End of Year ProjectBy Rachel ReyesHistory, Period 3June 4, 2012

The Fall Of Rome The Roman

citizens could vote for their leader.

They also had many achievements like bridges and roads.

This picture shows the major achievements of Rome. All of the achievements in the picture like roads, bridges and voting are used later. They are changed slightly but are all used today. The roads we use today are paved instead of just dirt. We use bridges and some of the same structures for holding them up. For voting today, men and women can vote, instead of just men. Eventually, Rome fell because they had too much land that they could not protect. There was a major decline morals and values, money was spent to freely on mercenaries, and the barbarians were attacking. However, their achievements are still very prominent, helpful, and important. Out of all the Roman’s new ideas, their voting was the best. All citizens could vote and hold offices. However, they also had to serve in the army when needed and pay taxes. Even though only men could be citizens, it laid a good foundation for future countries.

The Middle Ages Even though the

Middle Ages has may great achievements, the best is the Magna Carta.

The Magna Carta protected the people from the king and parts are still used today.

The Middle Ages has many great achievements. However, the greatest is the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta was a series of written documents about how the king would govern England’s people according to the customs of feudal law. The king had to follow his own rules he made, a key factor in the Magna Carta. Another important rule is still used today and is called habeas corpus. This makes the government, or the king, not be able to put someone in jail just because of unjust reasons. The Magna Carta was made by the barons because King John was abusing other people through his power and leaving the people of England to suffer. He almost lost all the English land in the French territories, made people who owned land pay extra taxes, and got into fights with the Pope about who would control the Catholic Church. The Magna Carta saved many people from the absence of King John and has made a significant impact on the world today.

China The Great Wall of

China was made to keep Mongol invaders out of China.

It was started by Emperor Qin.

The flags represent the three different doctrines Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

The Great Wall of China is a fantastic achievement. It was made to keep Mogul invaders out of China. Emperor Qin built it to protect his people from them coming from the north. He put peasants and anyone who was irritating to him like captured enemies, criminals, and scholars on the job of building the Great Wall. They were not paid for their hard work with near death experiences or in lots of cases, death. Rocks fell on people, walls caved in, and deaths from exhaustion and disease were common. The slaves were only given enough food to keep them alive. The work conditions were horrible. Even after Emperor Qin died, the project continued. It continued for many hundreds of years until the wall was more than 3700 miles long. Most of the emperors used the same slave labor techniques. The flags on the Great Wall represent the three different doctrines Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

The Rise of Islam The five pillars are

followed by both groups, Sunni and Shia

They were guidelines for the Islam religion and a sign of commitment in the Qur’an.

This is a picture of someone praying in front of the five pillars of faith. Each pillar has a different meaning. Haji means going to Mecca once in your lifetime. Zakah is giving donations to the poor. Shahada is the Islamic creed. Salah is the daily prayers five times a day. Sawm is fasting during Ramadan. These are represented as guidelines for worship and a sign of commitment in the Qur’an. Both groups of Islam, Sunni and Shia, follow the five pillars. The only major difference is the way the two groups choose their leader. The Sunni group, which has far more people than Shia, decides their leader by electing them from people who are capable of the job. The Shia group however, believes that the leadership should stay within the prophet’s family.

Japan This picture shows

the golden age of Japan.

Nobles at the time enjoyed visual arts, airy buildings, gardens, and ponds.

This picture shows the golden age of Japan. The golden age of Japan was from 794-1185. Nobles wore elaborate silk robes and gold jewelry. Noble women wrote many of the early greatest works of literature. Lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji around 1000 A.D. In The Tale of Genji Lady Murasaki Shikibu mentions food being prepared and severed as an art. Today, we have cooking shows that originated from Japan. Nobles liked the visual arts and painted with bright colors. Many artists painted on walls and furniture as opposed to paper. People enjoyed calligraphy a type of decorative writing. Nobles also liked poetry and one type, Haiku, is still greatly appreciated today. Nobles wanted to make their buildings beautiful. They had the wooden frames curved slightly upward at the ends. Nobles liked airy designs surrounded with elegant gardens and ponds. These gardens are still popular in Japan. People gathered to watch performances by musicians, jugglers, and acrobats. These performances were wild and in some plays actors mimicked other people. In the 1300’s Noh was created. Noh are plays that mix music, speaking and dance together. These types of plays often told about great heroes or figures from Japan’s past. In conclusion, nobles cared about beauty in everything and enjoyed the visual arts, writing, fashion, and architecture.

The Renaissance This picture is a

version of Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop.

The Renaissance was a rebirth for many cites after the Black death.

Many important people like Leonardo Da Vinci supported humanism and helped develop new ideas.

This picture is a version of Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop. He was a true Renaissance man. Upholding that title, he has many books, many inventions, and all the greatest plays like Romeo and Juliet. He had many jobs in his lifetime. Here are all his jobs; painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and a writer. Some of these jobs have confusing names. A cartographer is someone who makes maps. A botanist is someone who studies plants. His writings contributed to the Renaissance idea of humanism. Humanism is the study of humanities which led to a new way of thinking and learning. The Renaissance was just 50 years after the Black Death. Many cities changed greatly into a place known for its beauty, art, and learning.

The Reformation Martin Luther started the

Reformation of the Catholic Church because he did not like indulgences and having to follow the traditions of the Catholic Church.

There was a war that lasted 30 years and ended with the Treaty of Westphalia where countries would decide whether they were Catholic or Protestant.

This picture is of people rebelling against the Catholic Church. Martin Luther Was the main driving force. He kept trying and did not want to give up. He wanted the church to see he was right. He did not want people to pay for indulgences. Instead he thought that if you believed in the Bible you would be saved. He wrote the 95 theses and put them on display on a church door in Germany. People wanted to stop the church from breaking apart. But with their different opinions, it was hard for them to change. Both the church and Luther would not change their ideas and continued thinking they were right. Many groups tried to teach about Catholic ideas and stop the Reformation from separating. Eventually there was the Thirty Year’s War with an ending of an agreement. This was called the Treaty of Westphalia and countries could determine if they were Catholic or Protestant.

The Scientific Revolution The magnifying

glass represents the first microscope.

The spheres behind it is planets, representing the new found knowledge in astronomy.

For this picture, the magnifying glass is representing the first microscope. They both use lens to magnify objects. The spheres behind the magnifying glass represent planets. Both the microscope and the studying of the planets and our solar system were very important achievements. A Polish astronomer, Nicolas Copernicus, wrote a book that marked the beginning of the scientific revolution. Other people made major contributions to astronomy such as Tycho Brahe’s detailed records of the stars, Johannes Kepler who discovered the planets orbit in ovals, Galileo Galilei was the first person to study the sky with a telescope, and Sir Isaac Newton made three vitally important laws in addition to inventing a type of math called calculus. Around 1590 Zacharias Janssen invented a simple microscope. About ten years later the first person how used a microscope was Antioni van Leeuwenhoek by looking at a drop of pond water. With this he could see tiny plants and animals.

Aztec, Inca, Maya The green face figurine

is from the Mayan culture, originally made out of jade, which in some places they mined for.

The golden bird is from the Inca culture and represents the expansion of their territory.

The blue mask is ceremonial to the Aztecs.

This picture shows different models and masks. The first drawing is a green face. This was a jade figure from the Mayan culture. Jade was mined in an area that was very mountains. The jade was traded to people in the lowlands. It was found in the bottom land of the Yucatán Peninsula, the peninsula were the Mayans lived. The second drawing of a figurine of a golden bird represents the Inca’s empire expanding. In the mid-1400s a ruler, Pachacuti wanted the Inca’s territory to expand. He gained territory through either fighting his way to victory or agreements. He also made the capital at Cuzco be rebuilt and established the Inca’s an official religion. It is no wonder Pachacuti’s name means “he who remakes the world.” For the last drawing, it is a representation of a mask made by the Aztecs. The mask was ceremonial and represented the god Quetzalcoatl. The mask was made of turquoise, shell, and wood.

Citations Fall of Rome- Martin, P. (N/A). rome.mrdonn.org.

Retrieved from http://rome.mrdonn.org/fall.html The Middle Ages- Carr, Karen. "magnacarta,"

Kidipede - History for Kids. 2012. http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/government/magnacarta.htm

China- Vovkav. (2011, November 16). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China

The Rise of Islam- Burstein, S. B., & Shek, R. S. (2006). World history: Medieval to modern times. Retrieved from http://my.hrw.com/tabnav/controller.jsp?isbn=0030421594

Citations Japan- Burstein, S. B., & Shek, R. S. (2006). World history:

Medieval to modern times. Retrieved from http://my.hrw.com/tabnav/controller.jsp?isbn=0030421594

The Renaissance- Wikipedia.org. (2011, November 27). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci

The Reformation- Burstein, S. B., & Shek, R. S. (2006). World history: Medieval to modern times. Retrieved from http://my.hrw.com/tabnav/controller.jsp?isbn=0030421594

The Scientific Revolution- Burstein, S. B., & Shek, R. S. (2006). World history: Medieval to modern times. Retrieved from http://my.hrw.com/tabnav/controller.jsp?isbn=0030421594

Aztec, Inca, Maya- Burstein, S. B., & Shek, R. S. (2006). World history: Medieval to modern times. Retrieved from http://my.hrw.com/tabnav/controller.jsp?isbn=0030421594