1. Topic-
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| Mesopotamia: The Bedrock of Civilization |
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2. Content-
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For the first lesson (day) of this unit, students will be given
a rough overview of Mesopotamia including it's basic geography, the
daily lives of it's inhabitants, and the region's overall importance
in the greater context of developing civilizations. The opening portion
of the lesson will expose students to a map of the area, pointing
out the locations of major cities and geographic features of the region,
emphasizing it's ideal location between two major rivers (Tigris and
Euphrates) and how this accommodated their daily lifestyles. The second
portion of class will delve more deeply into the daily lives of the
people of Mesopotamia- emphasizing their mastery of the environment
for survival using farming, irrigation, hunting, and other skills.
Finally, the class will wrap up the lesson by considering more broadly
how this early civilization laid the groundwork for all future civilizations
with their breakthroughs in city building, government, and farming.
The goal of this initial lesson is to provide students with a rough
overview of the unit and the topics that will be explored in greater
detail in weeks to come.
Lesson Vocabulary: trade, marketplace, irrigation, Tigris River, Euphrates
River, civilization, city-state, Summer, The Fertile Crescent
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3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-
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1. Students will identify the basic geography of Mesopotamia from
it's major rivers, city-states, and geographic features.
2. Students will consider the daily lives of Mesopotamians involving
their use of farming, irrigation, and hunting as a means of survival.
3.Students will recognize the importance of Mesopotamia in laying
the foundation for all future civilizations with their breakthroughs
in city building, agriculture, and irrigation. |
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4. Objectives-
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Students will complete a bell ringer question asking them consider
where the first civilization was and how it's inhabitants lived.
Students will work in groups to fill in and color a blank map of Mesopotamia
using terms provided in a word bank related to city-states, rivers,
and geographic features of the region. Questions at the bottom of
this worksheet will test students comprehension of vocabulary presented
in the PowerPoint.
Students will participate in a closing discussion of how the farming
practices and general organization of Mesopotamia provided a blueprint
for future civilizations to copy and follow. Students will relate
our own civilization to Mesopotamia and demonstrate how their technology
and lifestyles have influenced us. |
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5. Materials and Aids-
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| Mesopotamia: The Bedrock of Civilization PowerPoint |
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6. Procedures/Methods-
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A. Introduction-
-Bell Ringer: Respond to the question in a couple sentences,"Where
was the world's first civilization and how did it's people live"�
-I will ask several volunteers to share their answers with the class.
-I will allow the class to briefly respond to eachother's responses
and then introduce Mesopotamia as the site of the world's first civilization
and transition into the PowerPoint. presentation, |
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B. Development-
| Next, the PowerPoint. presentation will be used to introduce the
basic geography of Mesopotamia using a simple map with terms for rivers,
cities, and the geographic differences between Northern and Southern
Mesopotamia. The next slides refer to the basic lifestyles of Mesopotamians
emphasizing how they utilized the river for water supply, the nearby
fertile soil for agriculture, and the plentiful wildlife and vegetation
for their food supply. The last couple slides deal with the many breakthroughs
of Mesopotamian society such as their irrigation techniques, pottery,
farming practices, and city organization that have influenced all
civilizations that followed. |
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C. Practice-
To test their comprehension of the geography of the region, students
will work together in groups of 4 to 5 to fill out, decorate, and
color a blank map of Mesopotamia using terms provided in a word bank. |
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D. Independent Practice-
| Following the group exercise, students will work independently on
a worksheet testing their comprehension of the daily lifestyles of
Mesopotamians, key vocabulary, and other material presented in the
PowerPoint. |
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E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-
Special needs students will receive a simplified version of the
map (already filled out).
Gifted students will not have a word bank on their maps. |
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Closure-
Once everyone has completed and turned in their maps and worksheets,
I will end class with a discussion of why Mesopotamia was so crucial
to the development of civilizations in general. Students will be asked
to share what elements of their daily life originated in Mesopotamia.
For instance, we might compare their marketplaces to our modern day
shopping malls and grocery stores, their crude irrigation techniques
to our modern damns, or even their pottery to our own.
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