Explore the Big HiSTORY of the Earth. The Story of the Earth will come alive in this 20-week class through science, history, geology, art, and writing. Big HiSTORY of Earth will bring our collective story alive. 

Travel through space and time to see the formation of the Universe, and then the Milky Way Galaxy, and finally our own Solar System and home planet Earth. We will explore Earth's history through the Eons from the first molecules, through the development of water, and our atmosphere. We will follow the fossil record from 3.5 billion years ago through the Time of the Dinosaurs and to the rise of mammals. 

We will see how the continents were born and how Earth's crust has grown and changed throughout the Eons.

We will watch as the earliest humans developed and follow them through the Ages. We will see the rise and fall of great civilizations around the world ending with the rise of the Roman Empire. 

We will explore concepts in science, history, geography, and art as we travel through the History of Earth. We will complete a class project during every session.

Every class will include an interactive exploration of the History of the Earth using short movies, diagrams, illustrations, and models. We will do a weekly project plus every student will complete a fun, course-long project. 

Note: There is a minimal enrollment of three students for this class to start. If less than three students sign up for the session, enrolled students will be given the option of transferring into another class.

Note for Homeschoolers: This class will fulfill requirements for lessons in science, geography, history, and art. If you need exact times spent in class for each of these areas, please ask prior to the start of the session. We will also complete a project during each class session.  Students can take self-graded Kahoot quizzes and print the results out for their portfolios. The projects and worksheets can be used for homeschool portfolios. If you will need a formal assessment, please contact me at the beginning of the session. 

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Our class schedule will be as follows:
Week 1: The Big Bang and the Birth of the Universe/ Big Bang Experiments/ Big Bang Model
Week 2: The Milky Way Galaxy and the formation of the Solar System / Galaxy Art / Solar System Experiment
Week 3: The Hadeon Eon / Build a Planet / Molten Earth
Week 4: Archean Eon and the Proterozoic Eon / Plate Tectonics Experiment
Week 5: Phanerozoic Eon - Paleozoic Era - The Explosion of Life / Trilobite / Introduction to the Course Project
Week 6: The Mesozoic Era - The Rise of the Dinosaurs / Make playdough Fossils
Week 7: The Cenozoic Era -  the Age of Mammals / Continental Drift Puzzle / Make a Paper Roll Glyptodon
Week 8: Course Project Consultations - Teacher/Student office hours
Week 9: Early Humans - From Nomads and Hunter-Gatherers to Agricultural Societies / Cave Paintings
Week 10: Pre-Historic Civilizations / Stone Circle Project

Week 11: Ancient Mesopotamia / Decode Cuneiform Project
Week 12: Ancient Egypt / Pyramids
Week 13: Ancient India / Clay Seals
Week 14: Ancient China / Kites
Week 15: Ancient Americas / Giant Head Sculpture
Week 16: Ancient Greece / Greek Building
Week 17: Ancient Africa / Kush Jewelry
Week 18:  Ancient Rome / Roman Catapult
Week 19:Course Project: Project Presentations
Week 20:: Rise of the Roman Empire  - Big HiSTORY Review / Class Determined Projects (Students will be able to vote on the project(s) for this final day)

Due to the length of the class, the class schedule may change.

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This course is inspired by OER's Big History Project and World History Project. The first half of the course is based on the science of the earth, the birth of the universe, galaxies, our sun, our solar system, and the earth. We will follow the geological and fossil record through the eons. The second half of the course explores the rise of humans from hunter-gatherers through the founding, rise, and fall of great civilizations. We will explore the factors that lead to the founding of these civilizations, concentrating on how people lived in these civilizations. We will touch upon the governments of these civilizations based on how they affected the lives of the citizens. We will focus on the human experience and the technological enhancements of the human experience. We will explore the advancement of the knowledge gained through the ages.

This is an overview course, alighting upon moments in the history of the universe that became inflection points of growth and change in the history of the earth as we know it today.

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We will do a weekly project or experiment. The Projects are:

Week 1: Experiment 1: Balloon & Masking Tape / Experiment 2: Bowl & Water & Pepper & Dish Detergent / (optional) Large plastic cup
Week 2: Art Project: 1 piece of colored paper & liquid paints - Tempera or Liquid Acrylic (at least 3 colors) & q-tips OR popsicle sticks & optional glitter /  Experiment 1: Tall clear glass OR tall plastic food storage container & 2 tablespoons of rice & 2 tablespoons of either elbow macaroni OR ditalini & a spoon & half cup of water
Week 3: Experiment 1: pie pan OR a large wide bottom bowl & 3 colors of playdough / Experiment 2: Bowl & Water & Box of Corn Starch & Spoon 
Week 4: Experiment 1: Plate OR Piece of Foil OR Piece of Wax Paper & shaving cream & 3-4 small pieces of cardboard (2-3 inches or 4-5 cm square) / Printout of Tectonic Plates
Week 5: Empty Toilet Paper Tube  & brown paper & 1 pipe cleaner & black marker & safety scissors & white glue & tape
Week 6: Playdough* & plastic dinosaurs & popsicle sticks OR different shapes of pasta OR pencils
Week 7: 2 Empty Toilet Paper Tubes & safety scissors & clear tape & white glue & brown paper & pencil 
Week 8: No supplies
Week 9: Brown paper OR brown paper bags & brown OR black OR red paint & large paintbrushes & cup of water
Week 10: Playdough* & plastic plate 


Week 11: Print Worksheets from the Class Page
Week 12:  Clear tape & markers or crayons & safety scissors & Pyramid Template from Class Page
Week 13: Oven dry clay or air dry clay
Week 14: Paper OR Tissue Paper & straws & tape & string
Week 15: Play-dough or clay
Week 16: 6-8 Empty Toilet Paper Tubes, cardboard, glue, white paint
Week 17: 4 Popsicle Sticks or Disposable Plastic or Paper Straws, paper, glue, tape, safety scissors, decorating materials - paints, markers, crayons, pastels, etc., Osiris Printout from the Class Page
Week 18: 8 popsicle sticks, 1 plastic spoon, 6 rubber bands (long and skinny work best)
Week 19: Student projects
Week 20: Students' choice - Art Project: Roman Mosaic, STEAM - Gladiator Shield, STEAM - Roman Arch, Music - Drums (Class will vote to pick one project for the final class. A supply list will be provided for the chosen project.)

All worksheets will be posted on the class page.
When scissors are used, adult supervision is recommended.
* Playdough can be commercial or homemade playdough, Sculpy or oven-dry clay, Model Magic or air dry clay