8th grade Social Studies
13 units matched to the Alabama Course of Study.
Focus areas
- Course: World History and Geography: Middle Ages to the Enlightenment
- Medieval Europe and the Byzantine Empire
- The Islamic world, Africa and Asia
- The Renaissance, Reformation, exploration and the Enlightenment
Units
Unit 1
Rome's Fall & Byzantium
Rome's lasting contributions, why the Western Empire fell, Constantine and Constantinople, Justinian and the Byzantine Empire, and the split between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
Content standard: 8.1; 8.2 · the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and the Byzantine Empire and its legacy
Unit 2
The Islamic World
The early Islamic world and its cities, scholars and discoveries (such as algebra and optics), the exchange of knowledge through trade and translation, and the Ottoman Empire.
Content standard: 8.3 · the rise and spread of Islam and the achievements of the caliphates
Unit 3
Empires of Asia
China from the Tang to the Ming, the Mongol Empire, feudal Japan, the Mughal and Ottoman empires, Korea and the Khmer, and how technology and trade spread ideas.
Content standard: 8.4 · medieval China, India, Japan and Korea
Unit 4
African Kingdoms & Empires
Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Great Zimbabwe, the Swahili coast, Benin and Ethiopia from about 600 to 1900, trade across the Sahara and the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic slave trade and African resistance to colonization.
Content standard: 8.5 · the West African kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhai
Unit 5
Maya, Aztec & Inca
How the Maya, Aztec (Mexica) and Inca arose, their cities, farming, achievements in mathematics and astronomy, and how the Aztec and Inca empires were defeated by Spain. Maya, Nahua and Quechua peoples are living communities today.
Content standard: 8.6 · the Maya, Aztec and Inca civilizations
Unit 6
Medieval Europe
How medieval Europe was organized (kings, nobles, knights and peasants), the role of the Church and guilds, the Magna Carta, the Black Death, and how change came to the feudal system.
Content standard: 8.7 · feudalism, manors, the Church and daily life in medieval Europe
Unit 7
Crusades & the Black Death
Disputes between popes, emperors and churches, the causes and effects of the Crusades and the Reconquista, and how the Black Death spread along trade routes and changed society, the economy and the Church.
Content standard: 8.8 · the Crusades and the Black Death, and how they changed later medieval Europe
Unit 8
Renaissance & Reformation
The rebirth of art and learning in Italy, how the printing press spread ideas, the Reformation, and how questioning led to new science.
Content standard: 8.9; 8.10 · the Renaissance in Italy and northern Europe, and the Reformation
Unit 9
Exploration & Exchange
The great voyages, the ships and tools that made them possible, mapmaking, the Columbian Exchange and the rise of colonial empires and mercantilism.
Content standard: 8.11; 8.12 · why Europeans explored, and the effects of colonization on Africa, the Americas and Europe
Unit 10
Encounter & the Atlantic World
Why and how Europeans explored, the Columbian Exchange, the devastating effect on Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Atlantic slave trade and its effects on Africa, and how new ocean routes changed older trade networks.
Content standard: 8.12; 8.13 · the Columbian Exchange, Spanish colonies and the transatlantic slave trade
Unit 11
Absolutism to Enlightenment
Absolute monarchs in France, Spain and Russia, the Scientific Revolution's challenge to old authorities, and Enlightenment thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu and Rousseau and their ideas about government.
Content standard: 8.14; 8.15; 8.18 · absolute monarchs, England's Parliament and Bill of Rights, and Enlightenment ideas
Unit 12
Ottoman & Ming Empires
How the Ottoman Empire and Ming China rose, how Islam and Neo-Confucianism shaped their governments and societies, how each ruled people of many backgrounds, and how they saw their place in the world.
Content standard: 8.16 · the Ming dynasty and other great empires of the early modern world
Unit 13
Science & the Enlightenment
Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton, the scientific method, the roots of the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment thinkers whose ideas about rights and government shaped the American founding.
Content standard: 8.17; 8.18 · the Scientific Revolution, Copernicus and Galileo, and the ideas of the Enlightenment
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