Comparing and Contrasting Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia

SWBAT:

• Define a civilization and list its main characteristics
• Improve group work skills

Teacher will:

• Assess student understanding of civilizations by reading reflections handed in by students
• Assess student understanding by listening to responses given after activity

Comparing and Contrasting Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia

Lesson One: What is a civilization?

Learning Goals and Assessment Strategies

Group Work

Aim: What characteristics make up the foundation of a civilization?

Do Now: What are three things that make our community successful?

Class discussion on the main characteristics of a civilization

• Advanced cities
• Specialized workers
• Complex institutions
• Record keeping
• Advanced technology

Does our society fit the description of a civilization? How?

Group activity in which students create their own civilization based on a prompt and questions.

Presentations of these civilizations

• What did you think of this activity?
• Did our civilizations meet all of the requirements?
• Do you think our civilizations would be successful? Why or why not?

Activity

Primary Source Activity

• Students will read the primary source (from The History by Herodotus) and answer the following question
• What does this description suggest about the Egyptians' knowledge of the human body?

Lesson Two: Mesopotamia

Lesson Three: Ancient Egypt

Aim: In what ways does Mesopotamia fit the description of a civilization?

Do Now: If you were going to create your own civilization, what are five things you would include?

Lecture/discussion on Mesopotamia

Learning Goals and Assessment Strategies

Group Work

Aim: In what ways does Ancient Egypt fit the description of a civilization?

Do Now: Draw a picture that shows how being surrounded by deserts benefitted Ancient Egypt.

Nile River Video clip and accompanying worksheet

Lecture/Discussion on Ancient Egypt

Students will receive photos of Mesopotamian artifacts. They will analyze each artifact and attempt to determine:

• What the artifact was used for
• What it tells us about Mesopotamia
• Which characteristic of civilization it represents

Once they have made their guesses, they will confirm their answers at info stations around the classroom.

SWBAT:

• Analyze a primary source and come to conclusions regarding that source
• Improve group work skills

Teacher will:

• Assess analytical skills by observing results of the primary source activity

Learning Goals and Assessment Strategies

SWBAT:

• Make inferences through evaluation of a primary source
• Extract information from a media source

Teacher will:

• Assess student understanding by evaluating the worksheet completed in class
• Assess analytic skills by reading the primary source activity responses

Accommodations

• Seating near the front of the classroom/near the teacher
• Graphic organizers for all tasks
• Student aides
• Extra time on assignments
• Team teaching

Common Core

Lesson Four: Compare and Contrast

Activity

Aim: How do we prepare to write an essay comparing and contrasting Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia?

Do Now: Make a list of similarities and differences between apples and oranges

Collaborative creation of a venn diagram on the board

Discussion of the components of an essay

Students will complete a handout that helps them to properly outline an essay

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.3 Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.

Learning Goals and Assessment Strategies

Understandings

Students will understand…

• The importance of rivers to the early river valley civilizations

• Many of the innovations of these ancient civilizations set the foundation for our way of life today

• How ancient peoples adapted their surroundings to their benefit

• How to effectively compare and contrast two similar yet different entities

SWBAT:

• Complete an ouline of a compare and contrast essay
• Organize information in a coherent manner
• Make connections between differing cultures

Teacher will:

Assess student understanding by reading the compare and contrast map that students completed in class

Assess student understanding by observing responses given while creating an outline as a group

Content Knowledge

Students will know…

• The factors that contribute to the foundation of a civilization

• Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian vocabulary

• Geography of the Fertile Crescent

• How to make a venn diagram

• How to format a compare and contrast essay