What is Big History?Big History examines our past, explains our present, and imagines our future…it's a story about us. Big History flips the study of our past upside down…allowing students to look at the big questions involving their personal point of view within our Universe.
The Big History Project a new kind of multi-disciplinary approach to the study of history, allowing students to connect themes across various curriculum's. The course is broken down into Eight different thresholds of complexity, spread across Ten different Units. |
North Plainfield Middle School Big History Project Curriculum
Why History Matters Unit?
Our first unit will focus on basic questions surrounding history. "Why do we study history?" "What are the tools of a Historian?" "When did we start studying the past?" These questions will help students understand why history is important and how a central understanding of the past can help us build a better foundation for the future.
Our first unit will focus on basic questions surrounding history. "Why do we study history?" "What are the tools of a Historian?" "When did we start studying the past?" These questions will help students understand why history is important and how a central understanding of the past can help us build a better foundation for the future.
Unit's 1, 2 and 3: The Universe The Universe started simply with a burst of energy. As it developed over billions of years, stars were born, new complexities emerge, setting the stage for radical change. Threshold 1: The Big Bang Beginning at the beginning…as far as we know. Threshold 2 : Stars Light Up How stars are born? Threshold 3: New Chemical Elements How stars forge matter in the universe? |
Unit 4 : Our Solar System and Earth
The birth and death of stars leave an aftermath of matter, gas, and clouds of dust. Through gravity and random collisions, new complex forms of matter grow to become galaxies, the Earth, and even living organisms.
Threshold 4 : Earth and the Solar System
How gas and rock created our home?
Unit 6 and 7: Humans Powerful brains. Precise language. Humans have a knack for gathering, preserving, and sharing information. We use these skills to create entirely new forms of complexity, making us the most powerful force of change on the planet. Threshold 6: Collective Learning How humans are different? Threshold 7: Agriculture How Farming sows the seeds of civilization? |
Unit's 8, 9, and 10 : The Future
What does 13.8 billion years of history tell us? How does knowing so much about the past influence how we think about the future? This may be the most important questions Big History can offer our students. Threshold 8 : The Modern Revolution Why change within the universe accelerates faster and faster as time goes by. Threshold 9: Acceleration Watch as the Human Race changes its social structure and explores bigger connections across the planet. Threshold 10: The Future What does the future hold? We will use our knowledge of Big History and our understanding of the eight major thresholds we’ve studied to predict what the future holds for humanity. |
Special Unit: The Holocaust
We will also be exploring a special unit at the end of the year on the Holocaust and current genocides that have occurred following World War II. This unit will be explored in a cross curriculum manner incorporated throughout Social Studies, English, Science and Mathematics, with specialized components developed for each subject.