Trinity University
Digital Commons @ Trinity
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Early Civilizations: Create Your Own
Waynne Warren
LEE High School$4"7!'-!),#/-
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Stage 1 – Desired Results
WH.1A
WH.1B
WH.2A
WH.2B
WH.3A
WH.15A
WH.15B
WH.16A
WH.16B
WH.16C
WH.17A
WH.17B
WH.19B
WH.20A
WH.20B
WH.23A
WH.27A
WH.29C
WH.29F
WH.30A
WH.30C
Transfer
Students will independently use their learning to…
Create a new civilization by using the information they learned during our unit on ancient
civilizations.
Meaning
Understandings
Students will understand that….
Ancient discoveries can have
an impact on the present day.
Civilizations evolve slowly
over time.
Every civilization has varying
similarities and differences
with those that came before
and after.
Essential Questions
How does the past influence our lives today?
What makes a society important?
How are societies judged by history?
How do civilizations evolve?
Acquisition
Knowledge
Students will know…
The 8 features of a civilization
Pre-history
Neolithic Revolution
Mesopotamia, Egypt, India,
China, Persia, Greece, and Rome.
Geography
o Major landforms and
location
Religion
o Religious practices and
figures
Government
o Types, figures,
military, and law codes
Language/Writing
o Systems and types
Customs/traditions
o Art, architecture,
literature, clothing, etc.
Contributions
o Major inventions
Legacy
Skills
Students will be able to…
Read a map
Understand geographic terms
Analyze historical documents and images
Compare and Contrast historical events
o What are they known
for and what were the
biggest
accomplishments
Expansion
o Empire
Stage 2 – Evidence
CODE
(M or T)
Evaluative
Criteria
(for rubric)
T
M
See Rubric
Performance Task(s)
Students will demonstrate meaning-making and transfer by…
creating their own original, ideal, and new civilization using the information that we
have learned about the following: Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Persia, Greece,
and Rome. The students will have to include the name of their civilization, the natural
boundaries and territories, the government and laws, religions, language, arts,
literature, customs, and traditions, as well as contributions/inventions, expansion,
legacy, and the historical civilization their civilization is most similar to. This will
allow them to apply what they have learned and also relate it to the real world and to
history.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Evidence (e.g., formative)
Quizzes, Unit tests, writing samples, simulations, worksheets, class participation,
warm up checks, frequent quizzes, and discussion.
Stage 3 – Learning Plan
CODE
(A, M, T)
A
Pre-Assessment
How will you check students’ prior knowledge, skill levels, and potential misconceptions?
I will give a pre-assessment at the beginning of each section so that I can assess the student’s prior
knowledge.
A
A
Learning Activities
Day 1:
Warm-Up: What does pre-history mean to you?
Use the answers from this stimulus do begin a lecture on pre-history using
a Early Humans Power Point.
The students will end the lesson by looking at biographies of Lucy and
Louis and Mary Leakey.
Class Discussion
Grade Biographies
A
A
A
A
M
A
Day 2:
Warm-Up: Why was the discovery of Lucy important?
The students will practice with the information presented in the lecture by
doing a Pre-History Worksheet. The packet can be found here:
https://www.robeson.k12.nc.us/cms/lib/NC01000307/Centricity/Domain/
6421/Prehistory%20packet.pdf
Day 3:
Warm-Up: Quiz (Pre-history)
After the quiz, the students will take notes from a Neolithic Revolution
Power Point
Day 4:
Warm-Up: What does the Neolithic Revolution mean?
Discuss the warm-up with the class and then handout the Neolithic
Revolution Readings.
Day 5:
Warm-Up: Would you want to live during the Neolithic Period? Why or
why not?
After the warm-up, have the students watch Crash Course Agricultural
Revolution Video and Mankind: The Story of All of Us videos and have
the students answer the guiding questions. The Mankind questions come
from this website:
http://www2.newton.k12.ma.us/~chris_labrache/Early%20Humans%20U
nit
Day 6:
Warm-Up: What are 3 facts that stood out to you from the videos? Why
did they stand out?
After the warm-up, have the students do the Neolithic Revolution
Document Analysis Worksheet from this website:
http://www.spartan.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/World-Civilizations-
Sweeney.pdf
Day 7:
Warm-Up: Study for test
Neolithic Revolution Test
Day 8:
Warm-Up: What does civilization mean to you?
Use the warm-up question to foster discussion about what a civilization is
and then have the students take notes from a Mesopotamia Power Point.
The students will use a graphic organizer that compares Mesopotamia,
Egypt, India, and China. This will be used continuously throughout this
Grade Worksheet
Quiz
Class Discussion
Grade Readings
Grade Video Questions
Grade Document
Analysis
Test
Class Discussion
A
A
A
A/M
M
A
A
chapter.
Day 9:
Warm-Up: Would you want to live in Mesopotamia? Why or why not?
After the warm-up, show the students the “Mesopotamia From Nomad to
Farmers” and Crash Course Videos and have them answer the guiding
questions.
Day 10:
Warm-Up: What was life like in Mesopotamia?
After the warm-up, have the students do the worksheet on Mesopotamia
from this document: https://docplayer.net/20799563-Early-civilizations-
in-the-eastern-hemisphere-reading-study-guide.html.
Day 11:
Warm-Up: Quiz (Mesopotamia)
After the quiz, have the students take notes on the Hammurabi’s Code
Power Point.
Day 12:
Warm-Up: Is Hammurabi’s code fair? Why or why not?
Discuss the warm-up with the class and then have them Hammurabi’s
Code Worksheet. They will have to analyze what the laws were and at
the end they will create a few of their own laws based on Hammurabi’s
Code.
Day 13:
Warm-Up: Should we adopt Hammurabi’s Code today? Why or why
not?
After the warm-up, have the students do Hamumurabi’s Code Document
Analysis from the website: https://sheg.stanford.edu/history-
lessons/hammurabis-code. The students will have to analyze primary and
secondary sources about this code.
Day 14:
Warm-Up: Quiz (Hammurabi’s Code)
After the quiz, have the student take notes on the graphic organizer they
received at the beginning of the chapter on Egypt.
Day 15:
Warm-Up: Would you want to live in ancient Egypt? Why or Why not?
After the warm-up, have the students do the worksheet on Egypt from this
document: https://docplayer.net/20799563-Early-civilizations-in-the-
eastern-hemisphere-reading-study-guide.html and watch Crash Course
video with guiding questions.
Grade Video Questions
Grade Worksheet
Quiz
Class Discussion
Grade Worksheet
Grade Document
Analysis
Quiz
Class Discussion
Grade Worksheet and
Video Questions
M
M
A
A
A
A
Day 16:
Warm-Up: What about ancient Egypt did you find interesting?
After the warm-up, have the student do the “Stump the Audience” activity
from this website: https://egypt.mrdonn.org/stump-the-audience.html.
This activity will have the students create example and non-example
questions about Egypt and then try to stump their classmates.
Day 17:
Warm-Up: Were you ever stumped by your classmate? What were you
stumped by?
After the warm-up, have the student go the Pyramids Document Analysis
activity from this website: https://sheg.stanford.edu/history-
lessons/egyptian-pyramids. This will allow students to analyze
documents and answer the guiding question using the information the
found.
Day 18:
Warm-Up: Quiz (Egypt)
After the quiz, have the students take notes on the Indus River Valley
using their graphic organizer.
Day 19:
Warm-Up: Would you want to live in the Indus River Valley? Why or
why not?
After the warm-up, have the students do the worksheet on India from this
document: https://docplayer.net/20799563-Early-civilizations-in-the-
eastern-hemisphere-reading-study-guide.html and watch Crash Course
video with guiding questions.
Day 20:
Warm-Up: How is the Indus River Valley civilization different from
Egypt and Mesopotamia?
After the warm-up, have the students do a short quiz on the Indus River
Valley.
After the quiz, have the students take notes on China using the graphic
organizer on the River Valley Civilizations.
Day 21:
Warm-Up: Would you want to live in ancient China? Why or why not?
After the warm-up, have the students do the worksheet on China from this
document: https://docplayer.net/20799563-Early-civilizations-in-the-
eastern-hemisphere-reading-study-guide.html.
Day 22-23:
Grade Examples
Grade Document
Analysis
Quiz
Class Discussion
Grade Worksheet and
Video Questions
Quiz
Class Discussion and
Notes Check
Grade Worksheet
M
A
A
A
A
M
Warm-Up: How are the Indus River Valley and China different? How
are they similar?
After the warm-up, have the students do a short quiz over Ancient China.
When the quiz is over, the students should do the River Valley
Civilizations Document Analysis Worksheet. The documents can be
found here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Global-
Primary-Secondary-Sources-0224-9th-Gr-River-Valley-Civs-3102671.
This will allow the students to analyze documents based on all of the
civilizations we have talked about.
Day 24:
Warm-Up: Which civilization would you most want to live in? Why?
After the warm-up, have the students do the Ancient Civilizations Map
Activity. They will have to locate and draw the major civilizations and
landforms on a map. This is designed to be a review and to also have the
students see where each of these civilizations are in relation to each other
and in relation to major landforms.
Day 25:
Warm-Up: Study for Test
River Valley Civilizations Test
Day 26:
Warm-Up: Write everything you know about Ancient Greece.
Discuss the warm-up with the class and then have them take notes on
Ancient Greece using Cornell Notes.
Day 27:
Warm-Up: What are city-states?
After the warm-up, have the students do the Greek City States Mapping
Activity. This will lead to our discussion of Athens and Sparta and then
the Peloponnesian War.
Day 28:
Warm-Up: Finish Map Activity
Give the students 10 minutes to finish the map activity and then have the
students take notes Athens vs. Sparta using the graphic organizer
comparing the 2 city-states.
Day 29-30
Warm-Up: Which would you rather live in, Athens or Sparta? Why?
Discuss the warm-up with the class and then handout the Peloponnesian
War Writing and Document Analysis. The students will analyze
documents on the Peloponnesian wars and then will have to write an essay
Quiz
Grade Document
Analysis
Grade Map Activity
Test
Class Discussion
Grade Mapping Activity
Class Discussion and
Notes Check
Grade Document
Analysis
A
A
A
A
examining the causes and impact of the Peloponnesian War using the
documents in the activity.
Day 31:
Warm-Up: What was the impact of the Peloponnesian War?
After the warm-up, have the students do a short quiz on Athens and
Sparta.
After the quiz, the students will do the Golden Age of Greek Culture
gallery walk. Have descriptions of the ideas of Socrates, Plato and
Aristotle, and a description of the Parthenon. The students will use these
cards to fill in a chart on Greek Culture. This can also be done using a
textbook if you do not want to do the gallery walk.
Day 32:
Warm-Up: Finish the gallery walk/worksheet.
Give the students 10 minutes at the beginning of class to finish the work
from yesterday and then give the students a quiz on Greek culture.
After the quiz, have the students take notes on Persia using Cornell Notes.
A template for the notes is provided.
Day 33:
Warm-Up: Would you want to live in Persia? Why or why not?
After the warm-up, have the students do a worksheet on Cyrus, Zoroaster,
and Darius Bios Worksheets and then have them do the ancient Persia
webquest that is found at this website:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ancient-Persia-Webquest-
1937275. This is a web-quest to allow students to learn about ancient
Persia and explore the interactive website.
Day 34:
Warm-Up: Was Cyrus or Darius a better leader? Why?
After the warm-up, have the student do a quiz on Persia.
After the quiz, introduce the Persian Wars by having the students do the
Persian Wars Reading activity. The activity can be found at this website:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Greek-Persian-Wars-
Reading-Worksheet-and-Comic-Project-713639. The reading covers the
entire and major battles, including Darius first invasion and the Battle of
Marathon and continuing through the Battle of Thermopylae, Salamis,
and Platea. Other vocabulary terms and people covered include hoplites,
phalanx, the Ionian city-states, the Delian League, Themistocles,
Leonidas, Xerxes, and more.
Following the reading, students complete a worksheet on the key battles
of the wars and vocabulary.
Quiz
Grade Gallery Walk
Quiz
Class Discussion and
Notes Check
Grade Bios and
Webquest
Quiz
Grade Packet
A
A
M
A
A
Day 35:
Warm-Up: Would you ever want to run a marathon? Why or why not?
Use the warm-up to transition to the Battle of Marathon Video with
questions. This video chronicles the Battle of Marathon and shows its
importance in the Persian Wars.
Day 36:
Warm-Up: Why was the Battle of Marathon important?
After the warm-up, show the students a clip from the movie “300”. Using
this clip, introduce the Battle of Thermopylae. After the introduction,
have the students do the Battle of Thermopylae document analysis activity
from Reading like a historian. The activity can be found here:
https://sheg.stanford.edu/history-lessons/battle-thermopylae. This activity
makes the students analyze primary and secondary documents to answer
the questions of How many Persians were at the Battle of Thermopylae?
Day 37-38:
Warm-Up: Would you have stayed and fought at Thermopylae? Why or
why not?
After the warm-up, introduce the Persian Wars Comic Strip activity. The
activity can be found here:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Greek-Persian-Wars-
Reading-Worksheet-and-Comic-Project-713639. This download contains
an excellent project in which students create comic strips to tell the story
of the Persian Wars. Clear directions, a rubric, and comic template are
included for this. This is an excellent formative assessment tool for
students would could better demonstrate their understanding through
visuals.
Day 39:
Warm-Up: Study for Test
Persia and Greece Test.
Day 40:
Warm-Up: List everything you know about Ancient Rome.
Discuss what the students know about Rome and then have the students
take notes on Ancient Rome using Cornell Notes.
Day 41:
Warm-Up: Who was Hannibal and why is he important?
After the discussion of Hannibal, have the student watch the show 8 days
that changed Rome on Hannibal and the Punic Wars and answer guiding
questions . The video can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEno-M30bxc
Day 42-44:
Grade Video Questions
Grade Document
Analysis
Grade Comic Strip
Test
Class Discussion
Grade Video Questions
M
A
A/M
Warm-Up: Was Hannibal successful? Why or why not?
After the warm-up, divide the students into groups of 3. In these groups
they are going to be responsible for becoming an expert on either the
beginning or end of one of the Punic Wars. They will need to read a
summary about your war in your groups and answer the 5W and H
questions that go along with the reading. Once they have completed the
questions they will need to answer the prediction question.
Once the groups have completed their 5W +H questions and prediction,
they will need to create a poster about the war they will present to the
class. The poster must include the answers to the 5W + H questions, the
prediction, a map of Roman territory, and an illustration that represents
their war. The groups may set up the poster however they want as long as
it includes all of this information.
Once all of the posters are finished, the groups will do a gallery walk of
all of the posters and answer the questions for all of the aspects of the
Punic Wars. All of the questions and readings can be found in the packet
provided.
Day 45:
Warm-Up: What is the importance of the Punic Wars?
After the warm-up, give the students a quiz on the Punic Wars.
After the quiz, have the students use their textbook to do the Rome
Guided Reading and Map Activity. They will have to find information
about the main points in the chapter. This is another way to have the
students expand on the notes and give them a good base going into the
brochure project.
Day 46-50:
Warm-Up: What was the Pax Romana? Why is it important?
After the warm-up, introduce and begin the Rome Brochure. The students
will explore the significance of the Classical Civilization of Rome by
creating a historical brochure. The students must include all of the
information in the assignment sheet. This includes: a physical map of
Italy, Patrician, Plebians, Republic, Senate, Consuls, Tribunes, the
Twelves Tables, Carthage, Julius Caesar, Augustus Casear, Pax Romana,
Pax Romana Rulers, Colosseum, Jewish Diaspora, Christianity, Reason
for Fall of Rome.
There is a template for the brochure attached to this unit that the students
will use and an example of what it could look like.
Day 51:
Warm-Up: What could cause an empire to fail?
Grade Poster and
Gallery Walk Questions
Quiz
Grade Worksheet
Grade Brochure
A
A
T
Discuss the warm-up with the class and then use that to transition to the
Fall Of Rome Video with Questions. The link to the video is on the
worksheet.
Day 52-53
Warm-Up: What are 3 reasons the movie gave for why Rome fell?
Discuss the warm-up with the class and review the video from the day
before. After the video, the students will practice with information on the
fall of Rome by doing the Fall of Rome Worksheets.
The students will use their textbook to fill in a bubble chart on reasons for
decline of Rome and the achievements of the Roman Empire. They will
also do the worksheet from this website:
https://1.cdn.edl.io/b8QUFSuhVPOqlAS6yDmDNzrszWgkukTyZknMog
HuPORiBIIo.pdf.
Day 54:
Warm-Up: Study for Test
Rome Test
Day 55-65
Warm-Up: Introduce the Performance Task
The students will do the Performance Task Project. Use the assignment
sheet and Grading Rubric attached.
Grade Video Questions
Grade Worksheets
Test
Grade Performance
Task using Rubric
