Teaching Data Literacy in Social Studies: An Interactive Professional Development Tool

Michigan K-12 Standards for Social Studies: Middle School World History & Geography

This page shows primary sources data visualizations that can be linked to the the Michigan Social Studies Standards for 7th-grade world history. To see data visualizations connected to a particular expectation, look for standard codes that are highlighted with a little icon next to them. If you click on the code, the page will shift to show you primary source data visualizations that are related to the expectation. 

WHG ERA 1 – THE BEGINNINGS OF HUMAN SOCIETY: BEGINNINGS TO 4000 BCE 

W1.1 Peopling of Earth 
Describe the spread of people during Era 1. 

1.1.1 Explain how and when human communities populated major regions of the world and adapted to a variety of environments. 

1.1.2 Explain what archaeologists have learned about Paleolithic and Neolithic societies. 

W1.2 Agricultural Revolution
Describe the Agricultural Revolution and explain why it was a turning point in history.

1.2.1 Describe the transition of many cultures from hunter-gatherers to sedentary agriculture (domestication of plants and animals).

1.2.2 Explain the importance of the natural environment in the development of agricultural settlements in different locations.

1.2.3 Explain the impact of the first Agricultural Revolution (stable food supply, surplus, population growth, trade, division of labor, development of settlements, changes to the environment, and changes to hunter-gatherer societies).

WHG ERA 2 – EARLY CIVILIZATIONS AND CULTURES AND THE EMERGENCE OF PASTORAL PEOPLES, 4000 TO 1000 BCE AND WESTERN HEMISPHERE 4000 BCE to 1500 CE

W2.1 Early Civilizations and Major Empires
Analyze early civilizations and pastoral societies.

2.1.1 Describe the importance of the development of human communication (oral, visual, and written) and its relationship to the development of culture.

2.1.2 Describe how the invention of agriculture led to the emergence of agrarian civilizations (seasonal harvests, specialized crops, cultivation, and development of villages and towns).

2.1.3 Use historical and modern maps and other sources to locate, describe, and analyze major river systems and discuss the ways these physical settings supported permanent settlements and development of early civilizations.

2.1.4 Examine early civilizations to describe their common features, including environment, economies, and social institutions.

2.1.5 Define the concept of cultural diffusion and explain how ideas and technology spread from one region to another.

2.1.6 Describe pastoralism and explain how the climate and geography of Central Asia were linked to the rise of pastoral societies on the steppes.

WHG ERA 3 – CLASSICAL TRADITIONS, WORLD RELIGIONS, AND MAJOR EMPIRES, 1000 BCE TO 300 CE

W3.1 Classical Traditions

Analyze classical civilizations and empires and their lasting impact.

3.1.1 Describe the characteristics that classical civilizations share.

3.1.2 Using historic and modern maps, locate three major empires of this era, describe their geographic characteristics including physical features and climates, and propose a generalization about the relationship between geographic characteristics and the development of early empires.

3.1.3 Compare and contrast the defining characteristics of a city-state, civilization, and empire.

3.1.4 Assess the importance of Greek ideas about democracy and citizenship in the development of Western political thought and institutions.

3.1.5 Describe major achievements from Indian, Chinese, Mediterranean, African, Southwest and Central Asian, Mesoamerican, and Andean civilizations.

3.1.6 Use historic and modern maps to locate and describe trade networks linking empires in the classical era.

3.1.7 Use a case study to describe how trade integrated cultures and influenced the economy within empires.

3.1.8 Describe the role of state authority, military power, taxation systems, and institutions of coerced labor, including slavery, in building and maintaining empires.

3.1.9 Describe the significance of legal codes, belief systems, written languages, and communications in the development of large regional empires.

3.1.10 Create a timeline that illustrates the rise and fall of classical empires during the classical period.

3.1.11 Explain the role of economics in shaping the development of classical civilizations and empires.

W3.2 Growth and Development of World Religions
Explain how world religions or belief systems of Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christi-anity, Confucianism, Sikhism, and Islam grew and their significance (Sikhism and Islam are included here even though they came after 300 CE). The world’s major faiths and ethical systems emerged, establishing institutions, systems of thought, and cultural styles that would influence neighboring peoples and endure for centuries.

3.2.1 Identify and describe the core beliefs of major world religions and belief systems, including Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Sikhism and Islam.

3.2.2 Locate the geographical center of major religions and map the spread through 1500 CE.

WHG ERA 4 – BRIDGE TO ERA 4 – CASE STUDIES FROM THREE CONTINENTS
Case studies from Europe, Africa, and the Americas are intended to set the stage for Integrated U.S. History in Grade 8.

4.1.1 Crisis in the Classical World – analyze the environmental, economic, and political crises in the classical world that led to the collapse of classical empires and the consolidation of Byzantium.

4.1.2 Africa to 1500 CE – use a case study to describe how trade integrated cultures and influenced the economy within early African empires.

4.1.3 North America to 1500 CE – use a case study to describe the culture and economy of Indigenous Peoples in North America prior to 1500.

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