DP unit planner
Unit Title
Emergence of Civilization
Teacher(s)
Subject and Grade Level
Time frame and Duration
K. Bennett
World History 11th grade
3 weeks
Stage I: Integrate significant concept, area of interaction and unit
question, and ensure it can be assessed.
Area of Interaction Focus
Which AoI will be your focus? Why have you
chosen this
Human ingenuity
Significant Concept(s)
 Why and how do we create?
What are the big ideas? What do I want my
students to retain for years into the future?
 What are the consequences?
1.
2.
3.
4.
How might three (world, interregional, and regional)
perspectives of world events help us better
understand the past?
What role did geography play in the development of
early civilizations?
How did classical civilizations expand regional
interactions and networks?
Why did some belief systems become world
religions, and others not?
MYP Unit Question
How did major transformations affect
societal structures in early history and set
the foundation for expanding networks of
exchange?
Assessment:
What task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the Unit Question?
What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have understood?
Write a reasoned and evidentiary-based argument using global, interregional,
and regional examples to support the position that the Agricultural Revolution
made subsequent growth in culture possible?
Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit?

holistic learning

intercultural awareness

communication
Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?
 open-ended, problem-solving activities
 organized debates
 analysis and reflection.
Stage 2: Backward Planning: from the assessment to the learning
activities through inquiry.
Content
What knowledge and/or skills (from my course Overview) are going to be used to enable the student to respond to the guiding
question?
What (if any) state, provincial, district, or local standards/skills are to be addressed?
Content Expectations
WHG F1:
World Historical and Geographical “Habits of Mind” and Central Concepts - Explain and use key
conceptual devices world historians/geographers use to organize the past including periodization
schemes (e.g., major turning points, different cultural and religious calendars), and different spatial
frames (e.g., global, interregional, and regional).
WHG F2:
Systems of Human Organizations - Use the examples listed below to explain the basic features and
differences between hunter-gatherer societies, pastoral nomads, civilizations, and empires, focusing
upon the differences in their political, economic and social systems, and their changing interactions with
the environment.

Changes brought on by the Agricultural Revolution, including the environmental impact of
settlements

TWO ancient river civilizations, such as those that formed around the Nile, Indus, Tigris-Euphrates,
or Yangtze

Classical China or India (Han China or Gupta empires)

Classical Mediterranean (Greece and Rome)
WHG F4:
Regional Interactions - Identify the location and causes of frontier interactions and conflicts, and internal
disputes between cultural, social and/or religious groups in classical China, the Mediterranean world, and
south Asia (India) prior to 300 C.E.
Approaches to Learning
How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject specific and general AtL skills?
Students will have the opportunity to experience problem solving activities, organized debates, and
a variety of opportunities for analysis and reflection..
Learning Experiences
Teaching Strategies
How will students know what is expected of them? Will they
see examples, rubrics, templates, etc?
How will we use formative assessment to give students feedback
during the unit?
What different teaching methodologies will we employ?
How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all? Have we
considered those learning in a language other than their mother
tongue? Have we considered those with special educational
needs
How will students acquire the knowledge and practice the
skills required? How will they practice applying these?
Do the students have enough prior knowledge?
Write an essay using evidence from this era to formulate a
response to the question: Why did farming develop and how
did it lead to more complex societies? Students should
support their thesis with evidence based on the unit of study.
Create a Venn diagram comparing two ancient river
civilizations with respect to political, economic and social
systems, and their changing interactions with the environment.
Write a persuasive paper that answers the question: Was
geography king? The paper should reference hunter
gatherers, ancient civilizations, and classical empires, and
address the specific interactions that these groups had with the
environment and each other.
Write a children’s book of the history of the world through 300
C.E./A.D. The book should take a global lens to tell the story,
“zooming down” at times to give specific interregional
and regional examples. In particular, the book should
address the following questions:



Why did farming develop and how did it lead to
more complex societies?
What role did geography play in the development
of early civilizations?
How did classical civilizations expand regional
interactions and networks?
Books should include a timeline with a periodization
scheme, historical maps, and other visuals.
Modifications of tasks and teaming with intervention
teachers.
Resources
What resources are available to us?
How will our classroom environment and/or community be used to facilitate students’ experiences during the unit?
Equipment/Manipulative
Computer and Projector
Markers or colored pencils
Poster board or chart paper
Student Resource
BBC: Ancient History. 21 April 2008 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/>.
Goucher, Candice, et. al. In the Balance: Themes in World History, Chapter 2. Found at Bridging World History. Annenberg
Media. 21 April 2008 <http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/worldhistory/support/reading_4_1.pdf>.
Goucher, Candice and Linda Walton. “What is World History.” Bridging World History.” Annenberg Media. 21 April 2008
<http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/worldhistory/whatis.html>.
Teacher Resource
Christian, David. This Fleeting World. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing. 2008.
Internet Ancient History Sourcebook, 2002, 21 April 2008 <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook.html>.
Google Maps. 21 April 2008 <http://maps.google.com/>.
Guns, Germs, Steel: The Video. Part 1 of 3. National Geographic. 21 April 2008 <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4008293090480628280>.
Journey of Mankind: The Peopling of the World. 21 April 2008 <http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/>.
Reilly, Kevin. Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader Volume One: To 1550. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2002.
World History for Us All. Big Era II. 18 April 2008 <http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/dev/eras/era2.htm>.
PowerPoint from Panoramic Teaching Unit, Era 3. World History for US All. 21 April 2008
<http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/dev/units/four/panorama/slides/BE4_pan.ppt>.
Resources for Further Professional Knowledge
Braudel, Fernand. Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century. New York: Harper & Row,
1982. Chapter 1.
Liu, Xinru. The Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Interactions in Eurasia. Washington, D.C.:
American Historical Association, 1988.
Lesson Plans
What will you do on a daily or weekly basis?
What is the step by step process?
Lesson 1: World Historical and Geographical “Habits of Mind”
Content Expectations: WHG F1
Key Concepts: interregion, periodization, spatial frames, world history
Abstract: This lesson introduces students to the key conceptual devices world historians and geographers use to
organize the past. First students will create timelines of their personal histories. Have students list the ten most
significant events in their life (students might need prompting for this: suggest things like their birth, the birth of a sibling, a
move, starting high school, winning an award, etc.). After students construct their timelines, ask them to pick out two
major turning points in their lives and mark them on the timeline. Have students label the periods on the timelines (e.g., a
student might choose starting elementary school and starting high school as their turning points. The student might then
label their timeline with “the early years” “elementary and middle school” and “high school years”). In small groups have
students share their timeline and periods (hopefully they will notice differences in periodization schemes). Explain to
students that they have created a periodization scheme just as historians do, and that although there is no one way to
periodize history, these schemes can be helpful in organizing information.
Next, have students look at the table of contents of their world history textbook. Ask them what the periodization scheme
is for the textbook. Could they easily make a timeline of the textbook? Guide students to recognize that the textbook has
overlapping timeframes as the chapters move from region to region and it would be more complicated to create a timeline
from the textbook table of contents. Explain to students that world historians have a challenging job as they are not just
looking at one region (like North America) or one nation (such as the U.S.). World historians look at all regions and the
entire globe. For this reason, world historians use larger spatial frames like the globe and the “interregion,” as well as
smaller ones such as region or nation. Geographers also use these different spatial frames in their work.
Demonstrate this by showing students three (or more) aerial/satellite maps of their school or town (googlemaps.com is
useful for this activity). Begin with one that shows the details of their school or town – the buildings and streets. Ask
students what they observe. Explain that this is a local perspective. Next show students a map of a larger area such as
the Midwest, northeast or even the U.S., keeping the town or school in the center of the image. Ask students what they
observe, what details have dropped out and what details have been added? Next show a map or satellite image of the
world keeping the town or school in the center of the image. Ask students what they observe, what details have dropped
out and what details have been added? Lastly, zoom back in on the town or school, to demonstrate moving from a large
perspective to a smaller one.
Show students the video “History of the World in Seven Minutes” from the World History for US All website (available:
http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/dev/movies/flash_large.htm). Ask students to identify instances where the video is
telling a global, interregional (e.g., the Americas, Afro-Eurasia), or regional story. After they watch the video (you may
want to show it twice), ask them why using certain spatial schemes at certain times would be useful. Explain to students
that throughout the year, they will move between examining global events, interregional events, regional events, and
sometimes even national or local events.
Lesson 2: From Hunting and Gathering to Farming
Content Expectations: WHG F2
Key Concepts: Afro-Eurasia, Agricultural Revolution, civilization, geography, hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads
Abstract: This lesson introduces students to the question that will guide their learning for the next two lessons. Why did
farming develop and how did it lead to more complex societies? Introduce the question and have students discuss their
hypotheses. Post the question in the classroom and tell students that they will gather evidence to address this question
throughout this and the following lessons.
Have students read pages 10-13 from a reading by Candice Goucher (available:
http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/worldhistory/support/reading_4_1.pdf). This article outlines the movement from
hunting and gathering to farming while noting that this did not happen in the same time or for the same reasons in all parts
of the world. Ask students: what were the advantages to farming? What were the disadvantages? How did it change
humans’ relationship to the environment? The have students look at the remainder of the article and discuss what they
notice (global, interregional and regional lenses). Next, have students use the article and other sources, to work with a
partner to create an Agricultural Revolution map. The maps should include labels of the when societies in different
regions made the transition to farming. Finally, have students work with their partner to construct an explanation of the
Agricultural Revolution, hunter-gathers, and pastoral nomads and the relationships among them. Student pairs should
then form larger groups of six students and compare their explanations.
Note: instead of (or in addition to) reading the article, students could watch the first segment of “Guns, Germs and Steel,”
in which Jared Diamond recounts the development of farming societies (Note: Beginning 10 minutes into the video, show
the next 15 minutes to show how changes in climate resulted in farming).
Lesson 3: Complex Societies: Early Civilizations
Content Expectations: WHG F2; WHG F4
Key Concepts: Afro-Eurasia, Agricultural Revolution, civilization, geography
Abstract: In this lesson, students “zoom in” to examine ancient river valley civilizations. Have students work in groups to
explore a river civilization, such as those that formed around the Nile, Indus River, Tigris-Euphrates, or Yangtze (split the
civilizations among groups). Using primary and secondary sources, students should apply a “regional lens” to analyze the
religion, geography, economy (including trade), political structure, social structure, and military tactics of their respective
civilization. In their investigations students also analyze how the geography, the environment, and interactions with
outside groups affected the attributes of the civilization. Once students complete their investigations, construct a class list
of the characteristics of each civilization on the board as students report out. Discuss the impact of geography on the
interaction between different groups, as well as the protection that geography can offer from invading groups. Next, have
students use a Venn diagram to compare similarities and differences of two civilizations in the different categories. Wrap
up by asking students for an exit slip answering the question: What characteristics are necessary to define a society as a
“civilization”?
Note: If time allows, there are some additional ideas and primary source readings for this lesson in WHFUA Landscape
unit 3.3 (available: http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/dev/units/three/landscape/03_landscape3.pdf)
Lesson 4: Classical Civilizations and Regional Interactions
Content Expectations: WHG F2; WHG F4
Key Concepts: civilization, classical civilization, empire
Abstract: Begin the lesson by reviewing the definition of “civilization” that students developed in the previous lesson.
Have students read and compare definitions of “empire”. Explain to the class that they will now be examining large-scale
empires, often referred to as classical civilizations or “classical empires” in China and/or India, Greece and Rome. In this
lesson students will not research all of the details of the empires (as this is a review of the middle school expectations),
but focus mainly on the question: How did classical civilizations expand regional interactions and networks? Show
students slides 28-39 of the PowerPoint from Era 4 of the Panoramic Unit, World History for Us All (available at
http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/dev/units/four/panorama/slides/BE4_pan.ppt) for an overview of classical empires and
expanding networks of exchange. Discuss students’ answers to the question. (Note: Depending on the previous
knowledge of students, students may need to review and compare general characteristics of the empires focusing on:
expansion, trade within and between empires, political systems, cultural beliefs, and challenges to the empire, including
external and internal disputes. This could be assigned as homework prior to this lesson).
Ongoing reflections and evaluation
In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions. There are further stimulus
questions in the unit planning section of MYP: from principles to practice.
Students and teachers
What did we find compelling? Was our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way?
What inquires arose during the learning? What, if any extension activities arose?
How did we reflect – both on the unit and on our learning?
Were there any attributes of the Learner Profile that were encouraged through this unit? Were there opportunities for action?
Possible connections
How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject groups?
What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?
Assessment
Were students able to demonstrate their learning?
Did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? Did I make sure
students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors?
Data collection
How did I decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?