
Geographic Luck Reflection
Unit Overview:
This unit serves as a link between understanding European social and technological development and world exploration. Students will learn about Jared Diamond’s theory of Geographic Luck from the book Guns, Germs, and Steel by watching documentaries, note-taking, drawing for understanding, class discussion, weapons presentation, create mind-maps, research and essay writing.
Personal Unit Overview: What did you achieve this unit?
I learned about the theory of geographic luck, before this unit I did not know anything about geographic luck and why some places are more developed than others. I learned a lot this unit because of the documentary we watched and I took a lot of notes on it. We also made a mind map and wrote an essay about it which really allowed me to understand a lot about geographic luck.
Enduring Understandings: How can geography affect society?
Geography can affect a society because it will make them live in a different way. Countries with a lot of mountains and cold weather will have different types of houses and clothing which they used compared to a country with flat land that has very hot weather. The food that is found in different places with different geography mean that certain places with different geography has different foods and resources which affects how people live.
Unit Standards:
Content:
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Analyze and describe the theory of Geographic Luck and the development of successful civilizations
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Analyze and describe the causes and effects of the European Age of Exploration
Process:
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Interpret central ideas and provide an accurate summary of sources while demonstrating relationship among ideas
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Uses multiple sources to synthesize and integrate information
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Publish clear and coherent writing for an intended purpose and audience through the dynamic use of technology
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Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of sources and connect insights
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Integrate visuals and/or data to demonstrate analysis
Area of strength: Which standard was your strength and why?
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Analyze and describe the theory of Geographic Luck and the development of successful civilizations.
I did well in this because I really understood the theory and I knew many different ways that successful civilizations developed.
Area of growth: Which standard needs improvement and how can you improve for the future?
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Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of sources and connect insights.
I did well describing what the theory of geographic luck was but I did not use any in text citations and I will try to next time.
Evidence: What evidence do you have of your learning?
I wrote an essay which was about the theory of geographic luck and how there were certain things that geographically lucky civilizations had which allowed them to develop so well.
Geographic luck is a theory developed by Jared Diamond that explains that some places in the world were more geographically lucky than others. This means that places that are geographically lucky were able to develop faster and more efficiently than other places in the world that were not as lucky. Geographic luck affected the developed countries in a positive way because of agriculture, technology, weapons and geography. These four parts are the most important things that helped make the more developed countries the way they are today.
Agriculture is the first way that helped countries develop. People use to go around wandering lands hunting and gathering for food which meant that they did not have a set home which they stayed in. They eventually found out how to domesticate plants, this allowed them to keep farming plants not having to move around all the time. After domesticating plants the domestication of animals allowed people to have a source of meat, fur and extra manpower. Domesticated animals were able to help people farm for crops more efficiently. There were not many crops that were good enough to feed settlements, crops like corn, potatoes, rice and a few other crops were ones that were able to feed settlements which developed into civilizations. Since some places had the right crops to grow it allowed the population of the settlement to grow immensely, this led to people having other things to focus on rather than growing crops and eating them. These people called specialist focused on other aspects of things and made invention that can help the people in the settlements farm or do other things.
The fertile crescent which was in the Middle East had a lot of Geographic luck because the people there had crops and animals that were good for domestication. Although the Fertile Crescent was good for the domestication of crops and animals it did not have good weather. After 1,000 years the people who lived in the fertile crescent had to move because all their crops died not allowing them to refarm them. They went West and East because they did not want the weather and the crops that they were using in the Fertile Crescent to be too different to what they were moving to. This was good for the people in the Fertile Crescent because they were able feed the whole settlement and allow specialists to invent new things. The people in the Fertile Crescent because they were the most advanced at the time. When they went to Europe they then settled there and started making civilizations there which allowed populations to grow and new inventions were made.
Geography is the second way that helped countries develop. The Geography of the land was very important in allowing civilizations to go there because the weather had to be good and the crops that were being grown had to be the right crops for growing large populations. The land had to have a consistent source of water to allow the civilization to develop properly. The geography of the land having large mountains helped them protect themselves from invaders. Places with good Geography would have also had animals that were good to domesticate, at first the people who lived with farm animals got sick. Eventually they developed immunity to the sicknesses that animals had back then, this meant that the people who were immune infected people that were not immune causing them to die allowing the immune to take the land. This was good for people who were geographically lucky because it could help them because they can use the crops to their advantage and also the land can help them protect themselves. The geography of the land affected how the people lived and could allow them to advance slightly faster than other civilizations which gave them the upper hand in combat, resources and technology.
Technology is the third way that helped countries and civilizations develop well. Technology developing allowed people to have more efficient equipment, this meant that civilizations with good technology were able to do things that other civilizations may not have been able to do. Technology continued to develop which allowed populations to grow because of how efficient the farming equipment became, boats were then invented which allowed the British and Spanish to discover America. This then led to British and Spanish colonies in America which helped expand the British and Spanish land. Medication was then advanced and allowed people to heal when sick or injured because before people did not do much to help with these problems. People being able to heal meant that people started to live longer increasing populations of civilizations. Books were then developed which allowed knowledge to spread quickly, know that people had more knowledge more inventions were being made and technology was advancing faster. Knowledge spread through books allowed civilizations to develop better war strategies which helped them take over and fight wars more efficiently. This is a good thing because it allowed people to farm land better than they used to and allowed civilizations to develop quickly. The Spanish beat the Inca because they had better war tactics and technology even though they were outnumbered, they won the war.
Guns is the fourth and final way that helped civilizations develop well. Guns were the best and most efficient way of attacking people without having to physically be hitting them with a weapon. The Spaniards were able to use their guns against the Inca Empire when they took over their land. The weapons which the Spaniards had, guns, were much better than what the Inca had which were swords. This allowed the Spaniards to be able to kill Inca without having to get too close to them. The Inca thought that the Spaniards was the God of thunder because of the loud sound it makes so they all got scared. Guns also allowed the British fight Native Americans when they went to conquer their land. This was good for the British and the Spaniards because they were able to conquer new land allowing them to expand their land giving them more power, resources, and money. The guns are what allowed the Spaniards to win the war against the Inca. This also allowed the Europeans to find new resources and bring them back to Europe to use.
Overall, agriculture, geography, technology, and guns are the most important ways for developing a good civilizations. Agriculture is what is used to feed the people in civilizations and increase populations. Geography was important because in order to grow the right crops to feed a civilization, the right land and weather is also needed. Technology is what helped allow agriculture become more efficient, it also allowed new things that were not able to be done in the past be done, technology also allowed knowledge to spread which allowed technology to develop even more. Guns helped civilizations develop because of the advantage it gave to take over new land, with new land came more money, resources, and an increase in population.