UNIT 10. SOCIETIES CHANGE (Social Science, 4º)

UNIT 10. SOCIETIES CHANGE

HISTORY

·         What is history?

History is the combination of all the things that happened in the past. People who study history are historians. There are different types of history: family history, local, national and universal history.

·         How we find out about history

A historical source is something which gives us information about the past. There are different types: oral, written, graphic and material.

Historians divide the past into periods:

-          Prehistory: from the first human beings to the invention of writing.

-          The Ancient world: from the invention of writing to the end of the Roman Empire.

-          Middle Ages: from the End of the Roman Empire to the discovery of America in 1492.

-          The Modern Age: from the discovery of America to the French Revolution in 1789.

-          The Contemporary age: from the French Revolution  to nowadays.

PREHISTORY

Prehistory has two main periods:

-          The Palaeolithic: from the first human beings to the invention of agricultura. Charateristics:

§  People were nomads (moved around looking for food).

§  They hunted animals and picked fruit and plants to eat.

§  They used fire had simple tools of Stone, Wood and bones.

§  They had shelters and caves to live.

-           The Neolithic: from the invention of agriculture to the invention of writing.

§  They started to live in one place and formed communities.

§  They made clothes and pottery.

§  They used complex tools.

§  They started to express ideas with symbols.

THE ANCIENT WORLD

·         The first great civilizations

Writing was invented at the same time in different places about 5000 years ago: in China, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Mexico and Greece.

One of the first civilizations was the Roman Empire. It started in Itlay and many places around the Mediterranean Sea, including Spain. Characteristics of the first civilizations:

-          The first cities were built.

-          The first laws were written. There were free people and slaves.

-          The first jobs developed and some people started to create art.

-          The Wheel was invented. Ttransport and business developed.