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Collapse: Readings

Ninth grade social studies learners investigate Jared Diamond's hypothesis that societies choose to fail or succeed, as delineated in his 2005 book, Collapse: How societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.

Research questions

Note: Not all questions are relevant to all societies, but consider each element!
Environment:
  • Where was your society based? 
  • What about their location constrained them?
  • What about their location allowed them to flourish?
  • What caused changes in geography?
Economy
  • What drove the economy? 
  • What resources were relied upon for trade?
  • What resources were relied upon for self-sufficiency?
  • What changes in geography might have influenced economy?
Political
  • Who were your neighbors (if any)?
  • How did you get along with them? 
  • Did you compete with your neighbors? If so, for what?
  • How did internal issues impact your civilization’s stability? 
Social
  • How did people rely on one another and work together? 
  • How did the structure of society reflect its use of resources?
  • What influenced the organizational structures of society? 
  • Did the social structure of society influence its endurance/collapse? 

test

Readings

Diamond, Jared. "Why Do Societies Collapse?" Technology, Engineering , and Design, Feb. 2003, www.ted.com/talks/jared_diamond_on_why_societies_collapse?language=en&utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare. 

Diamond, Jared. "The Ends of the World as We Know Them." New York Times, 01 Jan. 2005, p. 1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers, search.proquest.com/docview/92909296?accountid=4973.

Peterson, Larry C., and Gerald H. Haug. "Climate And The Collapse Of Maya Civilization." American Scientist, vol. 93, no. 4, July/Aug. 2005, pp. 322-329. Academic Search Premier, drive.google.com/file/d/0B5EY_6wgXBGXdDdON2paSFZDVzBpSWxCQk9wdXRVcWpBUUI4/view?usp=sharing.

Diamond, Jared. "Prologue: A Tale of Two Farms." Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Penguin, 2005, pp.1-15.

 

Civilization Pages
Anasazi 136-156
Australia  
Easter Island  
Greenland Norse 180, 192-193, 210, 212-223, 227-236, 239-255, 264-276, 437 (53 pages)
Haiti/Dominican Republic  
Maya  
New Guinea  
Pitcairn/Henderson/Mangareva  
Rwanda  
Tokugawa Shogunate