Instructions: this presentation

1. Instructions: this presentation is designed to provide the raw materials any teacher would need to describe the course to administrators, parents or other teachers should be customized and tailored to the audience as needed by the presenter slide 6 should be updated by the presenter to reflect how the course would function in a specific environment Need help or advice? Email support@bighistoryproject.com DELETE THIS SLIDE BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

2. Big History Project Introduction

3. WHAT IS BIG HISTORY? A social studies course covering 13.7B years of shared history. Big history looks at the history of the Universe, from the Big Bang to modernity, and explores common themes and patterns that can help us better understand people, civilizations and the world we live in. BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

4. WHAT IS THE BIG HISTORY PROJECT? A collaborative effort to create a big history course for teachers everywhere. • Complete, free curriculum including assessments, lesson plans and all content. • A website that provides easy access to course materials for educators and students. • Training and professional development opportunities. • Active community of “big historians” to keep the course fresh, impactful, and connected. • Advocacy organization to support schools and districts seeking to deploy the course. BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

5. WHO IS BEHIND THE BIG HISTORY PROJECT? Teachers and Schools Course built in conjunction with core set of pilot schools – both public and independent 1 University of Michigan Manages student data and assessment (always anonymous!) and drives course strategy 2 Experts / Guest Lecturers Broad range of experts on cutting edge of their fields share their perspectives – including Walter Alvarez, Janna Levin, Skip Gates , Sal Khan and many more 3 David Christian and Bill Gates David was one of the pioneers of big history, and his college level course inspired Bill Gates explore a collaboration designed to bring big history to high school students everywhere. 4 BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

6. OUR GOAL By sharing “the big picture” and challenging students to explore the relationship between key events over time, Big History Project helps students learn how to synthesize complex information, develop key critical thinking skills and enhance their reading, writing, presentation, and research skills. These skills and the perspective big history fosters is vital not only to more discipline-specific work in the sciences and humanities, but helps students understand and evaluate individual and societal impact – and potential. BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

7. WHY OFFER BIG HISTORY? It’s a unique opportunity to engage students in a powerful learning experience that prepares them for broader, more integrative thinking. • Interdisciplinary: weaves together elements of traditional history, science, and 21st century skills • Common Core aligned: we engineered the course to deliver on CCSS ELA standards for 9th/10thgrade • Innovative online model: makes distribution easy and engages multiple learning styles • Flexible: modular curriculum can be adapted to fit school specific needs spanning PBL, STEM, ELA BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

8. BIG HISTORY AT (SAMPLE SCHOOL) Target grade: 9th/10th Elective Teachers: Approach: Pre-AP preparatory; designed to prepared students for AP US and World History by providing background and emphasizing core skill development. BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

9. COURSE STRUCTURE • Total course covers 13.7 billion years of history • Split into 2 main sections • Formations and early life: theories and evidence of origins of the Universe, planet formation, elements, and life. • Humans: the development of humans, civilizations and key milestones in our progress. Formations and early life (50%) Humans (50%) Assessment 3 Pre Course Survey Assessment 1 Assessment 2 Post Course Survey BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

10. Sample Content Main Talk Videos BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

11. Sample Content Threshold Videos BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

12. Sample Content Animations BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

13. Sample Content Infographics BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

14. Sample Content Texts BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

15. Sample Content Comic Books BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

16. Activities Investigations Student versions Teacher versions BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

17. Activities Project Based Learning Student versions Teacher versions BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

18. Activities Debates Student versions Teacher versions BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

19. Activities Claim Testing BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

20. Activities A Hunter-Gatherer Menu BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

21. Website Main Page BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

22. Website Unit View Get teaching or technical help Unit resources Ready-made lessons and inline teaching guidance Each content item is a tile BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

23. Website Unit View Continued

24. Website Lesson View Lesson Components AllDownloadable BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

25. Pilot Program Our school’s responsibilities Deliver a full big history course Actively provide feedback to program team to improve the course Administer light assessment program to help validate course impact Be a sponsor and advocate for the program as needed in our region BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

26. Pilot Program ASSESSMENT PROGRAM All assessments are “opt in” for students via simple consent form 3 student perception surveys to gauge their reactions to the course 3 lightweight (1250 word) writing samples 3 tests focused on the core big history story and content All data is anonmized and managed under strict supervision of The University of Michigan with extremely high levels of privacy protection. BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

27. The Big History Project Community Global map icon with BH schools pinned BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

28. Does it work? Student interest in the course is strong due to unique, innovative content, and compelling “big story.” Focus on healthy debate and “claim testing” improves student engagement while helping to hone critical thinking and presentation skills. Big history’s emphasis on interpretation of past events with an eye to implications for the future prepares students to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Extremely flexible format and approach enables teachers to meet key standards and outcomes while serving their specific school and student needs. Turnkey lesson plans and assets makes teacher prep easy, and improves effective instruction for students. Strong growth in both content knowledge , skills and perception of self capacity achieved in a wide variety of learning environments. BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

29. Go Deeper! Learn more about Bill Gates’ participation Check out the site (You can register!) David Christian’s TED talk Follow Big History Project BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION

30. Thank You BIG HISTORY PROJECT / INTRODUCTION