Monday, February 23, 2009

Chapter 3: Stalin's Rise to Power

He ruled with an iron fist, treating his people like grist for the mill of power and threatening the world with his expansionist fantasies. One of the most influential and notorious leaders of the 20th century, he was likely also the greatest murderer of history, sending an estimated 20 million people to their deaths. STALIN: MAN OF STEEL is a multi-faceted portrait of the man who succeeded Lenin as the head of the Soviet Union. With a captivating blend of period documents, newly-released information, newsreel and archival footage and interviews with experts, the program examines his rise to power, deconstructs the cult of personality that helped him maintain an iron grip over his vast empire, and analyzes the policies he introduced, including the deadly expansion of the notorious gulags where he banished so many of his countrymen to certain death.



This video documentary is interesting, but it is 1.5 HOURS long. Make sure you have a lot of spare time to watch it before you start playing! The Youtube link is here.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Chapter 3: Russian Revolution



This Youtube video is a photo montage of the October Revolution. The song that plays during the video is called "Farewell of Slavianka", a Russian patriotic march. There are Red Army choir versions of it on YouTube that are extraordinary.

When watching the video, think about the following:
Why did revolution in Russia break out in 1917?

Friday, February 6, 2009

Usefulness (SBQ Skills)

How useful is Source A for finding out about farming in the USSR in the 1930s?



Source A: Soviet government photograph of 1933 showing tractors on a collective farm

Click here to find out.

BBC Bitesize Revision Guide

The BBC has a useful revision guide on History. Do take note their revision guide is based on the British syllabus, which has some differences with Singapore. Most of the material is relevant but at a later date, what is not in the Singapore syllabus will not be pointed out. If in any doubt, check with the syllabus, your textbook, or your History teacher.

This site covers most of Chapter 1, 2, and 6. Do note that Chapter 1 is included in the Singapore syllabus but is non-examinable.
This site covers most of Chapter 8 & 9. (This is covered in Sec 4 Express/Sec 5 Normal)

End of Shang Dynasty

Here is a Youtube video on the end of the Shang Dynasty



Now, turn to page 39 of your textbook and think about the following questions:
- When was the last Shang king killed?
- What was the name of the dynasty that ruled next?
- What do you think were the reasons for the collapse of the Shang Dynasty?

Chapter 6 - Hitler's Actions & Foreign Policy (Part 2)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this, click here for Part I.

Hitler's actions and foreign policy were a major cause of the collapse of peace in Europe. If you read your textbook, the following are the main points:

- to make the German military stronger (rearmament; this has been covered in a previous post)
- to gain lebensraum (extra land for Germany) by being aggressive to her neighbours
- to fight Communism (this is actually linked to the second point)



The first part of the video deals with rearmament, then it gradually moves on to Hitler's aggressive foreign policy and then appeasement.

Try answering the questions below after watching the video:

Basic Questions (For weaker students)
- What were some of the ways Germany rearmed?
- What were some important dates and places in Hitler's aggressive foreign policy?
- What is appeasement? How did the Allies appease Hitler?

Standard Questions (For stronger students)
- Below are two factors which contributed to the collapse of peace:
1) Hitler's actions and foreign policy (rearmament, Hitler's foreign policy)
2) Appeasement

What were the roles of each factor in contributing to the collapse of peace? Which factor do you think was more important and why?

Sunday, February 1, 2009

O Level History Format

20th Century World History, 1910s–1991

This paper will comprise the following two sections:

Section A: Source-based Question
Section B: Structured-essay Questions

Candidates are required to answer one compulsory source-based question from Section A and one structured-essay question from Section B. The source-based question in Section A will be set on one of the topics indicated by the symbol (*) in the syllabus outline. Structured-essay questions will be set on all topics in the syllabus including the subject matter covered by a sourcebased topic. All questions carry equal weighting (25% each).

Structure of Paper
Section A: 1 compulsory source-based question worth a total of 25 marks.
Section B: candidates must choose 1 out of 3 structured-essay questions. This section is worth a total of 25 marks.

Source-based Questions
Source-based questions will be based on sources. Candidates are expected to have a sound knowledge of the prescribed topics and an acquaintance with the kinds of sources available and their uses. Candidates are also expected to have an understanding of the ways in which sources may be evaluated.
Various types of sources such as textual, statistical/numerical, and graphical/pictorial, may be used. Candidates are expected to use their knowledge, skills and conceptual understanding developed during the course to help them use the given sources to answer the questions.

Question construction
No more than six sources may be set for the source-based question. One or more differing accounts of the same situation might be set, showing different views as time progresses or in communicating to different audiences, or one or more accounts on the same topic.
No individual source will exceed 150 words. Sources may be simplified where necessary.
Obscure terms (other than those which should be known to those who have studied the syllabus) will be annotated.
Each source-based question will have four sub-questions testing Objectives 1 and 3.
The weighting for each sub-question will be indicated in brackets. Sub-questions will involve higher-order thinking skills as defined in the Assessment Objectives. Answers to the subquestions will be graded according to the coherence and consistency of the argument. Credit will be given to points offered by candidates that are not on the suggested marking schemes as long as the points are logical and sufficiently substantiated. A ‘Levels of Response Mark scheme (LORMs)’ will be used to assess candidates’ answers.

Structured-essay Questions
A structured-essay question is an essay question which consists of two clearly separate subquestions.
The weighting for each sub-question will be indicated within brackets, as an indication of the length of the answer expected.

Question construction
Three structured-essay questions will be set. Candidates have to answer one structured-essay question which tests Objectives 1 and 2. Each structured-essay question comprises two subquestions.
The two sub-questions will test candidates’ ability to explain, analyse and make
judgements on events and/or issues. Both sub-questions will be marked using the ‘Levels of Response Mark scheme (LORMs)’. Structured-essay questions will be set on all topics in the syllabus outline including the subject matter covered by the source-based topic.

N Level History Format

Candidates will sit for one paper of which the duration is 1 hour 30 minutes.

20th Century World History, 1910s–1991

This paper will comprise the following two sections:
Section A: Source-based Question
Section B: Structured-essay Questions

Candidates are required to answer one compulsory source-based question from Section A
and one structured-essay question from Section B. The source-based question in
Section A will be set on one of the topics indicated by the symbol (*) in the syllabus outline. Structured essay questions will be set on all topics in the syllabus including the subject matter covered by a source-based topic. All questions carry equal weighting (25 % each).

Structure of Paper
Section A: 1 compulsory source-based question worth a total of 25 marks.
Section B: candidates must choose 1 out of 3 structured-essay questions. This section is worth a total of 25 marks.

Source-based Questions
Source-based questions will be based on sources. Candidates are expected to have a sound knowledge of the prescribed topics and an acquaintance with the kinds of sources available and their uses. Candidates are also expected to have an understanding of the ways in which sources may be evaluated.
Various types of sources such as textual, statistical/numerical, and graphical/pictorial, may be used. Candidates are expected to use their knowledge, skills and conceptual understanding developed during the course to help them use the given sources to answer the questions.

Question construction
No more than five sources may be set for the source-based question. One or more differing accounts of the same situation might be set, showing different views as time progresses or in communicating to different audiences, or one or more accounts on the same topic.
No individual source will exceed 120 words. Sources may be simplified where necessary.
Obscure terms (other than those which should be known to those who have studied the
syllabus) will be annotated.
Each source-based question will have four sub-questions testing Objectives 1 and 3.
The weighting for each sub-question will be indicated in brackets. Sub-questions will involve higher-order thinking skills as defined in the Assessment Objectives. Answers to the subquestions will be graded according to the coherence and consistency of the argument. Credit will be given to points offered by candidates that are not on the suggested marking schemes as long as the points are logical and sufficiently substantiated. A ‘Levels of Response Mark scheme (LORMs)’ will be used to assess candidates’ answers.

Structured-essay Questions
A structured-essay question is an essay question which consists of two clearly separate subquestions.
The weighting for each sub-question will be indicated within brackets, as an
indication of the length of the answer expected.

Question construction
Three structured-essay questions will be set. Candidates have to answer one structured essay question which tests Objectives 1 and 2. Each structured-essay question comprises two sub-questions. The two sub-questions will test candidates’ ability to explain, analyse and make judgements on events and/or issues. Both sub-questions will be marked using the ‘Levels of Response Mark scheme (LORMs)’. Structured-essay questions will be set on all topics in the syllabus outline including the subject matter covered by the source-based topic.

Indus Valley Civilization

This video is about the Indus Valley Civilization.

Some of the text in the video may be hard to read. If you have difficulty reading it, you can pause the video.



Think about the following when watching:
Why did people of the Indus Valley value sanitation so much?
What caused the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization?


Hexolabs in India has produced a 3D animation of an ancient city in the Indus Valley:



What can you tell about life in the Indus Valley from this video?