What is History

1. What is History Chapter 1 Lesson 1

2. Why study history • What is History? • The study of people and events of the past • It studies the way things changed and ways it stayed the same • It is a story of the ways cultures changed over time • It explains why things are the way they are • Learning about the past helps us understand the present • What is a historian? • A person that studies history

3. measuring time • Periods of History • Decade – 10 years • Century – 100 years • Ten Centuries – 1000 years – called a Millennium • Eras • Historians divide the past into larger blocks called Eras • Prehistory – first of these eras • Time before people developed writing • Ancient History - 2nd Era • Middle Ages - 3rd Era • Modern History – 4th Era - 1400s to Modern days (today)

4. Calendars • Calendar • System of arranging days in order • Types of Calendars • Julian Calendar • Gregorian Calendar • Today, most of the world used this calendar • Dating events • B.C. – the time before Christ • A.D. – or anno domini or “in the year of our Lord” • There is no year “0” • B.C.E – before the common era • C.E. – common era • Both used to avoid religious reference • Timelines • Way to track time on a line that shows an order of events

5. Digging up the Past • Archeology – the study of the past by looking at what people left behind • Artifacts – objects made by people • Tools, pottery, weapons, jewelry • Paleontology – looks at prehistoric time (no written language)by examining fossils • Fossils – remains of plants and animal life that have been preserved • Anthropology – study of human culture and how it developed over time • Human discoveries • Lucy – human ancestor that lived 3.2 million years ago • Our species is called Homo Sapiens – ‘wise man’