9th grade Social Studies
16 units matched to the New York State Learning Standards.
Focus areas
- Global History and Geography I: early civilizations to about 1750
- Belief systems, classical empires and the trade networks that linked them
- Postclassical powers in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas
- The Renaissance, Reformation and Enlightenment, and the Encounter and its effects
Units
Unit 1
First Farmers
The long story of early humans, how farming began about 12,000 years ago, domestication, food surpluses, and how settling down led to specialized jobs and the first cities.
Learning standard: 9.1; 9.1a · the move from Paleolithic hunting and gathering to Neolithic farming and herding
Unit 2
Where Civilizations Grew
How geography shaped Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley and Shang China along their rivers, plus Greece, Rome and the Maya. Includes a reading passage about the Nile flood.
Learning standard: 9.1b; 9.1c · how the first civilizations grew along river valleys, adapted to their environment and shared common features
Unit 3
Greece & Rome
Athens and Sparta, direct and representative democracy, the Roman Republic and Empire, and the Greek and Roman ideas found in US government.
Learning standard: 9.3; 9.3a; 9.3b; 9.3c · how classical Greece and Rome expanded, governed and reached golden ages of achievement
Unit 4
Trade Networks
Specialization, barter and the first coins, the Silk Road and sea routes (with a reading passage and goods table), and how trade led to both cooperation and conflict.
Learning standard: 9.4; 9.4a; 9.4b; 9.4c · how the Silk Road and other Afro-Eurasian trade networks carried goods, people and ideas
Unit 5
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.
Learning standard: 9.3d; 9.5a; 9.5b · why the Western Roman Empire fell and how the Byzantine Empire carried on in the east
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.
Learning standard: 9.5a; 9.6a · feudalism, manors and the Church in Western Europe after the fall of Rome
Unit 7
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.
Learning standard: 9.5b; 9.5c · the rise of Islam, the caliphates, and the achievements of Muslim scholars that spread through trade
Unit 8
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.
Learning standard: 9.5b; 9.5c · Tang and Song China, the Mongol Empire, and other Asian states and their achievements
Unit 9
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.
Learning standard: 9.4d; 9.8a; 9.8c · Ghana, Mali, Songhai and other African states, and how trans-Saharan trade helped them grow
Unit 10
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.
Learning standard: 9.8; 9.8a; 9.8c · the Maya, Aztec and Inca, their environments, cities and achievements, and their conquest by Spain
Unit 11
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.
Learning standard: 9.9a; 9.9b · the Renaissance, humanism and the printing press, and how the Reformation divided Western Europe
Unit 12
Belief Systems Compared
Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Confucianism and Daoism compared: where each began, its main teachings and texts, how it spread, and how belief systems were used to unify people and shaped social order and gender roles.
Learning standard: 9.2; 9.2a; 9.2b; 9.7a · the beliefs, practices and spread of major belief systems, and how they unified people and shaped social order and gender roles
Unit 13
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.
Learning standard: 9.6; 9.6a; 9.6b · conflicts over religious and political authority, the Crusades, and how the Black Death spread along trade networks and changed societies
Unit 14
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.
Learning standard: 9.7; 9.7a; 9.7b; 9.7c · the rise, organization and worldviews of the Ottoman Empire and the Ming dynasty, and the belief systems that shaped them
Unit 15
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.
Learning standard: 9.9; 9.9c; 9.9d; 9.9e · absolute monarchs in Western Europe and Russia, the Scientific Revolution, and Enlightenment ideas about political power
Unit 16
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.
Learning standard: 9.10; 9.10a; 9.10b; 9.10c; 9.10d; 9.10e · European exploration, the Columbian Exchange, colonization, the Atlantic slave trade, and the shift in global trade networks
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