Welcome - this will be the place where you save all your information on the topics you are studying and where you can read what other students are doing and learning. The great thing about this is that you can work on the assignment from anywhere that has a computer and internet link.

We have reached the stage of our course where you will be asked to investigate certain things and report back on what you find. You will then be given a question that, I hope, will make you think about the connection between what you are doing and the world today. As you know, I will be checking to make sure that each of you is adding information.

The objectives for the unit are listed below. For each assignment, I will highlight the objectives on which we are working. It is important that you take time to look at the objectives to understand what it is we are doing in the class.

Objectives for our unit of study Change:

Know where Europe is located. (COM)

Know the locations of various regions and important physical features in Europe. (COM)

Use an atlas to gather information. (CCT)

Infer the significance of geographical features such as mountains and rivers. (CCT)

Know that individuals within societies accept a consensus about what is an acceptable belief system. (COM)

Know that a worldview is a distinctive way of looking at reality that creates a context for living. (COM)

Express a point of view. (COM, CCT)

Categorize and classify information using a chart. (COM, CCT)

State relevant generalizations. (CCT)

Create a concept map

Appreciate the impact that beliefs have on human behaviour. (PSVS)

Accept that there may be a tension between the beliefs of individuals and the collective beliefs of the worldview of society. (PSVS)

Accept and respect others' view points. (PSVS)

Know that the prevailing worldview is so thoroughly accepted by most individuals that it seems to be common sense or truth. (COM, CCT)

State reasons why changes to basic beliefs underlying a worldview are not readily accepted.

Explain the types of changes and describe ways that individuals and societies generally react to change. (COM)

Use personal experience and prior knowledge as a basis for understanding a concept.

Use the critical attributes of concepts to categorize and classify ideas in order to make reasoned inferences. (CCT)

Draw inferences and make generalizations about various changes in light of the change process. (CCT)

Know that throughout history individuals have had to change their beliefs in order to accommodate changes in society. (COM, CCT)

Know that a worldview is a distinctive way of looking at reality that creates a context for living. (CCT).

Know that societies try to find a pattern in their beliefs that gives their lives meaning and direction.

Know that when change occurs in one aspect of a society's belief system, it results in change to other aspects. (COM, CCT)

Know that individuals within societies resist changes that challenge their worldview. (COM, CCT)

Know that over the centuries a great many people have had to migrate and adapt to new conditions. (COM)

Know that a major cause of change is the modifications that occur when one culture comes into contact with another. (COM)

Know the role of economic and social systems within a society. (COM)

Know that power has its source in the control of numbers, organization, resources and information.

Know that power can be achieved through force, authority/tradition, and influence/charisma.

Appreciate that cultural diversity often leads to enrichment and change.

Appreciate that the roots of Canadian society are many and varied. (PSVS, CCT)

Value the importance of consensus seeking as a way of coming to a decision. (PSVS)

Know that people often choose religion as a means of explaining life, and as a source of comfort and hope. (COM, CCT)

Know that the basic beliefs and values of religion play an important role in the way the fundamentals of life are viewed. (COM, CCT)

Know that the church's main sources of power were information and organization, achieved through authority and influence.

Know that political power, which is the ability to make and carry out decisions, is dependent on certain sources of power.

Know that Feudalism was a system of government in which those who possessed landed estates also possessed the political power. (COM)

Know that the influence and charisma of religious beliefs are important methods of acquiring and maintaining power. (COM, CCT)

Know that there was tension between the power held by the church, which was achieved through religious influence, and secular power, which was achieved through force. (COM, CCT)

Appreciate the role of beliefs and values in determining a society's concept of social order. (PSVS)

Empathize with the dilemmas of people in other societies at other times in history.

Know that the control of resources is critical to economic and political power. (COM, CCT)

Know that innovation depends upon the need and the freedom to be creative.

Know that the acceptance of an innovation depends upon whether the incentive for acceptance outweighs the power of tradition. (COM, CCT)

Know that growth in population gave an incentive to improve agriculture to feed increased numbers of people. (COM, CCT)

Know that society undergoes change as a result of encountering new ideas, and with the rise of new social classes.

Know that social change can result in the development of new beliefs, social organizations and institutions that can conflict with established beliefs and institutions. (COM, CCT)

Use a timeline as a classification system to categorize and analyze data. (CCT, COM)

Test generalizations on the basis of relevant data. (CCT)

Present information in a logical manner to show valid relationships. (CCT)

Express a point of view.

Know that as environmental conditions change, individuals and societies have to adapt to the new realities.

Know that change in one aspect of society will affect other aspects of society. (COM, CCT)

Know that the technological and economic systems of society are interrelated with the social and cultural systems of society. (COM, CCT)

Know that change to fundamental beliefs underlying a worldview is not readily accepted. (COM, CCT)

Know that violence can develop between the advocates of the status quo and the advocates of change.

Know that societies must resolve the tension between the old and the new by reconciling old beliefs with new beliefs.

Know that individuals in every society have to reach a general agreement about what is acceptable and unacceptable. (COM)

Know that this agreement will be reflective of who holds the power within the society. (CCT, COM)

Present information in a logical manner to show relationships.

Express a point of view.

Draw a consensus about a complex situation with a number of alternatives. (CCT)

Identify alternate courses of action and predict the likely consequences of each.

Make generalizations about historical actions. (CCT)