Oklahoma Social Studies AWH.C.9.4
The Standard
Describe the impact and legacy of Islam and the Islamic empire, including discoveries in science and mathematics, the spread of Islam in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies (2026)
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students trace how Islam spread from Arabia into the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Europe through conquest and trade. They explain how scholars in Islamic societies advanced algebra and the study of light.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can mark routes into North Africa, East Africa, and Iberia on a map and explain how Islam spread along them. They can connect al-Khwarizmi's work on algebra and Ibn al-Haytham's work on light to math and science used later.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think everyone converted as soon as Muslim armies arrived, or that Islam spread only by force. Some assume Muslim rule covered all of Europe or that one scholar invented modern algebra.
How to Assess It
- On a blank map, have students trace a conquest route through North Africa to Iberia and a trade route to East Africa. Ask them to name one advance in algebra or optics and explain a lasting use.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a blank map and place cards for Arabia, North Africa, East Africa, and Iberia; have them draw conquest and trade routes.
Ask students to write: How could trade along the East African coast spread Islam differently from conquest in Iberia?
Have students match printed cards for al-Khwarizmi, algebra, Ibn al-Haytham, optics, and a modern use of each field.
Pose this problem: Three notebooks plus $4 shipping cost $19. Solve for one notebook, then connect your method to al-Khwarizmi's work.
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