Social Studies Grade 6
Unit 1
Unit 1- Human Beginnings
Essential Standards – H.1.3, H.2.3, G&EL.1.1, G&EL.1.2, G&EL.1.3, G&EL.1.4,
G&EL.2.1, C&G.1.1, C&G.1.4, E&FL.1.1, E&FL.1.2, C.1.1, C.1.3
HISTORY
GEOGRAPHY &
ENVIRONMENTAL
LITERACY
CIVICS AND
GOVERNMENT
ECONOMICS &
FINANCIAL
LITERACY
CULTURE
Unit Overview
In this unit, students will examine the origins of human society. Students should develop an
understanding of the role of paleontologists, archaeologists, and anthropologists in the context of social
studies and prehistory. Students should be able to analyze the origins of human society and trace its
transition from nomadic hunter-gatherer cultures to agrarian civilizations, including the introduction and
subsequent developments of tools and agricultural technology.
Generalizations
1. Anthropologists, archaeologists, and paleontologists work together to create our understanding of
prehistoric cultures since the defining trait of prehistory is its lack of a writing system.
2. The development and use of tools enabled the nomadic hunter-gatherers to settle into a more
agrarian civilization, which in turn led to the creation of villages and permanent settlements.
3. Essential resources such as access to food, water, and shelter are necessary for a society to thrive.
Essential Questions
1. What is social studies? Why do we study it?
2. How do anthropologists, archaeologists, and paleontologists work together to create our modern
understanding of the prehistoric era?
3. How did the development of tools lead to more stable societies?
4. What caused the transition from nomadic societies to agrarian civilizations?
5. What are the most essential resources for a society to thrive?
6. How are the Stone and Bronze Ages similar and different?
7. How are Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals similar and different?
8. What is the Neolithic Revolution, and how did it impact the cultures of the Prehistoric Era?
Unit Vocabulary
Agrarian
Homo sapiens
Nomadic
Anthropologist
Human community
Origin
Archaeologist
Hunter-gatherer
Paleolithic cave painting
Artifact
Ice Age
Paleontologist
Bronze Age
Innovation
Prehistoric
Clovis
Location
Resources
Cro-Magnon
Migration
Scarcity
Decline
Neanderthal
Social studies
Hominid
Neolithic Revolution
Stone Age
Donald Johanson
Lucy
Key People
Mary and Louis Leakey
Unit 4
Classical Civilizations
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Social Studies Grade 6
Unit 1
Unit 1- Goals
What do students need to KNOW?
What do students need to be able to DO?

A working definition of social studies

Define “social studies”

The reasons we study history

Explain the reasons for studying history

What anthropologists, archaeologists, and paleontologists do


How anthropologists, archaeologists, and paleontologists work
together to create an understanding of a prehistoric culture
Explain what anthropologists, archaeologists, and paleontologists
do

Analyze how they work together to create an understanding of a
prehistoric culture

Identify the tools developed during the Prehistoric Era

Analyze the impact of tool development and use on the cultures of
that time period

Explain why many nomadic societies settled into agrarian
civilizations

The timeline of tool development from the Prehistoric Era

The impact of tool development and use on the cultures of that
time period

Why many nomadic societies settled into agrarian civilizations

The essential resources necessary for a society to thrive

The defining characteristics of the Stone Age and the Bronze Age

Identify the essential resources necessary for a society to thrive

The defining characteristics of Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals

Identify the characteristics of the Stone Age and the Bronze Age

The causes and effects of the Neolithic Revolution

Compare and contrast the Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals

Analyze the causes and effects of the Neolithic Revolution
I Can… Statements

I Can… define “social studies.”

I Can… explain the reasons we study history.

I Can… explain what anthropologists, archaeologists, and paleontologists do.

I Can… analyze how these people work together to create an understanding of a prehistoric culture.

I Can… identify the tools developed during the Prehistoric Era.

I Can… analyze the impact of tool development and use on the cultures of that time period.

I Can… explain why many nomadic societies settled into agrarian civilizations.

I Can… identify the essential resources necessary for a society to thrive.

I Can… identify the characteristics of the Stone Age and the Bronze Age.

I Can… compare and contrast the Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals.

I Can… analyze the causes and effects of the Neolithic Revolution.
Unit 4
Classical Civilizations
2
Social Studies Grade 6
Unit 1
Unit 1- Essential Standards
HISTORY
H.1.3 Use primary and
secondary sources to
interpret various historical
perspectives.
H.2.3 Explain how
innovation and/or
technology transformed
civilizations, societies, and
regions over time (e.g.,
agricultural technology,
weaponry, transportation,
and communication).
GEOGRAPHY &
ENVIRONMENTAL
LITERACY
G&EL.1.1 Explain how
the physical features and
human characteristics of a
place influenced the
development of
civilizations, societies, and
regions (e.g., location near
rivers and natural barriers,
trading practices, and
spread of culture).
G&EL.1.2 Explain the
factors that influenced the
movement of people,
goods, and ideas and the
effects of that movement
on societies and regions
over time (e.g., scarcity of
resources, conquests,
desire for wealth, disease,
and trade).
CIVICS AND
GOVERNMENT
C&G.1.1 Explain the
origins and structures of
various governmental
systems (e.g. democracy,
absolute monarchy and
constitutional monarchy).
C&G.1.4 Compare the
role (e.g. maintain order
and enforce societal values
and beliefs) and evolution
of laws and legal systems
(e.g. need for and
changing nature of
codified system of laws
and punishment) in various
civilizations, societies and
regions.
ECONOMICS &
FINANCIAL
LITERACY
E&FL.1.1 Explain how
conflict, compromise, and
negotiation over the
availability of resources
(natural, human and
capital) impacted the
economic development of
various civilizations,
societies and regions (e.g.
competition for scarce
resources, unequal
distribution of wealth and
the emergence of powerful
trading networks).
E&FL.1.2 Explain how
quality of life is impacted
by economic choices of
civilizations, societies and
regions.
CULTURE
C.1.1 Analyze how
cultural expressions
reflected the values of
civilizations, societies and
regions (e.g., oral
traditions, art, dance,
music, literature, and
architecture).
C.1.3 Summarize systems
of social structure within
various civilizations and
societies over time (e.g.
Roman class structure,
Indian caste system and
feudal, matrilineal and
patrilineal societies).
G&EL.1.3 Compare
distinguishing
characteristics of various
world regions (e.g.,
physical features, culture,
political organization, and
ethnic make-up).
G&EL.1.4 Explain how
and why civilizations,
societies and regions have
used, modified and
adapted to their
environments (e.g.,
invention of tools,
domestication of plants
and animals, farming
techniques and creation of
dwellings).
G&EL.2.1 Use maps,
charts, graphs, geographic
data and available
technology tools to draw
conclusions about the
emergence, expansion,
and decline of civilizations,
societies, and regions.
Academic Vocabulary:
agrarian, artifact, Stone
Age, Bronze Age, Neolithic
Revolution, anthropologist,
archaeologist,
paleontologist
Unit 4
Academic Vocabulary:
resources, agrarian,
hunter-gatherer, nomadic,
Neolithic Revolution,
migration, location,
scarcity
Academic Vocabulary:
agrarian civilization,
nomadic culture
Classical Civilizations
Academic Vocabulary:
domestication, innovation,
scarcity
Academic Vocabulary:
cuneiform, domestication,
agricultural innovation,
resources, cave paintings,
community, artifact
3
Social Studies Grade 6
Unit 1
Unit 1- Common Core Standards
READING
WRITING
CMS CCSS Power Standards:
CMS CCSS Power Standards:
R.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis
of primary and secondary sources.
W.6-8.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific
content.
R.6-8.10 Read and comprehend history/social studies
texts in the grade 6 text complexity band independently
and proficiently.
W.6-8.2 Write informative/explanatory texts, including
the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/
experiments, or technical processes.
Additional Reading Standards:
Additional Writing Standards:
R.6-8.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a
primary or secondary source; provide an accurate
summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or
opinions.
W.6-8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
R.6-8.6 Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s
point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion
or avoidance of particular facts).
R.6-8.7 Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts,
graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other
information in print and digital texts.
W.6-8.5 With some guidance and support from peers
and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by
planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new
approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience
have been addressed.
W.6-8.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to
support analysis, reflection, and research.
R.6-8.8 Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned
judgment in a text.
R.6-8.9 Analyze the relationship between a primary and
secondary source on the same topic.
Unit 4
Classical Civilizations
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Social Studies Grade 6
Unit 1
Unit 1- Concepts with Subtopics Aligned to Unit Generalizations
HISTORY
GEOGRAPHY &
ENVIRONMENTAL
LITERACY
CIVICS AND
GOVERNMENT
ECONOMICS &
FINANCIAL
LITERACY
H.1.3, H.2.3
G&EL.1.1, G&EL.1.2,
G&EL.1.3, G&EL.1.4,
G&EL.2.1
C&G.1.1, C&G.1.4
E&FL.1.1, E&FL.1.2
Time:
Era 1-2, may touch the
beginning of Era 3
 Ice Age
 Stone Age
 Bronze Age
 Paleolithic
 Mesolithic
 Neolithic
Location: (absolute and
relative)
 Olduvai Gorge
 Africa
 Fertile Crescent
 Asia
 Europe
 Indus River Valley
 Yellow River Valley
Leadership:
Government Structure:
Military Innovation:
Citizenship:
Rules and Laws:
Historical Figures:
 Mary Leakey
 Louis Leakey
Place: (physical & human
characteristics)
 Fertile soil
 Mountainous
 Access to resources
 River valleys
Economic
Development
 Division of labor
 Trade
 Development of
agriculture
 Population growth
 Access to resources
leading to
exploration,
conquest, and
settlement
Technological
Developments:
 Agricultural
 Tools
 Communication
Cultural Developments:
 Nomadic cultures
 Agrarian cultures
Connections to Today:
 Archaeologists
 Paleontologists
 Anthropologists
Natural Resources:
 Stone
 Bronze
 Wood
 Metal
 Water
 Animals
 Food sources—huntergatherer to agrarian
 Irrigation
 Agriculture

The need for all these
things stems from the
development of permanent
civilizations: As people live
together in closer proximity
and as population grows
due to agricultural and
technological developments,
communities expand and
eventually develop the need
for leaders, social
structures, military,
citizenship, and rules and
laws.
Quality of Life
 Population growth
 Surplus of food due
to agricultural
developments
CULTURE
C.1.1, C.1.3
People:
 Cro-Magnon
 Neanderthal
 Hominids
 Lucy
 Australopithecine
 Homo habilis
 Homo erectus
 Homo sapiens
Cultural Expression:
 Cave paintings
 Artifacts
 Tools
 Religion
 Art
Social Structure
 Settling of nomadic
cultures into agrarian
civilizations
 Division and
specialization of labor
 Formalized religion
Movement:
 Nomads
 Hunter-gatherer
 Neolithic Revolution
 Migration
 settlement
Unit 4
Classical Civilizations
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Social Studies Grade 6
Unit 1
Unit 1- Assessment Options:
W1- Literacy Common Core Power Standard: Writing Arguments
 Choose the resource that you think is most important for a society to continue to
thrive. Write a paragraph from the point of view of that resource. The
paragraph should justify why you as the resource are more essential to a society
than other resources. Use a minimum of three accurate details that support your
claim based on informational texts (pictures, maps, articles, artifacts and primary
sources).
W2- Literacy Common Core Power Standard: Writing Informative Texts
 Create a comic strip that illustrates the transition from nomadic societies to
permanent communities. Demonstrate the causes for this transition by including
relevant information about environment, tools, geography and people based on
informational text (pictures, maps, political cartoons, artifacts, articles and
primary sources).
R1/R10- Literacy Common Core Power Standard: Reading Closely Over Time with a
Variety of Texts
 Pictures of tools and cave paintings, available in the History Alive! Resource
materials
 Newspaper articles about the discoveries at Olduvai Gorge
Unit 4
Classical Civilizations
6