Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: History for Year 8 students. It adopts an inquiry learning approach that develops students’ skills in investigating the Medieval Europe and the early modern world sub-strand. 

Topic

Throughout human history, societies have grown, matured, and then collapsed, making way for new innovations, people and philosophies to begin the cycle again, building on what came before. The history of Medieval Europe is no different: it has its roots in the collapse of the western Roman Empire in 456 CE.

Topic

Following the collapse of the western Roman Empire, Europe entered a period of cultural, political and economic change. The stabilising force of the Roman Empire gave way and new states and rulers stepped in to fill gaps.

Topic

For most of human history beyond living memory, the main way we know what life was like during the Medieval period is from documentary evidence that remains available to us.

Topic

As time progressed, the number of people who could read did begin to increase, as some countries began to increase the emphasis on educating their people to basic levels.

Topic

Since ancient times, most documents were written by hand. If multiple copies were needed, it would mean making multiple handwritten copies; even with a team of scribes, this was time consuming. It also meant that information could be difficult to read, depending how good a scribe’s handwriting was.

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: History for Year 8 students. It adopts an inquiry learning approach that develops students’ skills in investigating Asia-Pacific societies in depth.

Topic

When European explorers began to enter the Pacific they were astounded by its vast extent and fact that most of the islands were already inhabited.

Topic

Looking at Polynesia on a world map can be deceiving, as the vast majority of the Polynesian islands appear as near-identical green specks scattered across vast oceanic areas.

Topic

Many European explorers, sailing across the eastern Pacific islands from the 18th century onwards, reported with astonishment their visits at religious sites, the impressive carved statues and the complex ceremonies they witnessed.

Topic

Emperor Shunzhi, the first emperor of the Qing dynasty (since the taking of China proper in 1644) died in 1661. His son, Kangxi, took over at the age of seven and reigned for 61 years. He encouraged painting, porcelain making and literature.

Topic

In relation to the West, when the Qing dynasty began in 1644, access to Chinese markets for the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and English had been restricted to Canton since 1550.