Unit 1 Targets

At the end of Unit 1, you should be able to answer the following questions. Click on the coloured tabs to view the learning goals for each chapter.

At the end of Chapter 1, you should be able to answer the following questions.

  1. How can changing social structures change a society's worldview?
  2. What effect could a dramatic event have on the citizens of any society?
  3. How are people's attitudes and values shaped by the way a society is organized?
  4. What were the challenges to feudalism?


Lesson 1 is about a plague called the Black Death that occurred in Europe in the 14th century.

Below are the questions addressed in Lesson 1.

  • How did the Black Death devastate Europe?
  • What would the consequences be if such an event occurred in Canada?
Lesson 2 is about feudalism, the way society was organized.

The questions below are addressed in Lesson 2.

  • How was medieval country life organized?
  • How did life differ in towns?
  • Who held the ultimate power?
Lesson 3 is about how the system of feudalism was challenged.

The question addressed in Lesson 3 is below.

How did the following factors contribute to the end of feudalism?

  • Peasants' revolts
  • the Black Death
  • changes in society caused by increased population in towns
  • changing attitudes towards religion

At the end of Chapter 2, you should be able to answer the following questions.

  1. How would increased trade and business change a society's worldview?
  2. What factors influenced the increase of trade between Western Europe and the East during the Renaissance?
  3. How did increased trade lead to the emergence of powerful city-states?
  4. How did a changing business model affect society?


Lesson 1 is about the effect of geography on trade during the Renaissance.

Lesson 1 addresses the following questions.

  • Why did Europeans want to trade with the East?
  • What problems with trade were caused by geography?
  • How did the Crusades influence trade?
Lesson 2 is about the rise of the city-states in Italy.

The following questions are addressed in Lesson 2.

  • How did geography, climate, leadership, and social organizations contribute to the growth of city-states?
  • How did the city-states compete for trade?
Lesson 3 is about business models and their effect on increasing wealth during the Renaissance.

Lesson 3 addresses the following questions.

  • How did business models begin to change?
  • What was the effect of changes in business models on workers and owners?
  • How were many of the riches gained by ruling classes spent, and how did their wealth become the source of support for the arts?

At the end of Chapter 3, you should be able to answer the following questions.

  1. How could changing ideas change a society's worldview?
  2. Which traditional classical ideas helped form the Renaissance humanist worldview?
  3. How can thinkers and philosophers bring about change in society?
  4. What do the arts tell us about a society?


Lesson 1 is about the influence of classical ideas on the development of humanism.

The following questions are addressed in Lesson 1.

  • What was the classical concept of the dignity and potential of individual people in society?
  • How did that idea form the basis for humanism?
Lesson 2 is about how humanism affected people's lives.

Lesson 2 addresses the following question.

  • What did thinkers and philosophers do to bring about change?
Lesson 3 is about Renaissance art and applying critical thinking skills to your viewing of Renaissance art.

The following question is addressed in Lesson 3.

  • What does Renaissance art tell us about the beliefs and ideas during the time it was produced?

At the end of Chapter 4, you should be able to answer the following questions.

  1. How did the Renaissance start the exchange of ideas in Europe?
  2. How can scientific discoveries shape people's worldview?
  3. What role do leaders have in changing or maintaining worldview?
  4. How did changing leadership in the Catholic Church affect worldview?
  5. How do ideas and knowledge spread?


Lesson 1 is about the many significant advances in science and mathematics during the Renaissance as well as the new way of thinking about science.

Lesson 1 addresses the following question.

  • How did discoveries in science help shape a new worldview?
Lesson 2 is about various models of leadership that were written about and developed during the Renaissance.

Lesson 2 addresses the following question:.

  • What were the various models of political leadership?
Lesson 3 is about how changing ideas affected the power of the Catholic Church.

The following questions are addressed in Lesson 3.

  • What kinds of behaviour were producing dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church?
  • What did Savonarola do that affected the people's worldview and the power of the Catholic Church?
  • What did Martin Luther do that affected the people's worldview and the power of the Catholic Church?
Lesson 4 is about how the beliefs of humanism and the new worldview spread across Europe.

The following questions are addressed in Lesson 4.

  • Where did scholars share their ideas?
  • Who supported the work of scholars?
  • How did the invention of the printing press produce a huge change in the availability of books?
  • What was the effect of books written in the languages of people instead of only Greek or Latin?

At the end of Chapter 5, you should be able to answer the following questions.

  1. Why would a society decide to explore beyond its own borders?
  2. What elements of the worldview of Renaissance Europeans led to exploration and expansionism?
  3. How did the exchange of knowledge and technology make European exploration possible?
  4. How did the desire and means to explore promote an expansionist worldview?


Lesson 1 is about one of the reasons people were willing to undertake what everyone knew would be a dangerous trip.

The following questions are addressed in Lesson 1.

  • What part of the Renaissance worldview encouraged people to take on such a voyage?
  • Why did Europeans want to find a new route to the East?
Lesson 2 is about the other two main reasons people decided to explore far from home during the Renaissance.

The following questions are addressed in Lesson 2.

  • What other reasons led to the Age of Exploration?
  • What elements of Renaissance worldview made people feel they should go to other lands?
  • How did the Renaissance worldview affect relations between the Europeans and Muslims?
Lesson 3 is about how increased knowledge and technology supported the explorers in their explorations.

The following questions are addressed in Lesson 3.

  • Why did the explorers need new technology?
  • How did Prince Henry of Portugal support the development of knowledge needed for exploration?
  • What are some examples of new technology and ship design?
Lesson 4 is about how Europeans developed and expansionist worldview.

The following questions are addressed in Lesson 1.

  • What is an expansionist worldview?
  • Why were Europeans interested in expanding their power and territories?
  • How did Portugal become powerful?
Lesson 5 is about the Europeans setting their sights on the west.

The following questions are addressed in Lesson 5.

  • Why did Christopher Columbus decide to sail west instead of east? What was he looking for?
  • When Columbus landed, where did he think he was?
  • Where did other explorers go?
  • For what did the Europeans continue to search?

At the end of Chapter 6, you should be able to answer the following questions.

  1. How can expansion change worldviews?
  2. What does the Europeans' treatment of people with whom they came into contact reveal about their worldview?
  3. How did the Age of Exploration affect Europeans' lives and worldview?


Lesson 1 is about Francis Drake, a ship's captain, and various points of view about his voyages.

The following questions are addressed in Lesson 1.

  • Why is Francis Drake famous?
  • Why was Drake viewed so differently by Spain and by England?
Lesson 2 is about the attitude towards Indigenous people that many Europeans held.

Questions addressed in Lesson 2 are below.

  • What did the Europeans think about the Indigenous people they met?
  • What happened to millions of Indigenous people because of the way Europeans thought of them?
Lesson 3 is about how the Age of Expansion and rising imperialism changed the European worldview.

The following questions are addressed in Lesson 3.

  • What changes in the European worldview occurred because of imperialism?
  • How did patriotism develop?
In Lesson 4, you will learn about the continuing change in worldview that occurred then and continues to develop now.

The question addressed Lesson 4 is below.

  • In what ways did exploration and intercultural contact during the Renaissance affect the citizenship and identity of Europeans?