At my school, world history is divided into two years: one year of ancient (up to 1600) and one year of modern (picks up with European absolutism and revolution). I’m proud of the way our curriculum transitions between the two. The last quarter of the ancient course deals with European’s Renaissance and Reformation, setting the stage for the modern course. The course starts to become more conceptual, introducing economic innovations such as the joint stock company. This activity is a class-long simulation of how a joint stock company works, and it illustrates investing principles such as portfolio diversification to boot.