AC9HH8K06 Year 8 Humanities and Social Sciences

AC9HH8K06 – Year 8 Humanities and Social Sciences: Medieval Europe and the early modern world

Strand

Knowledge and understanding

Substrand

Medieval Europe and the early modern world

This Content Descriptor from Year 8 Humanities and Social Sciences provides the specific knowledge and skills students should learn. Use it to plan lessons, create learning sequences, and design assessments that align with the Australian Curriculum v9.

Content Descriptor

interpretations about an event, individual, group, institution or movement in Medieval, Renaissance or pre-modern Europe

Elaborations

• explaining how historians have disproved medieval myths such as King Arthur or Pope Joan
• analysing why the Black Death has been misconceived as impacting Europe predominantly, with reference to differing historians’ interpretations
• analysing the importance of key women in Renaissance society, such as Caterina Sforza (1463–1509), Isabella d’Este (1474–1539), Lucrezia Borgia (1480–1519) and Catherine de Medici (1519–1589), using a range of artwork, written sources and historians’ interpretations to justify claims
• explaining how the interpretations of the discoveries of science are linked to ideas about the free exercise of human reason and how that could lead to improvements and progress in human life and society generally
• examining historical interpretations of key events, developments or achievements during this period, such as the Scientific Revolution or the beginnings of the Age of Reason/Enlightenment, and how these interpretations highlight their importance or significance to contemporary society

Achievement Standard This Supports

This Content Descriptor contributes to the following Achievement Standard:

Year 8 ASHAHISY8

Year 8 Humanities and Social Sciences Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 8, students describe the historical significance of the periods between the ancient and modern past. They explain the causes and effects of events, developments, turning points or challenges in Medieval, Renaissance or pre-modern Europe, or in the societies connected to the empires or expansions, or the societies of the Asia-Pacific world during these periods. They describe the social, religious, cultural, economic, environmental and/or political aspects related to the changes and continuities in a society or a historical period. Students describe the role of significant individuals, groups and institutions connected to the societies of these periods and their influences on historical events. Students develop questions about the past to inform historical inquiry. They locate and identify a range of primary and secondary sources as evidence in historical inquiry. They describe the origin, content and context of sources and explain the purpose of primary and secondary sources. Students compare sources to explain the accuracy, usefulness and reliability of sources as evidence. They sequence events and developments to explain causes and effects, and patterns of continuity and change across societies and time periods. They describe perspectives, attitudes and values of the past, and suggest reasons for different points of view. They explain historical interpretations about significant events and people. Students use historical knowledge, concepts, terms and references to evidence from sources to create descriptions, explanations and historical arguments.