Demonstrate understanding of Rome's fall, Byzantium, the origins and Golden Age of Islam, and medieval trade networks through a cumulative review.
This week pulls together everything from Rome's division in 285 CE through Cordoba's libraries: one long, connected story, not six separate ones. Rome split and its western half fell (week 1), but the eastern half carried Roman law and Greek culture forward as the Byzantine Empire (week 2) for nearly a thousand more years. Meanwhile, a new faith, Islam, arose in Arabia (week 3) and within a century was practiced from Spain to Central Asia, sparking a Golden Age of science and math (week 4) that built on Greek, Persian, and Indian knowledge.
None of this happened in separate bubbles -- trade routes across the Silk Road and the Sahara (week 5) connected these civilizations and carried goods, ideas, and technology between them, and Cordoba (week 6) shows exactly how those connections could blend Muslim, Jewish, and Christian scholarship in one city. You also practiced reading primary sources carefully (week 7) and comparing civilizations side by side (week 8) -- historical-thinking skills you will use for the rest of the year, not just this unit.
Mastery looks like: They can place the unit's major events in correct chronological order and explain at least one real connection between two of the civilizations studied.
Common stumbles: Remembering facts about each week in isolation without seeing the connections -- trade, shared Greek learning, chronology -- that link them.