Kathleen Canyon

Due - Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Read through the story of Kathleen Canyon, an archaeologist in the year 3609 AD. She has just made a discovery in North America and has published her preliminary inferences of the site. Carefully read through the conclusions she has made and list as many of the inference mistakes she has made.

Hint: In case, you are stuck, Kathleen has found a site in the Prairies.

1. the names of the various main clans of the cult, found on footwear, appear to be Adidas, Nike, and Russell – Kathleen made the mistake of inferring that the footwear had the names of clans but instead these are just different name brands of sports footwear.

Inferencing and Archeaology

Digging into the past is a complicated job. We will be learning about the various tools archeaologists use to find out information about past events, people and societies. How do we know about the way people lived if they did not leave a detailed list of items and their uses? Archaeologists use inferencing.

Inferencing is process of coming to a conclusion. Archaeologists look at the artifacts and other facts and make an educated guess about historical events, people, and societies.

For the rest of this week we will be looking into inferencing and archaeology.

Reminder: Origins of Human Societies assignment due Thursday Feb 17th
                  Should include:  - Page numbers and writing standards (see course outline for details)
                                             - can be typed or handwritten (neat and clear)
                                             - Terms must be explained in own words
                                             - Concept web must also include a written portion that explains, in your own words, why you have put terms into those specific groups.

ELA 9A - period 2 - a reminder that we will not have class on Wed, Feb 16th due to Chapel.

Both classes will have Monday and Tuesday as work periods for this assignment.
                                         

Why study the history of Societies?

For the next week we will be going through the first chapter of our History text. In order to understand History, the events and people in their appropriate contexts we need to first learn how to study it. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of the study of people and their stories? Are the stories and recordings about past events accurate and reliable? Is it even important to know about what happened to some old dead person oh so long ago?

Wednesday: We will go through the 'Timelines' handouts and write out our "rules for identifying centuries". Start to read through chapter 1.

Thursday: Eyewitness accounts - reliable or unraliable?

Friday: Archeaology- what's the point of digging through dirt?
             Archaeology - acquiring data (information) about our human past - Due Monday, Feb 14th

Personal Timeline Assignment

Due Mon. Feb 7th, 2011

On loose-leaf you will think of an plot out TEN key events from your life.
Remember to include:

- time line with dates
- 10 key events (birth, moves, pets, accepted Christ, etc)
- be neat in presentation
- your full name and the date

What's the point of learning History?

Here is what some famous or infamous people have said of History...

"History: gossip well told." ~ Elbert Hubbard

"The history of the world is the record of a man in quest of his daily bread and butter."
                                             ~ Hendrik Wilhelm van Loon, The Story of Mankind

"History never looks like history when you are living through it"
                                             ~ John W. Gardner

But why do we continue to study the subject? Why does it interest us? Facinate us?
I feel it is because we are curious about the people who came before us. The ones that made decisions that influenced the life we are living today. The world we see around us was created by the blood, sweat and tears of men and women we have never met.

Some have said, that History is the study of dead people. And to an extent that is true. But it is so much more. Not just the people but their thoughts, ideas and inventions that have had an impact on society.

So, we begin our adventure through High School history with a study of the Roots of Society.