Weekly Updates    All Materials for this week can be found under the Unit #2 Tab
Lesson Plans for the Week of September 30, 2024 to October 4, 2024
Monday, September 30, 2024               Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Big Bang, The Big Bang Video Questions, & Threshold 1: The Big Bang Foldable                                                                     Mini-Project​
Tuesday, October 1, 2024                     The Big Bang Infographic Poster Project
Wednesday, October 2, 2024                Agriculture Outreach Lesson: Plant & Soil Interaction
Thursday, October 3, 2024                    No School (Fall Holiday)
Friday, October 4, 2024                         Project Work Day

What to Expect this Year

Dear EMS Parents & Scholars,
​
We would like to welcome you and your scholars to Edison Middle School and the Big History Project.  This year we will be taking an exciting 13.8 billion year journey that will explore the furthest reaches of the past, while helping to explain how we have arrived at where we are at today, and hopefully, give us a glimpse of what the future may hold.

Traditional history courses tend to rely on only telling the story since humans began walking the Earth.  Big History on the other hand, weaves together our collective understanding of the entire history of the universe to give us a more robust and vivid understanding of “WHY” the present is the way it is.  Moreover, the critical thinking skills and content that you gain throughout this course, will provide you with the tools to help you analyze, question, and shape the future into one that is equally beneficial to all lifeforms that inhabit our planet, our solar system, and the universe.

Big History is truly interdisciplinary in nature.  We will rely upon the most up to date evidence from disciplines such as astronomy, anthropology, chemistry, astrophysics, cosmology, geology, and of course history, to put together a modern-day origin story that helps to explain our 13.8 billion years of shared history. 

Again, welcome to Edison and the Big History Project.  This is going to be a fantastic and exciting year.

Sincerely,

Mr. Cain

Course Timeline


Unit #1          What is Big History?
Unit #2          The Big Bang
Unit #3          Stars & Elements
Unit #4          Our Solar System & Earth
Unit #5          Life
Unit #6          Early Humans
Unit #7          Agriculture & Civilization
Unit #8          Expansion & Interconnection
Unit #9          Acceleration
Unit #10        The Future
Big History in the News
Big History Resources

Classroom News

August
Hello, and welcome to the start of another wonderful school year. I hope that you and your students will have an enjoyable and productive year. We have many exciting projects and units of study planned for this year, and I am very excited to get to know each of your students. One of the first sets of projects revolves around the students developing an essay and timeline that recounts their own personal histories. Along with this project, I am also asking parents/guardians to also complete a short homework assignment in which they will also describe their students in detail. Below are links to both of these assignments if you would prefer to get a head start on them.  Again, I would like to welcome you to the start of the 2023-2024 school year, and if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me anytime at [email protected]. 
My Background

 I graduated from the University of Illinois in 1999 with a B.A. in History, and received my teaching certificate from Illinois State University in 2001. I have taught in Unit #4 schools for 23 years, and currently teach 6th grade social studies at Edison Middle School, serve as the Social Studies Building Leader, the co-coach of Edison's Scholastic Bowl Team, the sponsor of Edison's History Club, and the sponsor of Edison's National Junior Honor Society.  I am currently pursuing a masters degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Illinois at Springfield.