Scope and sequence · History & Geography
Technology Overcoming Geography
A one-semester high-school course on how people overcame the sea, the land and distance itself: the stern rudder and the compass, Harrison’s chronometer, the Erie Canal and Stephenson’s Rocket, Suez and Panama, the Atlantic cable and the Great Eastern, the Wrights and the polar routes, McLean’s container and the GPS satellite, each one studied as a problem geography posed and a solution people built, and ending with what technology has still not overcome.
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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: Mastering the Sea
- MUST COVER 1.1 The Sail and the Stern Rudder · exam
- MUST COVER 1.2 The Compass and the Chart · exam
- MUST COVER 1.3 Longitude Solved · exam
- MUST COVER 1.4 Steam at Sea · exam
- MUST COVER 1.5 The Clipper and the Iron Hull · exam
Unit 2: Mastering the Land
- MUST COVER 2.1 Roman Roads · exam
- MUST COVER 2.2 Canals and Locks · exam
- MUST COVER 2.3 The Railroad · exam
- MUST COVER 2.4 The Transcontinental Railroad and the Trans-Siberian · exam
- MUST COVER 2.5 Tunnels and Bridges · exam
Unit 3: The Great Canals
- MUST COVER 3.1 The Suez Canal · exam
- MUST COVER 3.2 The French at Panama · exam
- MUST COVER 3.3 The American Panama Canal · exam
- MUST COVER 3.4 Kiel and Corinth · exam
- MUST COVER 3.5 What Canals Changed · exam
Unit 4: Mastering Distance
- MUST COVER 4.1 The Telegraph · exam
- MUST COVER 4.2 The Atlantic Cable · exam
- MUST COVER 4.3 The Airplane · exam
- MUST COVER 4.4 The Jet Age and the Polar Routes · exam
- MUST COVER 4.5 The Container · exam
Unit 5: Mastering Location, and the Limits
- MUST COVER 5.1 Sputnik and the Satellite Age · exam
- MUST COVER 5.2 GPS: Timing, Satellites and Trilateration · exam
- MUST COVER 5.3 Fiber-Optic Cables: The Internet Under the Sea · exam
- MUST COVER 5.4 What Technology Has Not Overcome · exam
- MUST COVER 5.5 Final Project and Exam: One Technology and the Geography It Overcame · 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 The Sail and the Stern Rudder: 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 The Compass and the Chart: 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 Longitude Solved: 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 Steam at Sea: 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 The Clipper and the Iron Hull: 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 Roman Roads: 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 Canals and Locks: 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 Railroad: 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 Transcontinental Railroad and the Trans-Siberian: 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 Tunnels and Bridges: 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 Suez Canal: 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 French at Panama: 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 American Panama Canal: 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 Kiel and Corinth: 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 What Canals Changed: 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 The Telegraph: 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 The Atlantic Cable: 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 Airplane: 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 Jet Age and the Polar Routes: 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 The Container: 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 Sputnik and the Satellite Age: 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 GPS: Timing, Satellites and Trilateration: 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 Fiber-Optic Cables: The Internet Under the Sea: 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 What Technology Has Not Overcome: 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 and Exam: One Technology and the Geography It Overcame: 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 30%, Midterm exam 10%, Final research paper 15%, Final exam 10%. Scale: A 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60.