Grade 9 Unit 1 Topics

• Know that all people and societies have origins. (COM)
• Know that the personal history of individuals can only be fully understood by looking at family roots. (COM, CCT)
• Know that, to some degree, all individuals and societies are defined by their roots.

• Use personal experience and prior knowledge as the basis for an initial understanding of a concept. (CCT)
• Construct timelines. (NUM, COM)
• Draw inferences about ways that decisions made by an individual's ancestors affect that person today. (CCT)
• Make predictions.

• Appreciate that all individuals have rich and interesting family histories. (PSVS)
• Appreciate the importance of roots to humans as a means of providing a context for the reality in which they live. (PSVS)

Procedure

All peoples, places and things have sources of origin, or roots.

Timelines are a means of showing, in chronological order, the important people, events and ideas that identify a particular time and place.

Family History Timelines:

Be extremely cautious about using this activity, and demonstrate sensitivity to students' situations and the community. Teachers may choose not to use this activity, depending on students' family situations and structures. Some students may find it difficult, painful or even impossible to trace a family history.

Alternatives to this would be for the teacher to develop his/her own family timeline to illustrate that individuals have roots that go far back in time. He or she might share how decisions made by ancestors have affected his or her life.

Create an historical timeline for an imaginary individual and have students discuss the possible implications of the family decisions on the individual.

Many students may have a sketchy picture of their family history; this topic may encourage them to find out more about their personal roots.

Assessment Suggestions

• Use a checklist to assess students' ability to draw inferences.
• Assess accuracy and completeness of timelines.

Instruction Suggestions

Individual Roots:

• Have each student construct a timeline and mark on it the significant events in his/her life (e.g., birth, infant dedication/baptism, learning to walk and talk, first day of school, moving to a new location, prizes won, first boy or girl friend, confirmation, etc.)

Family Roots:

• Explain to students that the life they see mapped out on their timeline has been preceded by a long family history which helps to explain who they are, why they live where they live, why they have certain traditions, etc.
• Invite each student to trace his/her family history to grandparents or even to great grandparents. Have them construct a second timeline on which they mark significant events of the lives of their parents and grandparents (e.g., when and where were they born, where and when they met, children born, moves they made, school/college attended, job changes, etc.)
• Have students consider questions such as: Why and how did their parents meet? Did they live in the same town? If so, what brought them to that town? Do they know the circumstances that brought their grandparents together? If they are not Aboriginal people, do they know when and why their ancestors immigrated to the new world?
• Ask them to imagine how their life might be different (or if they would even exist!) if their ancestors had not immigrated when they did to the location that they did. Ask Aboriginal students to consider how their lives might be different if Europeans had never immigrated to North America. Encourage Non-Aboriginal students to contribute their speculations.

• Explain to students that their personal histories are their roots and, just as individuals have roots, societies have roots. Just as we cannot really understand an individual without knowing something of his or her roots, so we cannot fully understand societies without knowing something about their roots. Societal roots help to explain why societies have certain characteristics that distinguish them or make them unique.
• Have students draw inferences about the significance of roots in their personal lives, their community and in their society.
• Have students consider and predict ways in which decisions that they make about their personal lives will affect their children (e.g., teen pregnancy, high school dropout, attend university or college, move or travel to another country, become a law enforcement officer, marriage to someone of another culture or religion).
• Review students' timelines. Ask: "How does a timeline help us study events?" Discuss with students the relationship among events on their timelines. Ask: "Are some of the simultaneous developments coincidences, or could there be cause-effect relationships?

Learning Objectives

• Describe ways that time is measured (cyclical and linear). (COM)
• Explain the significance of both cyclical and linear time to the societies that create and use them. (COM, CCT)
• Know that time identifies a measurable period during which an action, process or condition continues to exist. (COM)
• Know that measuring time is an attempt by humans to create a context in which they exist.

• Classify measurements of time into cyclical and linear categories. (CCT)
• Brainstorm to generate ideas and information.
• Make generalizations from data that has been categorized and classified. (CCT, COM)
• Write to consolidate learning. (COM, CCT)

• Recognize the need for people to measure time as a means of organizing their lives.
• Recognize the need for humans to measure time as a means of placing themselves in history. (CCT)
• Develop a sense of what time means to them. (PSVS)
• Respect differences in people's sense or concept of time. (PSVS)

Procedure

A sample checklist for assessing skills used in classifying appears on page 409 of this curriculum guide.

People have devised two major categories for the concept of time:

• Cyclical - Earth's rotation, relationship with the moon; and Earth's revolution, relationship with the sun
• Linear - historical periods considering broad divisions: past, present, future, B.C., A.D. 
• Cyclical time reflects an attempt to live in harmony with the natural environment (e.g., waking and sleeping, agricultural patterns, holiday patterns, hunting patterns of traditional societies).
• Linear time is used to organize the past at the personal level, the historical level and the geological level. 

• Use observation checklists to assess some aspect of each student's ability to classify information.
• Assess students' understanding of how measuring time relates to them or is important to them: Learning Log entries and individual contributions during class discussion can provide this data.

Instruction Suggestions

• Cover the face of the classroom clock. Have students remove their watches. Collect them in a box. Shut the classroom blinds, if possible. Elicit the cooperation of other school staff to have the school bells shut off.
• Ask students to imagine a world without the concept of time in it. Challenge them to decide how they would go about inventing the concept, coming up with some system of keeping track (measuring) the passage of time if there were no clocks or calendars on which to rely. Discuss with students how people use regular cycles in nature to measure the passage of time.
• Once students have shared their ideas, discuss some of the advantages and limitations of their approaches. How well would their systems work for extremely short periods of time? Ordinary day-to-day activities? Very long periods in the past? Setting dates in the future?
• Have students brainstorm the different ways and devices that people have created to measure time. Instruct them to classify their suggestions into categories: short periods (e.g., seconds, stop watches), day-to-day (e.g., sun clocks, keeping track of the sun), and long periods (e.g., month, calendars). Discuss with students the two basic categories of time measurement:
  • cyclical and linear.
• Ask the class to brainstorm words that are used to measure time. Record their suggestions on the chalkboard. Students will likely suggest words such as day, minute, month, year and second. Encourage them to suggest words that are used to measure longer periods of time (e.g., era, eon, age epoch, decade, century, millennia). As well, encourage them to consider words that measure people's lives or the time cycles in nature (e.g., generations, seasons, old age, infancy, birthday, holiday, celebrations).
• Have students work in small groups to classify and categorize the vocabulary associated with time listed on "Student Handout #1: Time." Explain to students that there is usually more than one way to classify data, and that they might want to try several different ways before finalizing their classifications. An example is provided in "Teacher Information Sheet #1: Sample Classification".
• Conclude by having students make generalizations about why we measure time, and why we use both cyclical and linear patterns to measure time. Have them speculate on how and why these two patterns were developed by those who used or use them.
• Summarize by explaining that the concept of time is used to organize people's lives and create a context in which humans exist.
• Return students' watches, uncover the clock and open the window blinds. What time is it? Did students miss recess? Are they late (or early) for lunch or their next class? Have students write in their Learning Logs how they felt about not knowing the time throughout the class period. Ask them to explain in what ways they value time and the knowledge of time passing.,/li>< /li>

Extended Learning: Take students on a field trip to the Royal Museum of History in Regina where they can get a sense of cyclical and linear time (e.g., a model of Saskatchewan shows the different eras of time through each layer of Earth-geological time).

• Know that time as an organizer serves useful historical and social purposes.
• Know the meaning and origins of the terms B.C. and A.D. as they relate to measuring time historically. (COM)

• Create a timeline to organize data. (NUM, COM)
• Make relevant generalizations. (CCT)
• Conduct research to gather specific data. (COM, CCT)

• Appreciate that cultures/societies develop continuously, over time.
• Appreciate and respect that different cultures use various starting points and terminology for their calendars. (PSVS)

See page 355 and 410 of this curriculum guide for information about teaching and assessing generalizing skills.

Timelines will be used throughout this course, so it is important to make them to withstand continual reference and use. They should be wide enough to allow students to record their information so that it is clear and readable at all times (e.g., 2-3 feet wide and at least the length of one classroom wall, although the longer it is, the more information it accommodates). Place the timeline at eye level so that it is easy to access.

Historical time refers to the period that has elapsed since people first began to keep records of historical events. Historical time is measured in years, decades and centuries, and includes social, political and economic events created by people.

Dates before Christ's birth are listed as B.C. or before Christ. Before the birth of Christ the years are counted backward; the numbers get bigger as they go farther back in time. Dates after the year of Christ's birth are listed as A.D. or Anno Domini-in the year of our Lord.

The goals of this course are to develop students' understanding of specific concepts related to the roots of society; this course is not meant to be a comprehensive history course, so it is inevitable that some historical events will not be addressed.

To check student responses for the Historical Events game see "Teacher Information Sheet #4: Chronology of Historical Events".

Set a time limit for answers in order to maintain the pace of the game (e.g., use an egg timer or an alarm clock).

For more information about the research process see pages 382-391 in this curriculum guide.













Generalizing about Historical Time:

Spiral - some view the passage of historical events through time as either an upward or downward moving spiral. The generalization they are making is that history repeats itself either as it progresses to something better or regresses to something worse.

Pendulum - others view historical events as a pendulum (which on a graph appears as a horizontal line with highs and lows), and make a somewhat different generalization about the meaning of historical events.

Assessment Suggestions

• Use checklists or rating scales to assess students' abilities to generalize.
• Assess students' research processes and products.

• Explain to students that, now that they have explored the concept of time on a personal level, they will look at time on an historical level.
• Construct a large timeline that stretches at least the length of one classroom wall. Some teachers use all four walls. The timeline should represent the period 8000 B.C. to A.D. 2000.
• Have students use their numeracy skills to determine the ratio of years to centimetres (e.g., if the timeline is five metres long, each centimetre equals 20 years; if the timeline is ten metres long, each centimetre equals 10 years).
• Mark every 50 years on the timeline and label each appropriately. Use a coloured marker to highlight the division from B.C. to A.D.
• Explain to students the meanings of the abbreviations B.C. and A.D.
• Inform students that the Gregorian calendar is the official calendar used in North America and much of the rest of the world. This calendar is based on the year that Christians believe Jesus Christ was born.
• Explain that various cultural and religious groups use different calendars, based on events that are significant to them. If possible, show students examples of other calendars (e.g., Chinese calendar), or have them use the Internet to research calendars used by various cultures.
• Explain to students that, throughout history, people have measured time in increasingly sophisticated ways. For information about ancient calendars and the development of clocks see "Teacher Information Sheet #2: Measuring Time."
• Students are often confused by the fact that according to the Gregorian calendar the 1990s occur in the 20^th century. Explain that a century encompasses 100 years (e.g., from 1800-1899, from 1900-1999). The year 2000 is the last year of the 20^th century, and the 21^st century does not officially begin until the year 2001. Emphasize that, when referring to a time period by the term century, we must always use one number ahead of the "hundreds" (e.g., 1756 is in the 18^th century, 1856 is in the 19^th, 1956 is in the 20^th century). Use examples from the first 100 years A.D. to clarify the concept (e.g., the year A.D. 35 is in the 1^st century). Note that there is no year 0; the 1^st century A.D. is 1.
• Have students label the centuries clearly on the classroom timeline.
• Explain that throughout the course, students will add significant events to the timeline in order to develop an understanding of significant historical events (e.g., when they occurred, their causes and effects), and changes that occurred over time.
• Emphasize to students that, while much occurred in each century throughout history, there is only time to explore a few specific events that take place during the time span represented by their classroom timeline.
• Have students identify what they believe to be criteria for an important event (e.g., it affected many people, it changed the course of history).
• Have students work in groups to do either Activity A or Activity B as instructed below.

• Activity A: Historical Events Game:
  • Divide students into small groups, and give each student a copy of "Student Handout #2: Historical Figures and Events," on which major historical events are listed at random.
  • Give students "Student Handout # 3: Historical Events Game." Review the rules with them.
  • Explain that each group should research information on as many examples as possible in the given time.
  • Explain how the game will be scored using "Teacher Information Sheet #3: Historical Events Scoring Guide."
  • When the time is up, have students gather in groups. Announce an event and ask a group to provide information about the event. If they correctly place the event in time, they can record the event on the large classroom timeline and be awarded points. If they are not correct, or have no information, the next group has a chance to earn the points and record the event on the timeline, and so on. When the group correctly dates an event and provides data, the members can continue answering and earning points until they answer incorrectly. Then another group takes over.
  • Conclude the game by using student responses as the basis for class discussion about where the unplaced historical events fit on the timeline, and the relationship among events (e.g., the time distance between the pyramids and Julius Caesar is greater than the time distance between Caesar and us).
  • Discuss with students the gaps on the timeline (e.g., What was happening during these periods of time?).

• Activity B: Historical Events Research Project:
  • Instruct each group of students to use the research process to locate and explain one major historical event from each of the following periods: the 20^th century; A.D. 1600-1900; A.D. 900-1600; A.D. 1-900; and one from the era B.C.
  • Take students through the research process if necessary for the first event; then let them use the process to research other events. (Have each group post its chosen events so that there is no duplication.)
  • Conclude Activities A and B by explaining to students that the timeline illustrates a linear approach to the direction of history. Point out that other cultures see history as moving in a cyclical pattern, and introduce some other ways that the relationships between time and events have been graphed in order to give meaning to history.
  • Use these ideas to teach students the concept of generalizing. Discuss with them how humans make generalizations about complicated ideas such as the course of human history. Point out that we use generalizations to make these complicated ideas more meaningful and easier to understand.

Extended Learning: In order for students to appreciate the historical perspective of time, have each one use a coloured marker to indicate his/her life span on the timeline. Ask students to calculate what percentage their life span is of the total amount of time represented by the timeline (14 divided by 10,000). Explain that the average life span of Canadians is 72 years for a man and 79 years for a woman, and ask students to calculate what percentage an average life span is, of the time represented on the timeline.

• Know that researchers learn about history through oral traditions, written accounts and material artifacts. (COM)

• Know that legends and myths are examples of oral traditions.

• Know that archaeological conclusions are speculative, and depend upon inferences that are based on the artifacts associated with a particular location or society. (CCT)

• Distinguish fact from opinion. (CCT, COM)
• Make inferences based on data. (CCT)
• Make relevant generalizations. (CCT)
• Interpret and organize data and archaeological artifacts. (CCT, COM)
• Discuss and debate different inferences and interpretations with others.

• Appreciate the value of the oral tradition for sharing the history of cultures and societies.
• Appreciate the sacred significance of artifacts for some cultures.
• Value the contributions that archaeology makes to knowledge. (PSVS)
• Appreciate that art, architecture and the everyday items of a society tell something about that society's values. (PSVS)
• Appreciate the importance of responding to the give and take of debate in an honest and respectful manner. (PSVS)

See page 406-410 of this curriculum guide for sample checklists and anecdotal note forms.

Ways That People Learn about the Past

• Oral history traditions provide evidence for the development of civilizations in the recent past.
• Written history is recorded in a variety of languages and symbols, on a variety of materials (e.g., cave walls, parchment, paper).
• Archeology provides evidence from the distant past by providing data about the lives of people before written records were left or where the written records have been lost.
• Archeology is a way of finding out about the past/our roots. It includes location of sites, systematic collection of artifacts and data, and systematic dating of sites and artifacts. If the record of the past is to be preserved for the future, archaeology must be conducted in an environmentally and socially responsible manner .

Interpret - explain the meaning of.

Inference:

• A girl uses the locker.

Generalizations:

• She is very intelligent and/or she works hard.
• Girls use nail polish.
• She likes fast food.
• She does not go home for lunch.

Teachers should be aware that this activity will not be appropriate for all students. Teachers might give students a choice between Activity A and Activity B due to the sensitive nature of personal family histories.







The Saskatchewan Archeological Society has resource kits available for student use. They contain information about archeology and samples of materials found in digs.

• Use a checklist, rating scale or anecdotal note form to assess students' ability to infer, generalize, etc.

• Divide students into three groups. Give each group the following items and/or information:
  • Group One - an audio recording of one or two traditional oral histories (legends, myths) that explain creation, origins of humans, or natural or supernatural phenomena, from the perspective of an Aboriginal or ancient culture of the world.
  • Group Two - one or two examples, (or photographs) of written history from earlier times or past cultures (e.g., cave drawings, letters, diaries).
  • Group Three - one or two examples (or photographs) of items found in archeological digs (e.g., arrowhead, pottery).
• Have each group examine its given items or information and appoint a recorder to write the groups' responses to the question, What does this item or information tell you about the culture that produced it?
• Instruct each group to select a reporter to share the group's responses.
• Inform students that they have been learning about times and people of the past, the way that researchers do. Explain that there are three major ways that we learn about the past: oral records (some cultures keep their history alive by passing it along through stories from one generation to the next), written records (left behind on stone, parchment, leather, paper, etc.), and material remains (skeletons, tools and weapons, animal bones, fragments of pottery, jewelry and clothing, ruins of buildings, etc.).
• Explain to students that stories passed from generation to generation portray humans in relation to the natural world, the supernatural world, society and time. These stories constitute the oral history of a society.
• If possible, provide students with an example of oral history by inviting an Elder (tribal historian) to the classroom to discuss how ancient cultural traditions and history are passed down through time as oral stories.
• Explain to students that archaeologists study the material remains left behind by other cultures.
• As a means of helping students understand the basic processes of archaeology, have them participate in either Activity A or Activity B, which follow. Both activities will help students distinguish fact from opinion and develop the skill of inferring. As well, Activity B will help them to understand the connection between time and culture as they sift through the layers of their own history.

• Activity A - Mystery Locker:
  • Put the following items in a box or bag: one silver earring, birthday card, school work that has been assigned a high grade, miscellaneous fast food wrappers, fingernail polish, grade 9 report card with good grades, sneakers and a comb.
  • Take the container into the classroom and tell the students that these items were found in a locker at the school. Take each item out of the container and describe it to the class (or have volunteer students do this).
  • Ask students to state some facts about the items in the locker (e.g., fingernail polish is half empty, report card has good grades, and fast food wrappers are many in number).
  • Explain to students that one way of creating inferences is to learn to ask questions about the facts that they have collected. There are six basic questions that can be asked: who, what, when, where, why and how.
  • Facts: The locker contents include:
    • Fingernail polish
    • a small silver earring shaped like a cross
    • birthday card wishing the recipient a happy 14^th birthday
    • report card and assignments with good grades
    • fast food wrappers
    • lime green sneakers, size five
    • a purple comb, in which several strands of long hair are caught.
  • Questions:
    • What kind of person would most likely have fingernail polish in a school locker? What kind of a person uses fingernail polish?
    • What kind of person would likely leave his or her report card in the locker? What kind of person gets good grades on a report card?
    • Whose fast food wrappers would these likely be? Why would someone leave food wrappers in his or her locker?
    • What type of person would most likely wear lime green, size five sneakers?
    • Etc.
  • Ask students to make inferences about the owner of the locker on the basis of the facts and questions they have listed. Write the inferences on the chalkboard as they are suggested in the following format.
  • Caution students against stereotyping and making inferences as if they were facts. For example, it is possible that the locker belongs to a boy who lets a female friend share the locker.
  • Emphasize that inferences are not facts. Rather, inferences are hypotheses based on facts or evidence, and they may differ or be incorrect.
  • Point out to students that the test of a good inference is not certainty, but what is probable or likely (e.g., the locker may belong to a boy, but given the facts/evidence, it probably belongs to a girl).

• Activity B - Shoe Box Archaeology:
  • Explain to students that this activity will demonstrate the value of our past and of the past of other people and societies of the world. As they interpret the various facts/evidence of one person's life and family history, students will develop an understanding of the way that archaeologists "dig" for information and artifacts to explain the past.
  • Instruct each student to acquire a shoe box and assemble it in the following layered manner:
    • A thin layer of soil.
    • Some "artifacts" relating to his or her grandparents, such as photos, coins, shells, perfume bottles, craft projects, etc. The items should be ones that remind the student of the grandparent or is/was owned by the grandparent.
    • A thin layer of soil.
    • Some "artifacts" relating to his or her parents.
    • A thin layer of soil.
    • Some of the student's personal possessions or photos.
    • A final thin layer of soil.
• Have students number their boxes, but not label them with names. Ask each student to bring his or her box to class, as well as some "archaeological" tools (e.g., small paint brush, spoon).
• Instruct students to submit their boxes so that others do not know whose is whose.
• Hand out boxes to students randomly, and have students take the boxes and their archaeological tools outside where they should use careful archaeological researching and "digging" to attempt to interpret and make inferences about the history, lifestyle and customs of the person who prepared the box.
• Conclude by having students attempt to describe the owner of the artifacts the box by listing the facts/evidence, their interpretations/generalizations about those facts and their inferences based on facts and generalizations.
• Encourage students to share and debate their inferences to help them understand that inferences are not facts. Rather, inferences are hypotheses based on facts or evidence. Point out to students that the test of a good inference is not certainty, but what is probable or likely.
• Debrief both activities by explaining to students that they have been involved in the kind of exploration and interpreting that archaeologists do as part of their jobs. Archaeologists examine the physical evidence left by earlier cultures and societies, and on the basis of the facts and evidence they find, they make inferences about the way people in that culture lived.

Know that different cultures, from different periods of time in history, left different legacies to subsequent cultures, including Canada. (CCT, COM)

· Know that the beliefs of early cultures developed over time, and have helped to shape Canadian society. (COM)

· Give examples of Canada's links to Ancient World cultures. (COM)

· Know that we also have North American roots through the history of Aboriginal peoples over the centuries.

· Classify evidence into appropriate categories.

· View to develop a general understanding of particular ancient civilizations. (COM)

· Exhibit the skills of an effective group participant. (COM) 

· Use the research process to locate, organize and present specific information. (COM, IL)

· Classify data that may be used to compare contributions of ancient cultures to Canadian society. 

· Value the contributions of the past in present and possible future developments. 

See pages 329-331 in this curriculum guide for information about reading comprehension, and pages 382-390 for a detailed explanation of the steps in the research process.

• Assess students' abilities to read with comprehension and conduct effective research.
• Assess students' abilities to share their research information in clear, creative ways.
• Assess students' appreciation for the contributions of ancient cultures to Canadian society, and ultimately to their lives.
• Assess students' abilities to view-to-learn by providing them with during-viewing or post-viewing questions.

Make students aware that, not all ancient civilizations have made contributions to Canada in all of the categories listed. For example, there is no known link between athletics in Canada and athletics in ancient Israel.






If students have not been taken through the research process previously, see pages 382-391 of this curriculum guide for information about instructing students about the research process.

• Brainstorm with students some characteristics of Canadian society (e.g., favoured types of entertainment, major religions, form of government, national sports, common foods, educational structure).
• Record students' ideas on the chalkboard. Explain to them that many of these characteristics have come down to us through time from ancient European cultures, specifically ancient Israel, ancient Greece and ancient Rome.
• Show students excerpts of the video The Ancient World. Provide them with during-viewing and/or post-viewing questions in order to clarify and extend their understanding of the information presented.
• Explain to students that they will be investigating some of the links between Canadian culture and these ancient worlds.
• Explain to students that our view of history has traditionally given the impression that all contributions to North American society came from elsewhere. Explain that, in addition to studying ancient European contributions, they will consider the significant contributions of peoples whose history developed many centuries ago in North America. This history, too, has contributed to "Canadian roots."
• Give students a list of the following categories: language, religion, art, architecture, medicine, politics/government, athletics, ideas, values, inventions, agricultural products, foods, tools, weapons and technology.
• Divide students into small groups to conduct research and present their findings to the entire class. The research may be handled in one of the following ways:
  • Each group can be responsible for researching the contributions of one of the ancient worlds to the culture of Canada today (e.g., Greece, Rome, Israel).
  • If they wish, each group could further subdivide its responsibilities so that each individual is responsible for researching one or two particular aspects of the selected world, such as language or religion.
  Or
  • Each group could be given responsibility for researching a particular category, such as art, within each of the ancient worlds, and finding the links to Canada. For example, Group One could be responsible for researching how the ancient Greeks, Romans and Hebrews have influenced the arts in Canada.
  • Group Two could research how the ancient worlds and peoples, etc have influenced language in Canada.
  • Have each group present its research findings in creative and interesting ways. The group could write a report, make a presentation, make a video recording or use some other means to educate the entire class about the links they found between the ancient cultures and Canadian society.
  
  
  

  Extended Learning: Have students compare and contrast various aspects or characteristics of the ancient civilizations of Israel, Greece and Rome. Or, have them compare one or all of the ancient civilizations with Canadian society today.

• Define technology as the product, the knowledge to use the product, and the political and economic organization to manufacture the product. (COM, TL)
• Know that the purpose of technology is to extend human capabilities and to solve problems. (COM, TL)
• Know that technology both shapes and is shaped by the worldview of a society; therefore, it changes over time. (TL, CCT)

• Classify items using clearly articulated criteria. (CCT, COM)
• Make inferences about the critical attributes of technology. (CCT, TL)
• Express ideas effectively during debate and discussion.
• Make comparisons.
• Contribute ideas and opinions in group discussions. (CCT, COM)

• Appreciate the value and limitations of technology. (TL)
• Appreciate the role that technology plays in providing and limiting opportunities for development in any society. (TL, PSVS )

See pages 413-417 in this curriculum guide for sample checklists.

For more information about teaching and assessing classification skills see pages 409 in this curriculum guide.

Technology refers not only to products or hardware, but also to knowledge and organizations that make it possible to manufacture and use the products.







For information about structuring and assessing debate, see pages 351-353 of this curriculum guide.

• Use a checklist to assess students' inferencing skills.
• Assess students' abilities to function appropriately in groups.

• Give students the following list of items and ask them to classify them: stones, computer, car, person, water, cheese, hammer, gold, fire, bricks, pottery, books, marble statue, milk, soil, tree, uranium, oil, fish, wooden cart, telephone, pen, paper, shoe.
• Help students to recognize that the products have either been created by people or are natural (e.g., shoe-created by people; stones-natural).
• Ask students what label they might use for all products created by people. (e.g., human-made technology). Explain that technology refers to anything, from a carved arrowhead to a state-of-the-art computer that has been created by people to extend their capabilities or to solve problems.
• Explain that technology is not only the products or hardware, but includes the knowledge and organizations necessary to make and use the product. Give students the following list of items, and have them classify them as either "knowledge (know-how)" or "organization": management, chemistry, workers, factories, engineering, algebra, government, drafting, banks, universities, schools, physics, metallurgy, computer science, mills, postal service.
• Explain to students that these things are examples of technology, also. Emphasize that technology is not just products or hardware, but includes the knowledge or know-how, and the organizations that make it possible to manufacture and use the products.
• Ask students to brainstorm the purposes of specific examples of technology. Give them some examples of technology developed in the past, and have them discuss why people developed these products and what knowledge and organization might have been required to produce and use the items (e.g., wheels, printing press, telephone, automobiles, aircraft, spoons, metal pots, ink pens, paper).
• Explain to students that the kind of technology that a society develops is directly influenced by that society's worldview. As well, the society's worldview is influenced by technology. Discuss some examples of this interdependence of technology and worldview.
• Have students read "student Handout #4: Worldview and Technology." This will help them understand how technology is both influenced by and influences worldview.
• Have students form small groups to discuss the following questions: In what ways has technology improved our lives? In what ways has it harmed us? Would society be better off with a greater dependence on technology or a lesser dependence? Why? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of technological developments such as computers, cars, photocopiers, life-sustaining medical products, televisions, etc.?

  And/Or

• Have students debate the issues in the above questions.

Extended Learning: Have students identify specific major technologies that have been developed or created in the past (e.g., stone weapons, arrows, political structures, printing press), and have them enter these on the classroom timeline. Encourage students to investigate the circumstances and/or worldview that led to the development of these technologies.

• Know that individuals and people of different cultures sometimes have different perceptions of time. (COM)

• Read for information and understanding. (COM)
• Draw inferences from data. (CCT)
• Summarize information.
• Write a short essay, using a point-form outline.

• Appreciate that there is not one right way to perceive time. (PSVS)
• Respect the fact that different cultures sometimes have different ways of perceiving time. (PSVS)

See page 415 in this curriculum guide for a sample checklist for assessing inferencing skills.

Business Transaction Case Study:

The most likely reason that the business transaction would fail is because in Mohammed's culture spending time with a business colleague indicates that you value the colleague and the business transaction. Mohammed interpreted the North American's desire to conclude the business transaction quickly as a sign that the client did not value him or the business deal, and that he was not a serious customer.

Opening a Medical Office Case Study:

The patients have not arrived because the medical staff and patients have a different conception of time. The medical staff is used to rigid scheduling, so if someone does not arrive within five minutes of the specified time, the staff considers the person late. On the other hand, if the patients do not have a rigid interpretation of time, they may not consider themselves late until days later and, in fact, they may still be coming.

Assessment Suggestions

• Use checklists, rating scales or anecdotal notes to record students' abilities to make inferences.
• If students are asked to write an essay, assess both the process and the product, according to criteria communicated to the students.

• Ask students if they know anyone who is always late. Ask students how they feel when someone arrives later than promised. Why does it annoy some people and not others to be late? Establish that it may be because the individuals have different perceptions of time.
• Distribute "Student Handout #5: Time and Culture." Ask students to read it silently.
• Have students work in pairs to discuss the different views of time held by different cultures. Tell them to record three or four examples of ways that different cultures perceive time differently.
• Give each student a copy of "Student Handout #6: Time and Culture Case Study - A Business Transaction." Explore this case study with the entire class. This case study describes a situation in which two people, who have different perceptions of time, attempt to complete a business deal. Ask students to consider whether they are likely to be successful, and why or why not. Ask students to suggest what the two people might have done to ensure the success of their business interaction.
• Have students form small groups. Distribute one of the following case studies to each group: "Student Handout #7: Time and Culture Case Study - Opening a Medical Office" or "Student Handout #8: Time and Culture Case Study - A Formal Meeting."
• Have groups read and discuss their case studies. Instruct them to make inferences about the reasons behind the misunderstandings that each case demonstrates. What do perceptions of time have to do with the misunderstandings?

When Mrs. Dubois insisted upon an appointment immediately, she was ignoring the customs of the culture. Mr. Garcia and staff perceived her as rude and pushy. When Mrs. Dubois arrived for the meeting they were operating according to common North American standards of time. In North America, a five minute wait is insignificant, 20 minutes is rude, and 45 minutes is insulting. In Mr. Garcia's culture, a 45-minute wait is comparable to a 5-minute wait in North America.

· Help students to understand that there is not one right way to perceive time, and that it requires effort on the part of people to understand, accept and respect others' perceptions of time.

· Explain that different individuals and cultures often perceive time differently, depending on the structure of their society (e.g., industrial societies tend to measure time using a linear manner, while non-industrial societies tend to measure time in a cyclical manner).

Extended Learning: Use the process on "Teacher Information Sheet #5" to demonstrate how to write an essay using the general statement, "Canadian society is very time conscious."