Oxford Big Ideas Humanities 1 is based on a philosophy of big ideas, and relates concepts back to the big ideas underpinning History, Geography, Economics and Civics and Citizenship.

Title overview (PDF)

For more information on Oxford Big Ideas titles visit www.oxfordbigideas.com

Part 1: History: Civilisations and societies
1. History skills – How do we process information?
2. Ancient Egypt – How do civilisations develop?
3. Ancient Greece – How do civilisations influence one another?
4. Ancient Rome – Why do civilisations rise and fall?
5. Ancient China – How do civilisations compare?

Part 2: Geography: Sustainability and Diversity
6. Geospatial skills – How do we enquire about the world?
7. Australian environments – Why do environments change?
8. Water – How do we sustain resources?
9. Endangered species – Why is diversity under threat?

Part 3: Economics: Sustainability and Diversity
10. Economics and business – How does an economy work?

Part 4: Civics and Citizenship: Civilisations and societies
11. Citizenship and Australia’s political system – How does a society work?

Over the last ten years Maggy Saldais has been actively involved in a range of education publishing programs and is also completing her first novel.

Mark Easton is a full-time teacher and Head of Humanities at Saint Margaret’s School in Berwick. He has taught Geography, History and English for over twenty years and over the last decade has contributed to many school textbooks and atlases and has also written a novel, Kazim the Great.

A recent review of Oxford Big Ideas Humanities 1 published in the History Teachers’ Association of Victoria’s journal, Agora, vol 44, no. 4, 2009, p.73.

Oxford Big Ideas: Humanities One
By Maggy Saldais, Mark Easton and Angelo Calandra
Oxford University Press 2008

This offering in the Big Ideas series is aimed mainly at Year 7 and 8 students and offers coverage of Humanities Level 5 outcomes in VELS. The content of the textbook deliberately imbeds the VELS domains, which we all now know so well. The Big Ideas framework basically involves the processes of understanding, connecting and transferring; all of these are covered within the four main parts of the text, History, Geography, Economics and Civics and Citizenship. Engaging the student is a main focus of this book and in this regard it certainly does not disappoint.

The accompanying teacher CD (in the front cover) includes editable question blocks and enhanced search tools. It features, in a visually appealing way, advice on framing key questions and teaching relevant skills for all of the subject areas covered. It also explains how to use the book.

This comprehensive textbook includes the ancient civilisations of Greece, Egypt, Rome and China. Each double-page spread has a wealth of activities and focuses on skills outlined at the beginning of the book. Skills such as opinion formation, evidence evaluation and such like are covered in great detail. As we all know, no budding young historian can develop these abilities too early!

Big Ideas: Humanities One contains many useful features on a wide range of visual sources. It has checklists at the end of each section as well as weblinks and well-framed inquiry tasks that are linked to key themes in the VELS; this makes it readily accessible for student use. At the end of each section the reader is invited to Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyse, Create and Evaluate. The connecting ideas window links the area concerned with current ideas and societies. Another useful aspect is the use of unusual primary source material featured throughout. This, combined with the excellent visuals, is sure to fire up any young historian’s imagination and interest. Other areas covered include Geo-spatial skills, Water, Endangered species, Australian environments and Australia’s political system. A terrific and comprehensive glossary rounds off the book.

This textbook has many direct applications in the junior level curriculum as a stand-alone text which covers most aspects of VELS. Considering the tight budgets of most schools, you could use the book to teach more than one year level and area of study – a winner there. Overall, this is a great addition to the pool of humanities textbooks, one that will be used by this author!

Reviewed by Paul Gibbons, Irymple Secondary College

Part 1: History
1.0 History skills: How do we process information?
Worksheet 1.1 - Evidence of the 2008 Olympic Games
Worksheet 1.2 - Old, old artefacts

2.0 Ancient Egypt: How do civilisations develop?
Worksheet 2.1 - Ancient Egypt Map
Worksheet 2.2 - Farm like an Egyptian
Worksheet 2.3 - Look cool
Worksheet 2.4 - Make a mummy
Worksheet 2.5 - Make papyrus

3.0 Ancient Greece: How do civilisations influence one another?
Worksheet 3.1 - Analyse maps
Worksheet 3.2 - A long road to equality
Worksheet 3.3 - Design an ancient Greek temple
Worksheet 3.4 - Design a mask for an ancient Greek play
Worksheet 3.5 - Create a sport for the anicent Greek olympics

4.0 Ancient Rome: Why do civilisations rise and fall?
Worksheet 4.1 - Sourcing Gladiator
Worksheet 4.2 - Create a mosaic

5.0 Ancient China: How do civilisations compare?
Worksheet 5.1 - The Silk Road
Worksheet 5.2 - Make and use an abacus

Part 2: Geography
6.0 Geospatial skills: How do we enquire about the world?
Worksheet 6.1 - Design a theme park
Worksheet 6.2 - Using grids to make objects smaller and larger
Worksheet 6.3 - Using scale for an athletics track
Worksheet 6.4 - Making a contour map using a clay model

7.0 Australian environments: Why do environments change?
Worksheet 7.1 - Australia's islands and territories
Worksheet 7.2 - Coastal erosion
Worksheet 7.3 - World Heritage

8.0 Water: How do we sustain resources?
Worksheet 8.1 - Interpreting climate graphs
Worksheet 8.2 - Surveying water use
Worksheet 8.3 - Our driest big city

9.0 Endangered species: Why is diversity under threat?
Worksheet 9.1 - The red list
Worksheet 9.2 - Gorillas in the mist
Worksheet 9.3 - Zoo fieldwork

Part 3: Economics
10.0 Economics
Worksheet 10.1 - Needs or wants?
Worksheet 10.2 - Types of businesses
Worksheet 10.3 - Ethical practice

Part 4: Civics and Citizenship
11.0 Citizenship and Australia's political system
Worksheet 11.1 - Different levels of government
Worksheet 11.2 - The suffragettes
Worksheet 11.3 - Preferential and proportional voting

Chapter 2: Ancient Egypt
Chapter 8: Water