7th Grade Social Studies--Eastern Hemisphere

September 18 , 2007

The 7 th graders took their second test today. It covered the Crusades, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the age of exploration (Henry the Navigator, Columbus, Magellan, etc) and the age of revolutions (scientific revolution, industrial revolution and the French Revolution). We also quickly review Russian history from Ivan the Terrible to Peter and Catharine the Great to the Bolshevik Revolution. We were able to spend some time looking at the causes of the Reformation and noting the various Protestant denominations (Lutheran, Reformed, Ana-Baptist) that came directly out of the work of these early reformers. We also traced the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church. That is a lot of ground to cover in three weeks.

Our next chapter will cover European colonialism, World War I and II and the Soviet Union in the 20 th century. We want our students to understand the reasons why the European nations colonized so much of Africa and Asia and how this caused so much tension between the nations of Europe. We will also review the amazing spread of the Gospel even though many times it was too associated with colonialism.

When we study World War I and II, we hope our students will gain a better understanding of both the causes and the results of these terrible wars. As with chapter 4, we will move very fast, but hopefully slow enough for them to gain an over-all picture of these tumultuous events.

The students will also be doing some map work. By the end of the first 9 weeks they should be able to identify the major countries of Europe.

Each student has also been assigned to write a short research paper on a European country. This will be due the end of the first quarter.

August 22, 2007

The 7 th grade social studies class will be studying the history, geography and cultures of the Eastern Hemisphere. Our goal is to introduce our students to the countries and peoples of this part of the world. The Eastern Hemisphere makes up more than 75% of the world’s population. As we all know, a very large percentage of the world’s nations are located in the Eastern Hemisphere. This means we will be moving quickly from country to country and from continent to continent. At times we will slow down to do more research on specific areas, at other times we will barely mention a country. We hope that this class will spark an interest in our students to learn more about specific places. We also pray that the 7th graders will gain a better understanding of the richness and variety of God’s creation.

We will begin our study in Europe and then mover to the Middle East. From there we will study Africa south of the Sahara and then move to South Asia, then Southeast Asia, Eastern Asia and end the year by visiting Australia and the Pacific nations.

From August 16 to the end of the month we will be studying the geography of Europe, ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and the Middle ages. Our first test will be Tuesday, August 28.

Even though this is not found in our textbook, we will also review the history of the early church by looking at how the Greeks and Romans helped prepare for the coming of Jesus and the expansion of the Gospel.