Civilisation, Leadership and Culture 

Civilisation and leadership is the way society/groups organise themselves.

Aspects of knowledge that may be included in this category are:

• life for different sections of society

• education

• crime and punishment

• health and medicine

• clothing

• social organisation (e.g., nation states, systems of government).

Evidence of culture and pastimes exists from some of the earliest civilisations.

Aspects of knowledge that may be included in this category are:

• artworks

• jewellery

• architecture

• great thinkers and big ideas

• stories and books.

Beliefs often form the basis for day-to-day routines and practices.

By organising knowledge into belief systems, students can begin to understand why people acted as they did.

Aspects of knowledge that may be included are:

• organised religions

• key events

• symbols

Settlement and Migration

Throughout history people have organised themselves into settlements.

Aspects of knowledge that may be included are:

• homes (including the types of materials used and construction techniques)

• sanitation

• heating

• public facilities (e.g. bath houses)

• monuments and memorials

• gathering places (e.g. citadels, amphitheatres, town squares)

• the nature of a settlement (e.g. villages, towns, cities)

• defences

• important features (e.g. proximity to a river or sea port).

How people have travelled, and how far they have travelled, has developed dramatically throughout history.

Aspects of knowledge that may be included are:

• types of transport and how they were powered (e.g. foot and animals)

• technological advancements and their pioneers

• breakthrough events (e.g. the Moon landings)

• reasons for travel (e.g. to explore, conquer, trade, survive)

• trade routes

• holidays and how they have changed because of transport.

Conflict has affected human behaviour throughout history.

Aspects of knowledge that may be included in this category are:

• historic events

• reasons for conflict (e.g. invasions)

• weapons

• types of conflict (e.g. battles, wars)

• resolutions to conflicts.

It is a common misconception that events or periods in history were widespread or even global. For example, we sometimes think that the Romans ruled the whole world until the Anglo-Saxons came along to oust them, followed by the Vikings. Knowing that history involves both time and place is important in forming meaningful knowledge.

Aspects of knowledge that may be included are:

• historical geographical locations

• multiple locations, including the associated terminology (e.g. empire, commonwealth, union)

• movement and its associated terminology (e.g. migration, immigration, invasion, exploration, conquest).

Raw Materials, Tools and Technology

How people throughout history have found food to sustain themselves is an important part of historical knowledge.

Aspects of knowledge that may be included are:

• main food groups (e.g. grains, fish)

• popular foods and dishes

• methods of collection (e.g. hunter-gatherers, farming)

• important technological breakthroughs (e.g. plough – for cultivating land, shaduf – for irrigation)

• trade in foods and spices.

How materials have been used through history has developed dramatically.

Aspects of knowledge that may be included are:

• materials that were discovered and used for a range of aspects of life (e.g. jewellery, weaponry, tools, homes)

• technological advancements through changes from the use of stone to metal

• important technological breakthroughs.