Scope and sequence · History & Geography
Geography and History: Why Borders Fall Where They Do
A full-year high-school course that reads world history through the land: the Rhine and the Rio Grande, the Pyrenees and the Andes, the Sahara and the steppe, the Channel and the Bosporus, the open plain that carried Napoleon and Hitler toward Moscow, and the treaty lines and survey chains that cut borders where nature drew none, each one studied on the map, worked with real numbers and asked the same question: what changed when the bridge, the railway, the road or the airplane crossed the barrier?
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What to cover
50 of 50 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: Thinking Geographically About History
- MUST COVER 1.1 Geography Is Destiny? · exam
- MUST COVER 1.2 Natural and Artificial Borders · exam
- MUST COVER 1.3 Reading a Historical Atlas · exam
- MUST COVER 1.4 Core, Frontier and Buffer · exam
- MUST COVER 1.5 Providence and Human Choice · exam
Unit 2: Rivers as Borders and Highways
- MUST COVER 2.1 The Rhine: Rome’s Frontier and a Thousand Years of Contest · exam
- MUST COVER 2.2 The Danube: Rome’s Other Frontier and the Road of Empires · exam
- MUST COVER 2.3 The Rio Grande: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and a River That Moves · exam
- MUST COVER 2.4 The Amur and the Ussuri: The Treaty of Aigun and the 1969 Border Clash · exam
- MUST COVER 2.5 Rivers That Unite: The Mississippi and the Nile as Spines of a Nation · exam
Unit 3: Mountains as Walls
- MUST COVER 3.1 The Pyrenees · exam
- MUST COVER 3.2 The Alps · exam
- MUST COVER 3.3 The Himalaya · exam
- MUST COVER 3.4 The Andes · exam
- MUST COVER 3.5 The Caucasus · exam
Unit 4: Deserts and Steppes
- MUST COVER 4.1 The Sahara · exam
- MUST COVER 4.2 The Arabian Desert · exam
- MUST COVER 4.3 The Steppe Highway · exam
- MUST COVER 4.4 Genghis Khan’s Empire · exam
- MUST COVER 4.5 The Great Wall · exam
Unit 5: Seas and Islands
- MUST COVER 5.1 Britain: The Moat · exam
- MUST COVER 5.2 Japan: The Island Nation · exam
- MUST COVER 5.3 The Mediterranean: A Sea in the Middle of the Land · exam
- MUST COVER 5.4 Greece and the Aegean · exam
- MUST COVER 5.5 Sicily and Malta: Islands at the Crossroads · exam
Unit 6: Harbors and Choke Points in History
- MUST COVER 6.1 Constantinople · exam
- MUST COVER 6.2 Gibraltar · exam
- MUST COVER 6.3 Singapore · exam
- MUST COVER 6.4 The Dardanelles · exam
- MUST COVER 6.5 Natural Harbors · exam
Unit 7: The North European Plain
- MUST COVER 7.1 An Open Road · exam
- MUST COVER 7.2 Poland on the Plain · exam
- MUST COVER 7.3 Napoleon in Russia · exam
- MUST COVER 7.4 1941: The Same Road · exam
- MUST COVER 7.5 Rail Gauges and Defense · exam
Unit 8: The American Continent
- MUST COVER 8.1 The Appalachian Barrier · exam
- MUST COVER 8.2 The Mississippi System · exam
- MUST COVER 8.3 Manifest Destiny as Geography · exam
- MUST COVER 8.4 Rails West · exam
- MUST COVER 8.5 Two Oceans as a Shield · exam
Unit 9: Lines Drawn by Treaties
- MUST COVER 9.1 The Treaty of Tordesillas · exam
- MUST COVER 9.2 The Berlin Conference · exam
- MUST COVER 9.3 The Middle East After 1918 · exam
- MUST COVER 9.4 Partition of India · exam
- MUST COVER 9.5 Lines in Cold Places · exam
Unit 10: The Surveyors
- MUST COVER 10.1 Mason and Dixon: Surveying by the Stars · exam
- MUST COVER 10.2 The Public Land Survey: Townships and Sections Across the West · exam
- MUST COVER 10.3 The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India · exam
- MUST COVER 10.4 Marking the 49th Parallel: Boundary Commissions in the Wilderness · exam
- MUST COVER 10.5 Final Review: Reading Any Border on Earth · exam
36-week pacing calendar
From the course’s own 33-week pacing guide, with catch-up and review weeks added to fill a 36-week (180-day) year.
| Week | Plan | Done | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | Day 1: Lesson 1.1 Geography Is Destiny?: 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 Natural and Artificial Borders: 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 Reading a Historical Atlas: 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 Core, Frontier and Buffer: 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 Providence and Human Choice: 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 Rhine: Rome’s Frontier and a Thousand Years of Contest: 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 Danube: Rome’s Other Frontier and the Road of Empires: 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 The Rio Grande: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and a River That Moves: 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 Amur and the Ussuri: The Treaty of Aigun and the 1969 Border Clash: 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 Rivers That Unite: The Mississippi and the Nile as Spines of a Nation: 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 The Pyrenees: 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 Alps: 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 The Himalaya: 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 The Andes: 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 The Caucasus: 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: Lesson 4.1 The Sahara: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 4.1: project and map notebook | ||
| Wk 11 | Day 1: Lesson 4.1: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 4.2 The Arabian Desert: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 4.2: project and map notebook Day 4: Lesson 4.2: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 4.3 The Steppe Highway: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples | ||
| Wk 12 | Day 1: Lesson 4.3: project and map notebook Day 2: Lesson 4.3: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 4.4 Genghis Khan’s Empire: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 4.4: project and map notebook Day 5: Lesson 4.4: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 13 | Day 1: Lesson 4.5 The Great Wall: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 4.5: project and map notebook Day 3: Lesson 4.5: practice set and corrections Day 4: Unit 4 test Day 5: Lesson 5.1 Britain: The Moat: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples | ||
| Wk 14 | Day 1: Lesson 5.1: project and map notebook Day 2: Lesson 5.1: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 5.2 Japan: The Island Nation: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 5.2: project and map notebook Day 5: Lesson 5.2: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 15 | Day 1: Lesson 5.3 The Mediterranean: A Sea in the Middle of the Land: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 5.3: project and map notebook Day 3: Lesson 5.3: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 5.4 Greece and the Aegean: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 5.4: project and map notebook | ||
| Wk 16 | Day 1: Lesson 5.4: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 5.5 Sicily and Malta: Islands at the Crossroads: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 5.5: project and map notebook Day 4: Lesson 5.5: practice set and corrections Day 5: Unit 5 test | ||
| Wk 17 | Catch-up and review week (no new lessons) | ||
| Wk 18 | Day 1: Midterm review Day 2: Midterm exam (Units 1–5) Day 3: Lesson 6.1 Constantinople: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 6.1: project and map notebook Day 5: Lesson 6.1: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 19 | Day 1: Lesson 6.2 Gibraltar: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 6.2: project and map notebook Day 3: Lesson 6.2: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 6.3 Singapore: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 6.3: project and map notebook | ||
| Wk 20 | Day 1: Lesson 6.3: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 6.4 The Dardanelles: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 6.4: project and map notebook Day 4: Lesson 6.4: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 6.5 Natural Harbors: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples | ||
| Wk 21 | Day 1: Lesson 6.5: project and map notebook Day 2: Lesson 6.5: practice set and corrections Day 3: Unit 6 test Day 4: Lesson 7.1 An Open Road: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 7.1: project and map notebook | ||
| Wk 22 | Day 1: Lesson 7.1: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 7.2 Poland on the Plain: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 7.2: project and map notebook Day 4: Lesson 7.2: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 7.3 Napoleon in Russia: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples | ||
| Wk 23 | Day 1: Lesson 7.3: project and map notebook Day 2: Lesson 7.3: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 7.4 1941: The Same Road: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 7.4: project and map notebook Day 5: Lesson 7.4: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 24 | Day 1: Lesson 7.5 Rail Gauges and Defense: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 7.5: project and map notebook Day 3: Lesson 7.5: practice set and corrections Day 4: Unit 7 test Day 5: Lesson 8.1 The Appalachian Barrier: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples | ||
| Wk 25 | Day 1: Lesson 8.1: project and map notebook Day 2: Lesson 8.1: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 8.2 The Mississippi System: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 8.2: project and map notebook Day 5: Lesson 8.2: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 26 | Day 1: Lesson 8.3 Manifest Destiny as Geography: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 8.3: project and map notebook Day 3: Lesson 8.3: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 8.4 Rails West: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 8.4: project and map notebook | ||
| Wk 27 | Day 1: Lesson 8.4: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 8.5 Two Oceans as a Shield: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 8.5: project and map notebook Day 4: Lesson 8.5: practice set and corrections Day 5: Unit 8 test | ||
| Wk 28 | Day 1: Lesson 9.1 The Treaty of Tordesillas: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 9.1: project and map notebook Day 3: Lesson 9.1: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 9.2 The Berlin Conference: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 9.2: project and map notebook | ||
| Wk 29 | Day 1: Lesson 9.2: practice set and corrections Day 2: Lesson 9.3 The Middle East After 1918: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 9.3: project and map notebook Day 4: Lesson 9.3: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 9.4 Partition of India: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples | ||
| Wk 30 | Day 1: Lesson 9.4: project and map notebook Day 2: Lesson 9.4: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 9.5 Lines in Cold Places: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 9.5: project and map notebook Day 5: Lesson 9.5: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 31 | Day 1: Unit 9 test Day 2: Lesson 10.1 Mason and Dixon: Surveying by the Stars: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 3: Lesson 10.1: project and map notebook Day 4: Lesson 10.1: practice set and corrections Day 5: Lesson 10.2 The Public Land Survey: Townships and Sections Across the West: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples | ||
| Wk 32 | Day 1: Lesson 10.2: project and map notebook Day 2: Lesson 10.2: practice set and corrections Day 3: Lesson 10.3 The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 4: Lesson 10.3: project and map notebook Day 5: Lesson 10.3: practice set and corrections | ||
| Wk 33 | Day 1: Lesson 10.4 Marking the 49th Parallel: Boundary Commissions in the Wilderness: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 2: Lesson 10.4: project and map notebook Day 3: Lesson 10.4: practice set and corrections Day 4: Lesson 10.5 Final Review: Reading Any Border on Earth: warm-up, video, core ideas and worked examples Day 5: Lesson 10.5: project and map notebook | ||
| Wk 34 | Day 1: Lesson 10.5: practice set and corrections Day 2: Unit 10 test Day 3: Final review Day 4: Final exam (Units 1–10) | ||
| Wk 35 | Catch-up week: finish any MUST COVER lesson not yet done | ||
| Wk 36 | Year-end review, portfolio and records |
Grading: Practice sets and written responses (completed and corrected) 15%, Map notebook (accuracy, neatness, notes) 15%, Unit projects 10%, Unit tests 35%, Midterm exam 10%, Final exam 15%. Scale: A 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60.