Seventh grade students will explore the social, cultural, geographical, political and technological changes that occurred after the fall of the Roman Empire and in Medieval Europe. Students will also study the period from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, including the Islamic world, Africa, China, and Japan, but with a heavier emphasis on western civilization in Europe during the Renaissance and Reformation. Students will compare and contrast the history and geography of civilizations that were developing concurrently throughout these continents during medieval times. They will examine the growth in economic interactions among civilizations as well as the exchange of ideas, beliefs, technologies, and commodities. Students will learn about the resulting spread of Enlightenment philosophies and the examination of new concepts of reasoning toward religion, government, and science that continue to influence our world today. Students will analyze geography’s influence on the development of these civilizations as they continue their study of world history and geography. Seventh grade students will end the year by examining the Meso-American and Andean civilizations, and the age of European explorations. Appropriate informational texts and primary sources will be used in order to deepen the understanding of how these civilizations influence the modern world.