Scope and sequence · History & Geography
Geopolitics: The Great Ideas
A one-semester high-school course on the great arguments about geography and power, read in the thinkers’ own words: Thucydides on Athens and Sparta, Mahan’s sea power and his coaling stations, Mackinder’s Heartland and the Trans-Siberian railway, the Nazi abuse of geopolitics as a warning, Spykman’s Rimland, Kennan’s containment and the polar maps of the air age, each one weighed for its strengths and its failures, and ending with a capstone in which the student writes a fair, reasoned geographic analysis of one region.
School Launch is a free helpful tool, not an accredited school or curriculum provider. It does not issue credits, transcripts, diplomas or grades of record. Parents and schools are responsible for meeting their own state or local requirements. More
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: Foundations
- MUST COVER 1.1 What Is Geopolitics? · exam
- MUST COVER 1.2 Thucydides on Sea Power and Land Power · exam
- MUST COVER 1.3 Geographic Determinism and Its Critics · exam
- MUST COVER 1.4 Reading Maps of Power · exam
- MUST COVER 1.5 How to Weigh an Idea · exam
Unit 2: Mahan and Sea Power
- MUST COVER 2.1 Alfred Thayer Mahan · exam
- MUST COVER 2.2 Mahan’s Six Elements of Sea Power · exam
- MUST COVER 2.3 Mahan’s Influence: Roosevelt, the Great White Fleet and the Kaiser’s Navy · exam
- MUST COVER 2.4 Coaling Stations and Canals · exam
- MUST COVER 2.5 Weighing Mahan · exam
Unit 3: Mackinder and the Heartland
- MUST COVER 3.1 Halford Mackinder and the Geographical Pivot of History · exam
- MUST COVER 3.2 The Heartland and the World-Island · exam
- MUST COVER 3.3 Railways and Land Power: The Trans-Siberian · exam
- MUST COVER 3.4 Ratzel, Haushofer and the Abuse of Geopolitics · exam
- MUST COVER 3.5 Weighing Mackinder: Strengths, Failures and the Revision of 1943 · exam
Unit 4: Spykman, Containment and After
- MUST COVER 4.1 Nicholas Spykman and the Rimland · exam
- MUST COVER 4.2 Kennan and Containment · exam
- MUST COVER 4.3 The Monroe Doctrine as Geography · exam
- MUST COVER 4.4 The Air Age: Polar Maps and the Shrinking World · exam
- MUST COVER 4.5 Weighing Spykman: The Cold War Map and Its Critics · exam
Unit 5: Capstone
- MUST COVER 5.1 Choosing a Region · exam
- MUST COVER 5.2 The Physical Facts · exam
- MUST COVER 5.3 Three Views · exam
- MUST COVER 5.4 Writing the Analysis · exam
- MUST COVER 5.5 Presentation and Final Exam · 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 What Is Geopolitics?: 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 Thucydides on Sea Power and Land Power: 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 Geographic Determinism and Its Critics: 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 Reading Maps of Power: 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 How to Weigh an Idea: 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 Alfred Thayer Mahan: 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 Mahan’s Six Elements of Sea Power: 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 Mahan’s Influence: Roosevelt, the Great White Fleet and the Kaiser’s Navy: 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 Coaling Stations and Canals: 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 Weighing Mahan: 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 Halford Mackinder and the Geographical Pivot of History: 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 The Heartland and the World-Island: 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 Railways and Land Power: The Trans-Siberian: 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 Ratzel, Haushofer and the Abuse of Geopolitics: 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 Weighing Mackinder: Strengths, Failures and the Revision of 1943: 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 Nicholas Spykman and the Rimland: 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 Kennan and Containment: 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 The Monroe Doctrine as Geography: 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 The Air Age: Polar Maps and the Shrinking World: 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 Weighing Spykman: The Cold War Map and Its Critics: 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 Choosing a Region: 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 Physical Facts: 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 Three Views: 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 Writing the Analysis: 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 Presentation and Final Exam: 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 and written responses (completed and corrected) 15%, Map notebook (accuracy, neatness, notes) 10%, Unit projects 10%, Unit tests 25%, Midterm exam 10%, Capstone paper and presentation 20%, Final exam 10%. Scale: A 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60.