MESOPOTAMIA – THE LAND BETWEEN
TWO RIVERS
YEARS 7 & 8 HISTORY - SUSTAINABILITY
AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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Locate key sites which have revealed evidence of earliest human occupation.
Investigating the ancient past1
RESOURCES REQUIRED
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Mesopotamia: From Nomads to Farmers2 (14 minutes) captioned online video. NB: Video
can only be played on default screening setting size, i.e. not on Full Screen. Video cannot be
played on mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets.
Irrigation in Ancient Mesopotamia3 (2 minutes) captioned online videos.
Facilities to project an view videos.
Map of Mesopotamia4 and empathy task5 worksheets x class set
KWL Chart from Eduplace
Atlas x class set
Coloured pencils/textas
Worksheet answers6
LESSON OUTCOME: Students investigate the reasons for human occupation in Mesopotamia.
Lesson outline:
1. Teacher leads mind-map activity to test prior knowledge of Mesopotamia and explains that it
now no longer exists and is known as the country of Iraq. Basic facts about Mesopotamia
can be included: e.g. Babylon was a kingdom within Mesopotamia - potential for discussions
about religion to draw relevance for students
2. Teacher distributes KWL chart worksheets. Students fill in what they know and what they
want to know. Teacher explains that students are to fill in the ‘What I Learned’ section as
they watch the videos.
3. Watch Mesopotamia: From Nomads to Farmers and Irrigation in Ancient Mesopotamia (16
minutes in total).
4. Go through KWL column answers and direct students to worksheet activities (atlases are
needed for first activity)
1
http://bit.ly/HOHC6K
http://www.universalsubtitles.org/en/videos/mTY8yeCsoous/info/mesopotamia-from-nomads-to-farmers/
3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RP2KfewiJA
4 http://www.mrmoore.net/UNIT%202%20SUMER/Map%20of%20Mesopotamia.pdf
5 http://www.capthat.com.au/sites/www.capthat.com.au/files/Mesopotamia%20worksheet.docx
6 http://www.capthat.com.au/sites/www.capthat.com.au/files/Mesopotamia%20worksheet%20answers_0.docx
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5. Go through answers and ask students to perform empathy task responses.
HOMEWORK/EXTENSION
Students create a farming guide to Mesopotamia in ancient times. They will need to consider the
impact of annual flooding and what kinds of crops could grow. Teachers may refer to slides 3-57
from the Mr Donn website.
OPPORTUNITY FOR FURTHER ACTIVITY
Students can participate in project-based learning activities stemming from the concept of
Mesopotamia as the world’s first ancient civilisation.
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http://mesopotamia.mrdonn.org/powerpoints.html
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