Scope and sequence · History & Geography
Geography and Commerce: Sea Lanes, Straits and Trade Routes
A high-school semester course in the geography of trade, built on the journeys that made it: Zhang Qian’s mission west, the camel caravans of Samarkand, the monsoon dhows of Kilwa, Zheng He’s treasure fleets, the Manila galleons, the silver mountain of Potosí and Malcom McLean’s first container ship, each one mapped, measured and worked with real numbers in a map notebook.
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What to cover
25 of 25 lessons are MUST COVER. They are tested on the unit tests and exams, or are skills the SAT/ACT relies on. OPTIONAL lessons are enrichment. Do them if time allows. The course is complete when the MUST COVER lessons are done.
Unit 1: The Silk Road and the Caravan Trade
- MUST COVER 1.1 Silk and the Han Dynasty · exam
- MUST COVER 1.2 Oasis Cities · exam
- MUST COVER 1.3 What Moved on the Road · exam
- MUST COVER 1.4 The Mongol Peace · exam
- MUST COVER 1.5 Why the Road Declined · exam
Unit 2: The Spice Routes and the Monsoon
- MUST COVER 2.1 The Monsoon Winds · exam
- MUST COVER 2.2 The Dhow and the Swahili Coast · exam
- MUST COVER 2.3 Zheng He’s Treasure Fleets · exam
- MUST COVER 2.4 The Spice Islands · exam
- MUST COVER 2.5 Manila Galleons · exam
Unit 3: The Great Straits
- MUST COVER 3.1 Malacca: The Busiest Strait in the World · exam
- MUST COVER 3.2 Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb: The Oil Straits · exam
- MUST COVER 3.3 Gibraltar and the Bosporus: Doors to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea · exam
- MUST COVER 3.4 Suez and Panama: Canals as Man-Made Straits · exam
- MUST COVER 3.5 Dover and the Danish Straits: Northern Europe’s Sea Doors · exam
Unit 4: Resources and Where They Lie
- MUST COVER 4.1 Salt · exam
- MUST COVER 4.2 Silver and Gold · exam
- MUST COVER 4.3 Coal and Iron · exam
- MUST COVER 4.4 Oil and Gas · exam
- MUST COVER 4.5 Grain, Copper and Rare Earths · exam
Unit 5: The Modern Trade Map
- MUST COVER 5.1 Comparative Advantage: Ricardo’s Wine and Cloth · exam
- MUST COVER 5.2 The Container Revolution: Malcom McLean and the Cost of Shipping · exam
- MUST COVER 5.3 Ports and Hubs: Shanghai, Singapore, Rotterdam and Los Angeles–Long Beach · exam
- MUST COVER 5.4 Air Cargo and Pipelines: What Flies, What Floats and What Flows · exam
- MUST COVER 5.5 Final Project: Trace the Journey of One Product to Your Home · exam
36-week pacing calendar
This is a 17-week course. Pair it with another course in the same subject, or spread it over the year at a lighter pace.
| Week | Plan | Done | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | Day 1: Lesson 1.1 Silk and the Han Dynasty: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 1.1: project and map notebook Day 3: Lesson 1.1: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 1.2 Oasis Cities: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 1.2: project and map notebook | ||
| Wk 2 | Day 1: Lesson 1.2: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 1.3 What Moved on the Road: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 1.3: project and map notebook Day 4: Lesson 1.3: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 1.4 The Mongol Peace: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples | ||
| Wk 3 | Day 1: Lesson 1.4: project and map notebook Day 2: Lesson 1.4: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 1.5 Why the Road Declined: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 1.5: project and map notebook Day 5: Lesson 1.5: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 4 | Day 1: Unit 1 test Day 2: Lesson 2.1 The Monsoon Winds: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 2.1: project and map notebook Day 4: Lesson 2.1: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 2.2 The Dhow and the Swahili Coast: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples | ||
| Wk 5 | Day 1: Lesson 2.2: project and map notebook Day 2: Lesson 2.2: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 2.3 Zheng He’s Treasure Fleets: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 2.3: project and map notebook Day 5: Lesson 2.3: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 6 | Day 1: Lesson 2.4 The Spice Islands: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 2.4: project and map notebook Day 3: Lesson 2.4: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 2.5 Manila Galleons: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 2.5: project and map notebook | ||
| Wk 7 | Day 1: Lesson 2.5: practice set and corrections Day 2: Unit 2 test Day 3: Lesson 3.1 Malacca: The Busiest Strait in the World: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 3.1: project and map notebook Day 5: Lesson 3.1: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 8 | Day 1: Lesson 3.2 Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb: The Oil Straits: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 3.2: project and map notebook Day 3: Lesson 3.2: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 3.3 Gibraltar and the Bosporus: Doors to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 3.3: project and map notebook | ||
| Wk 9 | Day 1: Lesson 3.3: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 3.4 Suez and Panama: Canals as Man-Made Straits: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 3.4: project and map notebook Day 4: Lesson 3.4: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 3.5 Dover and the Danish Straits: Northern Europe’s Sea Doors: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples | ||
| Wk 10 | Day 1: Lesson 3.5: project and map notebook Day 2: Lesson 3.5: practice set and corrections Day 3: Unit 3 test Day 4: Midterm review Day 5: Midterm exam (Units 1–3) | ||
| Wk 11 | Day 1: Lesson 4.1 Salt: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 4.1: project and map notebook Day 3: Lesson 4.1: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 4.2 Silver and Gold: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 4.2: project and map notebook | ||
| Wk 12 | Day 1: Lesson 4.2: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 4.3 Coal and Iron: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 4.3: project and map notebook Day 4: Lesson 4.3: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 4.4 Oil and Gas: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples | ||
| Wk 13 | Day 1: Lesson 4.4: project and map notebook Day 2: Lesson 4.4: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 4.5 Grain, Copper and Rare Earths: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 4.5: project and map notebook Day 5: Lesson 4.5: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 14 | Day 1: Unit 4 test Day 2: Lesson 5.1 Comparative Advantage: Ricardo’s Wine and Cloth: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 5.1: project and map notebook Day 4: Lesson 5.1: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 5.2 The Container Revolution: Malcom McLean and the Cost of Shipping: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples | ||
| Wk 15 | Day 1: Lesson 5.2: project and map notebook Day 2: Lesson 5.2: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 5.3 Ports and Hubs: Shanghai, Singapore, Rotterdam and Los Angeles–Long Beach: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 5.3: project and map notebook Day 5: Lesson 5.3: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 16 | Day 1: Lesson 5.4 Air Cargo and Pipelines: What Flies, What Floats and What Flows: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 5.4: project and map notebook Day 3: Lesson 5.4: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 5.5 Final Project: Trace the Journey of One Product to Your Home: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 5.5: project and map notebook | ||
| Wk 17 | Day 1: Lesson 5.5: practice set and corrections Day 2: Unit 5 test Day 3: Final review Day 4: Final exam (Units 1–5) | ||
| Wk 18 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 19 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 20 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 21 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 22 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 23 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 24 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 25 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 26 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 27 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 28 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 29 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 30 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 31 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 32 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 33 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 34 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 35 | Open week: second course, project or review | ||
| Wk 36 | Open week: second course, project or review |
Grading: Practice sets (completed and corrected) 15%, Map notebook (accuracy, labels, completeness) 10%, Unit projects 15%, Unit tests 30%, Midterm exam 15%, Final exam 15%. Scale: A 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60.