in Mesoamerica and Oceania before 1600 CE? |
STANDARD(S) | All Unit Standards | |
FOCUS SKILL(S) | Evaluating Evidence Historical Significance | |
DO FIRST | Frayer: Annotation Give One, Get One | |
ACTIVITY 1 - LAUNCH | Introduce and Model Source Annotation | |
ACTIVITY 2- PRACTICE | Source Selection and Annotation | |
ACTIVITY 3- EXHIBIT | Peer Review | |
CONCLUSION | Unit 7 Inquiry Journal Essential Question |
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Place Based Lesson Extension
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| LESSON 10 (60 MINS) |
SUPPORTING QUESTION | |
STANDARD(S) | |
FOCUS SKILL(S) | |
DO FIRST | |
OPTION 1 - PODCAST | |
OPTION 2 - SYNCHRONOUS PRESENTATION | |
OPTION 3 - FIELD TRIP | |
CONCLUSION | |
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Indigenous Societies: Culture, Exchange, Power Unit 7 Overview:
World History I, 9th Grade
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Unit Commentary:
Unit 7 focuses on how Indigenous societies in Mesoamerica and Oceania developed, adapted, and expressed complex systems of culture, belief, and power in diverse geographic environments before 1600 CE. Students investigate how geography, isolation, and interaction shaped social organization, cultural identity, and systems of knowledge. Using case studies from Oceania and the Americas, students analyze how migration, environmental conditions, belief systems, and cultural practices influenced the development and sustainability of societies.
In Topic 1, students examine societies in Oceania, with a focus on geography, navigation, and cultural expression. Students explore how Polynesian societies adapted to life across vast ocean environments, using evidence such as maps, oral traditions, and archaeological findings to understand migration and settlement. Through a case study of Rapa Nui, students analyze how environment and isolation shaped daily life and long-term development. They also evaluate cultural artifacts, such as moai, to understand how meaning, belief systems, and identity are expressed through material culture and how these artifacts are interpreted today.
In Topic 2, students investigate pre-Columbian societies in Latin America, including the Maya, Aztec, and Inca. Students analyze how these societies adapted to environmental challenges, developed technologies and infrastructure, and organized systems of governance and power. They examine how religion, social hierarchies, and cultural practices shaped daily life, while also considering the role of trade, migration, and interaction in connecting societies across regions. Emphasis is placed on comparing how different societies developed complex civilizations in distinct geographic contexts.
The unit concludes with an annotated source collection assessment. Students will select and annotate primary and secondary sources to evaluate the impact of geographic isolation on Indigenous societies in Mesoamerica and Oceania. This activity encourages students to critically engage with historical evidence, draw connections between sources, and articulate how geography shaped the development, strengths, and limitations of these societies.
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Indigenous Societies: Culture, Exchange, Power Unit 7 Overview:
World History I, 9th Grade
thinkingnation.org
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