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5381625-4254500AP Human Geography* Summer Reading Assignment 2015-2016Book Title: An Edible History of Humanity Author: Tom StandageCost: $13.89 on Book Description (from ):“Throughout history, food has done more than simply provide sustenance. It has acted as a tool of social transformation, political organization, geopolitical competition, industrial development, military conflict and economic expansion.?An Edible History of Humanity?is an account of how food has helped to shape and transform societies around the world, from the emergence of farming in China by 7,500 BCE to today’s use of sugar cane and corn to make ethanol.”*NOTE: This assignment is for both APHG only and APHG / APES Combo students.Assignment: Read the entire book.Part 1: Written ResponseChoose three chapters from the book to focus on. Answer the questions below (for those chosen chapters) in a hand-written, (ink only) thorough response. Each question should be responded to in about 1-2 paragraphs and should indicate an understanding of the concepts and examples cited by the author in the book. Remember to use parenthetical citations if you take examples or ideas from the book. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE!! Any copying from online book reviews, other Internet sites, or from fellow students without proper citation will result in a zero for the assignment.Questions to Answer: Chapter 1: The Invention of FarmingFarming emerged from what places and time periods to spread throughout the world to become mankind’s chief means of food production? Why did domestication make wheat and rice more dependent on human intervention? Wheat and barley came from? Rice and millet came from? Maize came from? Give an example of how food was incorporated into one of the creation myths around the world.Chapter 2: The Roots of Modernity Give three reasons why the adoption of farming was “the worst mistake in the history of the human race.” What were some of the elements that contributed to the evolution of sedentism and farming? How did farming and domestication spread almost everywhere across the world?Why is farming and domestication “profoundly unnatural”? Chapter 3: Food, Wealth, and Power How long did it take for complex societies to emerge in Mesopotamia? In China and the Americas? The structure of hunter-gatherer societies was chiefly determined by the nature of the food supply and different from that of modern societies. Give some examples. Describe two theories of how the “big men” developed into chiefs, kings, or the ruling elite. What is some of the archaeological evidence that shows how the process of social stratification may have worked and why? Chapter 4: Follow the Food Why did the Incas closely link agriculture to warfare? Give some examples of how food and/or labor were used as currency for financial and social obligations. How did the farmers, their rulers, and the gods all depend upon each other for their survival? Explain how wealth and poverty seemed to be inevitable consequences of agriculture and civilization. Chapter 5: Splinters of Paradise Why were people willing to pay such high prices for spices? What things in addition to food and spices were exchanged along trade routes? What was the “Muslim Curtain”? What was the connection between the spice trade and the plague? Chapter 6: Seeds of Empire Who was Paolo Toscanelli and what did he believe? Explain the connection between Columbus and the search for spices. What foodstuffs did the Americas provide to the rest of the world? Why is the legacy of the spice trade mixed? Chapter 7: New World, New Foods How did the exchange and redistribution of food crops remake the world, especially around the Atlantic Ocean? What did Adam Smith, the Scottish economist, say about the potato in his book The Wealth of Nations? What were two new agricultural techniques that allowed European farmers to have more productive fields of crops? What was Thomas Malthus’ theory on the connection between the population and food supply? Chapter 8: The Steam Engine and the Potato How did Great Britain become the first industrialized country in the world? What was the impact of the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840’s? What is the connection between “free trade” and the repeal of the Corn Laws in Britain? Compare the Neolithic revolution to the Industrial Revolution in 18th and 19th century Britain. Chapter 9: The Fuel of War Why was food literally the fuel of war? Explain the changes and the effects made by Philip II and Alexander the Great that enabled them to create the fastest, lightest, and most agile armies. How could food be used both offensively (as a weapon) and defensively? Discuss Nicolas Appert’s discovery. How did this process change the food supplies of the military and civilian populations? Chapter 10: Food Fight The Cold War was fought between whom and with what? What were the components of Mao Zedong’s “Great Leap Forward”? What was the goal? What were the results?Explain Russian Yegor Gaidar’s point of view that “the regime disintegrated in large part because it could not feed its people.” Explain how the purchasing of food in this contemporary world can have both commercial and political implications. Chapter 11: Feeding the World What is the “Green Revolution”? What are its plusses and minuses? What problems developed as a result of the increase in population in the latter half of the 19th century? How did war highlight the way chemicals, like ammonia, could be used to sustain life or destroy it? In the late 1960’s, how did technology disprove “Malthusian” predictions? Chapter 12: Paradoxes of the Future Explain and give examples of the connection between agricultural production and industrialization in developing areas. Discuss the various factors that influence population growth. Why did food prices rise sharply in 2007 and 2008? What are the parts of the second “Green Revolution” or the “doubly green revolution”?Part II: Annotated MapsYou must create a collection of maps (6) to illustrate regions of the world and key foods discussed in the book. Each regional map should include all of the following:TitleLabeled Physical Features (see next page)Include at least 5 “annotations” on each map (i.e.-notes to explain significant events, impacts on the world in terms of society, politics, economy, culture, environment, etc). Include dates!Example: 1493 – Columbus brings sugarcane to Hispaniola, locals immediately made to work as slaves (die from diseases); by 17th C. Atlantic Slave Trade begins (Standage, 113-114).Include a legend with food item(s), hearth (place of origination), places spread / diffused to, etc.Maps should be colorful and neat. You may include symbols or illustrations. Be creative!You may hand-draw your maps or create them digitally. Templates are available on school website: should be presented on 8.5 x 11 paper—one regional map per page.Map #Region of the World (1 per 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper)Physical Features to Label1Southwest AsiaTigris River Arabian Sea Black SeaEuphrates River Empty Quarter Persian GulfFertile Crescent Plateau of Iran Red SeaZagros Mountains Caspian Sea2AfricaNile River Sahara Desert Orange RiverMediterranean Sea Zambezi River Red SeaSinai Peninsula Lake Victoria SahelKalahari Desert Atlas Mountains Congo RiverEthiopian Highlands Namib Desert3South Asia Ganges River Indus River HimalayasIndo-Gangetic Plain Indian Ocean Hindu KushDeccan Plateau Bay of Bengal4East and Southeast AsiaYangtze River Tibetan Plateau Xi RiverSouth China Sea Pacific Ocean Gobi DesertMekong River East China Sea Huang He (Yellow) River 5Latin America (Central and South America)Amazon River Yucatan Peninsula Rio GrandeSierra Madres Moun. Gulf of Mexico The PampasAndes Mountains Atlantic Ocean Pacific OceanCaribbean Sea Isthmus of Panama6EuropeMediterranean Sea Alps Ural MountainsPyrenees Apennines Black SeaCarpathian Moun. Danube River Rhine RiverEnglish Channel Pindus Mountains Baltic SeaNorth Sea Atlantic OceanWritten Responses and maps should be bound together in a portfolio/report cover with an illustrated cover sheet. Remember the questions should not be typed and all outside information and pictures must be cited. The portfolio is to be turned in on the first day of class.Adapted from: and Summer Reading Assignment Rubric Name: _________________________________An Edible History of HumanityAssignment ElementPoints Earned (/Pts. Possible)CommentsWritten Responses (12 total), including:Hand-written (ink only), at least 1-2 paragraphs for each question’s responseAll questions answered correctly, with examplesCorrect parenthetical citations (no plagiarism) /48Annotated Maps134175561468000Each map should be your original work, colored on 8.5 x 11 paper and must include: -Correct labeling of political / physical features -Food at hearths with arrows to show diffusion -5 annotations -Correct citations -Dates and impacts of significant events -A legend -A titleMap #1: “Southwest Asia”/8Map #2: “Africa”/8Map #3: “South Asia”/8Map #4: “East and Southeast Asia”/8Map #5: “Latin America”/8Map #6: “Europe”/8Neatness -Bound -Legible; no pencil -Illustrated cover sheet -Maps neat in appearance/4TOTAL:/100 ................
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