Big History

Big Geography
AP World History
Isaac Prez Bolado

Units of Analysis
Whenever we set to study a
phenomenon (remember,
SCIENCE!), we must consider
what our unit of analysis will
be.

Units of Analysis
What kind of mouse? Which species?
How many mice? For how long?
In the lab? Roaming free?
What about the mice? Their
preferences?
Their behavior in the presence of
cheese?
Their nutritional needs for survival?
Their brains while on cheese? The
Kwang
studies
mice.
She
wants
cheese-loving
genes
in their
DNA?

Doctor
to know what makes mice like cheese.

Units of Analysis
Choosing the right units of analysis is VERY
important in World History too.

Units of Analysis
In particular, we must be careful
about three things:
What time period are we studying?
(Periodization)
What geographical context are we
looking at? (geographic range).
Whose history are we talking about?
(a society, a linguistic group, a
religious community, a particular
state, a commercial or cultural
network, a practice, an idea, a
technology).

The World as a Unit of

Analysis
There are two important tools to help us in framing a
history for the whole world.

Big History

Big Geography

Big Geography
Big geography means taking the whole world
as a unit of analysis Earth as one big mass
shaped by gravity, plate tectonics,
hydrodynamics, geochemistry and climate
physics.
Take out your Google Earth.

Big Geography Exercise

Steps
1. WAIT FOR INSTRUCTIONS! Dont get ahead
until I say you can do so.
2. Pay attention as we label the main
continents, oceans, regions and islands.
3. Observe the terrain on each region of the
world and make notes on your map using the
key on the next slide. If you want/have time,
you can also color the map as suggested.
4. We will only work on this project ONE class.
The whole map must be finished as a project
for your first period.

Big Geography Map

Your big geography map will be
graded the following way:
3 points if it is fully colored.
3 points if all the blank spaces are
labeled.
3 points if the work looks neat.
1 point if the map is turned in before
the due date.
Total: 10 points possible.

Big Geography Exercise Key

Landmasses:
C Continent
Re Region
Pn Peninsula
A Archipelago
I - Island
Water bodies (in
blue)
O Ocean
Se - Sea
Ri River
La - Lake

Lett
er

Terrain
Features

Mountain Chain Brown traingle line

VF

Volcanic
Activity

Orange circle

SP

Savanah,
Prairie or Plains

Yellow

Color

DS Desert or
Steppe

Dark yellow/light
brown

TF

Tropical Forest

Dark green

Te
F

Temperate
Forest

Light green

TT

Tundra/Taiga

Gray or White

 Most volcanic activity occurs at the edges of plates.

Circled above is the Ring of Fire,containing the edges of the Pacific and
Nazca plates.
Historically, important volcanic eruptions have occurred at the edges of the
anatolian plate, and an active volcano has been an important part of the
history of Iceland.

Big History

Big History
The unit of analysis of Big History is the
materially known universe an its contents.

What is the universe?

The universe we know and love is everything
contained within what physicists call the Spacetime
continuum.

THE
FABRIC
OF
REALITY

How did the universe start?

We know and we dont know.
Before the start of the universe, there was
no time (time is part of the Spacetime
continuum), so we cant even IMAGINE what
it was like.

Well, what do we know?

We know that all space, time, matter and
energy came to being in a very small
amount of time (less than a milisecond) with
an explosion that set the universe into being
by unleashing four fundamental forces that
make the universe.

In the beginning was

darkness

Then Light was born

Stars: factories of worlds

Most common elements in our

Galaxy
Z

Element

Mass fraction in
parts per million

Hydrogen

739,000

Helium

240,000

Oxygen

10,400

Carbon

4,600

10

Neon

1,340

26

Iron

1,090

Nitrogen

960

14

Silicon

650

12

Magnesium

580

16

Sulfur

440

Expansion of the Universe

Planetary Formation

Life-sustaining Planets
Factors that contributed to life
emerging on Earth:
Distance from the sun
Existence of atmosphere and
magnetic field
Geologic activity and solar
radiation contribute energy and
cycling of chemicals in crust.
Abundance of liquid water, carbon
dioxide, nitrogen, chlorine,
crystalizing elements (sodium,
potassium, magnesium, iodine,
calcium) and metals.

Life on Earth and its Origins

Life on Earth is based on the replication of
genetically-charged molecules (genes).

Life on Earth and its Origins

The earliest forms of life were probably
similar to viruses, existing as bundles of
aminoacids that exhibited a type of
behavior beyond simple chemical
properties.
The most essential behaviors of the protocell included replication, formation of
membranes and vesicles and eventually
metabolism (producing, storing and using
energy).

Evolution and Terraforming

The earliest
forms of life
probably arose
in the worlds
oceans, as the
atmosphere was
very unstable.
Cellular life
proved so
successful that
competition
among living
cells led to
adaptative
strategies and
specialized
organisms.

Evolution and Terraforming

Photosynthesizin
g plants
increased the
concentration of
oxygen in the
atmosphere,
which favored
the development
of multicellular
organisms and
the colonization
of land, where
sunlight was
much more
abundant.

Timeline of Evolution
Eventually, the
Earths crust was
teeming with both
plant and animal
life of many kinds.
http://www.tellapal
let.com/TreeOfLife.
jpg

Wrap-up: Drakes Equation

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120821how-many-alien-worlds-exist

Evolution of
Hominids
Your homework, of course, will
be to read chapter 1 in your
book.
Remember you must turn in
study-notes and take a quiz.