SKILLBUILDERHANDBOOKR21
2.13 Synthesizing
SYNTHESIZINGis the skill historians use in developing interpretations of the past.
Like detective work, synthesizing involves putting together clues, information, and
ideas to form an overall picture of a historical event. A synthesis is often stated as a
generalization, or broad summary statement.Understanding the Skill
STRATEGY: BUILD AN INTERPRETATION AS YOU READ. The passage below describes
the first settlement of the Americas. The highlighting indicates the different kinds of
information that lead to a synthesis—an overall picture of Native American life.STRATEGY: MAKE A CLUSTER DIAGRAM.
Applying the Skill
MAKE YOUR OWN CLUSTER DIAGRAM. In Chapter 17 on pages 488–489, the
beginnings of the Protestant Reformation are discussed. Read the passage and
look for information to support a synthesis about its fundamental causes. Summarize
your synthesis in a cluster diagram.Section 2: Higher-Order Critical Thinking
Read carefully to understand
the facts. Facts such as these
enable you to base your interpre-
tations on physical evidence.Look for explanations that link
the facts together.This state-
ment is based on the evidence
provided by baskets, bows and
arrows, and nets, which are men-
tioned in the sentences that follow.Consider what you already
know that could apply. Your
general knowledge will probably
lead you to accept this statement
as reasonable.Bring together the informa-
tion you have about a subject.
This interpretation brings together
different kinds of information to
arrive at a new understanding of
the subject.4
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Summarize your synthesis in
a cluster diagram. Use a clus-
ter diagram to organize the facts,
opinions, examples, and interpre-
tations that you have brought
together to form a synthesis.The First Americans
From the discovery of chiseled arrowheads and charred bones at ancient sites, it appears that
the earliest Americans lived as big game hunters. The woolly mammoth, their largest prey, provided
them with food, clothing, and bones for constructing tools and shelters. People gradually shifted to
hunting small game and gathering available plants. They created baskets to collect nuts, wild rice,
chokeberries, gooseberries, and currants. Later they invented bows and arrows to hunt small game
such as jackrabbits and deer. They wove nets to fish the streams and lakes.
Between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago, a revolution took place in what is now central Mexico.
People began to raise plants as food. Maize may have been the first domesticated plant, with pumpkins,
peppers, beans, and potatoes following. Agriculture spread to other regions.
The rise of agriculture brought about tremendous changes to the Americas. Agriculture made
it possible for people to remain in one place. It also enabled them to accumulate and store surplus
food. As their surplus increased, people had the time to develop skills and more complex ideas
about the world. From this agricultural base rose larger, more stable societies and increasingly
complex societies.2
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earliest Americans big game huntersshifted to hunting/gathering agriculture began in Mexico agriculture spreadagriculture allowed people to
settle, develop new skills and ideasSynthesis: The shift from hunting and gathering
to agriculture allowed for the development of
more complex societies in the Americas.