World History and Geography: Medieval and Early Modern Times: Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the sub-Saharan civilizations of Ghana and Mali in Medieval Africa. Trace the historic influence of such discoveries as tea, the manufacture of paper, wood-block printing, the compass, and gunpowder.ĭescribe the development of the imperial state and the scholar-official class. Understand the importance of both overland trade and maritime expeditions between China and other civilizations in the Mongol Ascendancy and Ming Dynasty. World History and Geography: Medieval and Early Modern Times: Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of China in the Middle Ages.ĭescribe the reunification of China under the Tang Dynasty and reasons for the spread of Buddhism in Tang China, Korea, and Japan.ĭescribe agricultural, technological, and commercial developments during the Tang and Sung periods.Īnalyze the influences of Confucianism and changes in Confucian thought during the Sung and Mongol periods. Understand the intellectual exchanges among Muslim scholars of Eurasia and Africa and the contributions Muslim scholars made to later civilizations in the areas of science, geography, mathematics, philosophy, medicine, art, and literature. Trace the origins of Islam and the life and teachings of Muhammad, including Islamic teachings on the connection with Judaism and Christianity.Įxplain the significance of the Qur'an and the Sunnah as the primary sources of Islamic beliefs, practice, and law, and their influence in Muslims' daily life.ĭiscuss the expansion of Muslim rule through military conquests and treaties, emphasizing the cultural blending within Muslim civilization and the spread and acceptance of Islam and the Arabic language.ĭescribe the growth of cities and the establishment of trade routes among Asia, Africa, and Europe, the products and inventions that traveled along these routes (e.g., spices, textiles, paper, steel, new crops), and the role of merchants in Arab society. Identify the physical features and describe the climate of the Arabian peninsula, its relationship to surrounding bodies of land and water, and nomadic and sedentary ways of life. World History and Geography: Medieval and Early Modern Times: Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages. Study the early strengths and lasting contributions of Rome (e.g., significance of Roman citizenship rights under Roman law Roman art, architecture, engineering, and philosophy preservation and transmission of Christianity) and its ultimate internal weaknesses (e.g., rise of autonomous military powers within the empire, undermining of citizenship by the growth of corruption and slavery, lack of education, and distribution of news).ĭiscuss the geographic borders of the empire at its height and the factors that threatened its territorial cohesion.ĭescribe the establishment by Constantine of the new capital in Constantinople and the development of the Byzantine Empire, with an emphasis on the consequences of the development of two distinct European civilizations, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic, and their two distinct views on church-state relations. World History and Geography: Medieval and Early Modern Times: Students analyze the causes and effects of the vast expansion and ultimate disintegration of the Roman Empire.