Cause and Effect Relationshipsand American Civilizations

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdPDn1KUz_A&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1

What are Cause and Effect Relationships?• Cause and effect relationships reflect the connections between one

event and another.

• Purpose: Explain why or how something happened/happens

• Cause = Why something happened/What made it happen

• Effect = What happened as a result of cause

Why do we use Cause and Effect statements?

• Identifying and understanding c/e relationships is crucial to the study of history!

• One of the reasons we study history is to understand why events took place and what effects they had on other events

How can you recognize Cause/Effect statements?

Signal Words or Phrases Within Text

Because Leads to On account of

So Consequently Outcome

Therefore When/if – then Effects of

As a result Reasons for Impact

Since Thus Influenced by

In order to Due to

Is caused by For this reason

Wisdom: Application

Cause: As a result of

getting up late this

morning…

Effect: …I was late for

school.

Cause: Early civilizations

needed permanent water

supplies for farming,

trading, and cities

Effect: …as a result all

early civilizations

developed along lakes,

rivers and coastal areas.

Wisdom: Extending the cause /effect relationship…

Cause

Because I got up

late this

morning…

Effect/Cause

…I was late to

school and

because I was

late to school…

Effect

…I had to get a

tardy pass from

the office.

Early cultures

had nature based

belief systems

(animism)…

…therefore their

geographical location

greatly influenced their

spirituality…

… those living near

mountains and volcanoes

had great reverence for

these geographical

features; similarily, a lion

was a powerful spirit in

Africa while a walrus had

great significance in

Alaska.

American Civilizations

• Maya

• Aztec

• Inca

Cause/Effect: American Civilizations

• How did the first people arrive in the Americas?

Cause Effect

Hunters followed herds of

bison and mammoths across

the Bering land bridge…

Leading to the gradual

population of North America,

Central America, and South

America.

As they populated the new

regions, the first Americans

adapted to a variety of new

environments…

Eventually learning to

domesticate plants and

animals.

With the ability to cultivate

crops and raise animals…

People began settling into

villages and cities and

populations expanded.

Maya• How did powerful city-states rise

and fall in Mayan civilization?

Cause Effect

The Maya developed advanced

farming techniques in which they

burned down forests and cleared

the land in order to plant on it…

These techniques allowed the

Maya to grow enough food to

support booming populations.

As the population of the Mayan

city-states continued to grow, more

forests were cleared for farming…

With more forests cleared for

farming, the Maya experienced

drought, erosion, and soil

depletion.

Drought led to crop failure, and

the Maya were faced with a

difficult choice: leave, or face

starvation…

The Maya were forced to abandon

their cities in the lowlands and live

in small farming villages.

Relevance: Deforestation today

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x58Ypfzi0w

Aztecs: How did the Aztec empire gain its wealth and power?

Cause Effect

Bands of nomadic people

migrated into the central Mexico,

where (legend has it) they were

searching for a place to build a

city based on a sign from their

gods…

As a result, they built their

capital city, Tenochitlan, on a

swampy island in Lake Texcoco.

The Aztecs quickly outgrew their

island and surrounding areas…

Leading them to expand their

territory through war

As the Aztecs expanded their

territory and power through war,

they needed more wealth to

support their capital…

Therefore, the Aztecs took

tribute, or payment from

conquered peoples, in order to

turn their capital into a

magnificent city.

Relevance: Drug cartel kidnappings and extortion• http://world.time.com/2014/01/

17/mexico-drug-war-kidnapping/

Inca Civilization

• How did the Sapa Inca (Incan emperor) maintain such a large and efficient empire?

Cause Effect

The dynastic leader of a small

Andean kingdom built up a large

army…

Allowing him to expand his territory

and create an empire, proclaim

himself “Sapa Inca”, and lay claim

over everything within the new

empire.

By laying claim over everything

within the new empire and stripping

the people of all personal property…

The Sapa Inca cut out demand for

barter and sale, and instead kept the

people fed and public works projects

staffed by enforcing a labor tax.

The labor tax allowed the Sapa Inca

to assign jobs to each family and

organize the community to work the

land…

Which allowed him to maintain

control over every aspect of the

peoples’ lives, all while maintaining a

large, efficient empire.

Relevance: North Korea job assignments

Wisdom: Creating Relevant and Complex C/E Example

• World- Climate change creates severe weather patterns such as drought.

• National- Drought conditions throughout the US resulted in lower corn and wheat production.

• State- The majority of food consumed in Alaska is imported and shortages of wheat and corn will make food prices rise.

• Local/community- Combined with high energy costs, increased food costs will lead to less spending on leisure and recreational products.

• Personal- As a consequence of having less expendable assets, I am choosing not to go to Anchorage this weekend.

Relevant/Complex C/E Statements

Cause Effect (Remember the effect becomes the cause at the next level, change

the vocabulary)

World:

National

State

Local

Personal

Cause/Effect Assignment

•On a blank sheet of paper, create a relevant/ complexcause/effect statement about prehistory and/or early civilizations with a classmate.

Cause Effect (Remember the effect becomes the cause at the

next level, change the vocabulary)

World:

National

State

Local

Personal