Southwest Asia
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Big Idea: Resources:
Control of resources affects stability and power of people from ancient empires to present day.
Resources, like land, water, soil, and oil, can change in value, due to outside forces.
PPT
Slides 1-6 – Background
for the Crossroads of
History
Slides 7-12 – Resources
Slides 13-20: Climate
causes and consequences
Slides 21-23: Development
of Civilization
Slides 24-28: History,
beginnings of religion
Slide 29-32: Division of
Islam
Clickable PDF
Teacher Notes/Questions
Names (major)
Fertile Crescent
Texas size and Latitude
Old names
Cities 3000-2500 BCE
Rivers
Cities 2000-1700 BCE
Overview of the development of
civilizations – geography, climate, resources
available in ancient times.
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Where were the first cities located? Why?
What advantage did the desert give these
cities?
What important invention made agriculture
more effective?
How did the precipitation patterns affect
agriculture around the two river systems?
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Tropic of Cancer
Precipitation winter
Precipitation Summer
Terrain
Rivers
Cities 3000-1700 BCE
Cities 2000-1700 BCE
Cities 1400-1200 BCE
Cities 600-400 BCE
Cities 100 BCE-100 CE
Rivers
Shi’ite Muslims
Sunni Muslims
Country borders
Objectives: The student will be able to:
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What factors helped agriculture to flourish?
What did surplus food then cause to
happen?
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What major religions started in this area?
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What are the two main groups of Muslims?
Which countries have predominately one
or the other? Which have both?
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Slides 33-35: Trade Routes
Trade Routes
What were the main trade routes until
recently?
Slides 36-46: New
resources and changing
values lead to conflict
Oil
Sunni Muslims
Shi’ite Muslims
Country Borders
Kurds
How did the Industrial Revolution change
the value of SW Asian resources?
What happened with the discovery of oil?
How do country borders contribute to the
problems?
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Locate and name the area where the first urban
settlements occurred
Describe geographic features of Mesopotamia
Name the important resource found here
Name the important geographic feature for each of
the first large cities
Describe one advantage and one disadvantage of
the surrounding desert
Describe how the two river systems can flow
through deserts
Compare the weather patterns in these two areas
Describe how the precipitation systems affect
agriculture.
Name one cause and one consequence of the
sentence “One farm worker could feed many
people.”
Name some major developments that this region
gave to the world.
Name 4 religions which started in this region
Name the two main factions of Islam
Explain the pattern of these two groups across SW
Asia
List the countries that have both groups
Describe the trade routes used by people in this
region
Explain some reasons these trade routes lost value
Describe the effect of the Industrial Revolution on
the value of resources in SW Asia
Explain some effects of the oil wealth in the hands
of undemocratic governments
Tell one reason for conflict in this region today