Mesopotamia
The Ancient World
By Megan Foster & Carolyn DiSalvatore
The purpose of this unit plan is to introduce students to the civilizations of Mesopotamia. This will include the geography and
how it effects human settlement and development; civilization and how artifacts can lead to conclusions about history of a
civilization; and empires and how and why different accomplishments lead to the rise and fall of empires. Students will be
introduced to the content through a variety of primary source analysis, both visual and written documents. Students will be
asked to think critically about the information they are presented with. At the conclusion of the unit, student groups will
create ABC books about Mesopotamia.
It is assumed heading into this unit that students will be knowledgeable about emerging societies of people in the ancient
world, as well as the themes of geography. This unit is designed to provide students with the framework for understanding the
most essential aspects of Mesopotamia.
Stage 1 Desired Results
ESTABLISHED GOALS
Transfer Goals
Students will be able to independently use their learning to…
History Frameworks:
G
7.6 Identify the characteristics of civilizations.
(H,G,E)
 The presence of geographic
boundaries and political institutions
 An economy that produces food
surpluses
 A concentration of a population in
distinct areas or cities
 The existence of social classes
 Developed systems of religion,
learning, art, and architecture
 A system of record keeping
 Identify polytheism as the religious
belief of the people in Mesopotamian
civilizations. (H)
7.7 On a historical map, locate the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers and identify Sumer, Babylon,
and Assyria as successive civilizations and
empires in this region, and explain why the
region is sometimes called “the Fertile
Crescent.” On a modern map of western Asia,
identify the modern countries in the region
(Iraq, Iran, and Turkey). (H, G, E)
Understand how recurring patterns in history can inform judgments about current
events and other issues.
Understand how physical and human geography can inform responsible interactions
with environment.
Critically appraise historical and contemporary claims/decisions.
T
Meaning
UNDERSTANDINGS
Students will understand that…
U
U1…people must solve geographic
challenges in their environment to live
there successfully.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
Q
E1. Would city-states/civilizations have
developed in Mesopotamia without
agriculture and new agricultural
techniques (irrigation, levees, dams,
reservoirs)?
E2. Why are these characteristics
U2…a society is considered a civilization
necessary for a society to be considered a
when a complex set of characteristics exist civilization? Must all the characteristics be
in the community.
present in a society for it to be called a
civilization? Can one be missing?
U3…strong political and military forces will
allow for the rise of empires, however,
E3. Which achievement was the most
important to the rise and success of
empires? What is the most important
7.9 Describe how irrigation, metalsmithing,
slavery, the domestication of animals, and
inventions such as the wheel, the sail, and the
plow contributed to the growth of
Mesopotamian civilizations. (H,E)
7.10 Describe important Mesopotamian
achievements. (H,C,E)



Its system of writing (and its
importance in the record keeping and
tax collection)
Monumental architecture (the
ziggurat)
Art (large relief sculptures, mosaics,
and cylinder seals)
7.11 Describe who Hammurabi was and
explain the basic principle of justice in
Hammurabi’s Code (“an eye for an eye”). (H,
C, E)
ELA & Literacy Frameworks:
problems within often lead to the fall of
these empires.
cause for the failure of empires?
E4. Why has Mesopotamia changed from
the cradle of civilization to a war torn
country? How has farming, government,
culture, writing, technology effected the
civilization?
Students will know…
Acquisition
K Students will be skilled at…
K1. Key Terms: Mesopotamia, Tigris River,
Euphrates River, Sumer, irrigation, levee,
silt, city-state, complex, maintain, culture,
civilization, social structure, technology,
status, chariot, scribe, ziggurat, lyre ,
Standard of Ur, polytheism, arch,
cuneiform, pictograph, empire, Akkadian
Empire, Babylonian Empire, Assyrian
Empire, Neo-Babylonian Empire, capital,
tribute, stele, Hammurabi’s Code of Laws,
economy, siege, strategy, aqueduct, basrelief, invader, unify
S
Map Skill: interpret maps to explain
relationships between landforms, water
features, climatic characteristics, and
historical events.
Critical Thinking: analyzing geographic
problems ancient Mesopotamians and
evaluating potential solutions.
Primary Source Analysis: examine
artifacts to discover the history of a
civilization; write hypotheses and support
opinions with detailed evidence.
K2. Mesopotamia was located between
Note Taking Skills: determine main idea
W. 1. Write arguments to support claims with the Tigris and Euphrates River.
Mesopotamians faced and solved a variety and supporting details in describing the
clear reasons and relevant evidence.
history of an empire.
of geographic challenges as they
developed into city-states.
SL. 1. Engage effectively in a range of
Compare and Contrast: identify the
collaborative discussions with diverse partners
on grade 7 topics, texts and issues, building on K3. Sumer had the seven characteristics of similarities and differences between each
others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. a civilization present: stable food supply,
empires success and failures.
R. 1. Cite specific textual evidence to support
analysis of primary and secondary sources.
social structure, government, religion,
culture, technology, and writing.
Vocabulary: use content based vocabulary
in order to communicate understanding of
key concepts.
K4. Mesopotamia had a variety of political,
military and cultural achievements during
the height of these empires: Akkadian
Empire, Babylonian Empire, Assyrian
Empire, and Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Stage 2 – Evidence
Evaluative Criteria





Historically Accurate
Well Crafted
Revealing and informative
Good Detail
Mechanically sound





Historically Accurate
Well Crafted
Revealing and informative
Good Detail
Mechanically sound
Assessment Evidence
CURRICULUM EMBEDED PERFOMANCE ASSESSMENT (PERFORMANCE TASKS)
PT
Small groups of students will create Mesopotamia ABC Booklets.
Please see attached for directions and rubric.
OTHER EVIDENCE:




OE
Create a map of a Sumerian city-state
Analyze the Standard of Ur in an “I See it Means”
Analysis and ranking of empires in “Empire Report Card”
Chapter Tests
Stage 3 – Learning Plan
Summary of Key Learning Events and Instruction
Lesson 1: Introduction and Preview to Mesopotamia- In this lesson, students will preview the geography of Mesopotamia and the major themes
of the unit.
 Map: History Alive! Geography Challenge: Interactive Notebook pg 4-7
 Vocabulary Preview: Mesopotamia Wordle
Lesson 2: Geography & Development of Mesopotamia- In this lesson, students will analyze problems faced by early Sumerians and evaluate
possible solutions.
 Critical Thinking: Analysis of four geography based problems in Mesopotamia and student created solutions (History Alive Chapter 4
lesson)
 Map Skill: Create a map of a Sumerian city-state that labels and details the “solutions” to geographic problems.
Lesson 3: Characteristics of a Civilization- In this lesson, students will identify civilization and decide if Sumerian city-states qualify as a
civilization.
 Vocabulary: Frayer Model- civilization, city-state
 Primary Source Analysis: Analysis of Sumerian artifacts to determine whether Sumerian city-states had the characteristics of a
civilization.
 Visual Analysis: I See, It Means- Standard of Ur
Lesson 4: Empires of Mesopotamia- In this lesson, students will identify empire and be able to describe and detail the four empires of
Mesopotamia.
 Vocabulary: Frayer Model- empire
 Content/ Response Notes: identify the accomplishments(details) of the Akkadian Empire, Babylonian Empire, Assyrian Empire and NeoBabylonian Empire, accompanied by a summary of the empire (main idea).
Lesson 5: Empires of Mesopotamia II- In this lesson, students will analyze and rank the accomplishments of the empires.
 Primary Source Analysis: Hammurabi’s Code
 Compare & Contrast: Rank the accomplishments of each empire using an Empire Report Card.
 Critical Thinking: Discussion of empires and what causes empires to rise and fall, also introduce the effects.
Lesson 6: ABC of Mesopotamia- In this lesson, students will work in groups of four to write a children’s book on Mesopotamia in an ABC format.
Mesopotamia Unit CEPA – ABC Mesopotamian Booklet
Objective – Working as part of a group, students will create an A B C Booklet using facts about Mesopotamia. Each booklet will contain 26 facts (one per letter,
per page) about various topics like geography, religion, technology, empires and achievements. Each group will consist of an Artistic Director, a Historian and
Publisher.
 Artistic Director – Responsible for creating the visuals
 Historian – Responsible for the content (facts)
 Publisher – Presentation
– Remember that you are all in this together you can and should be helping each other out.
-This should be written for a younger audience. Make sure its easy to understand.
- Certain letters may present a problem (q or x). Be creative and use complex language.
Requirements ARTISTISTIC DIRECTOR (visuals)
___
Choice of relevant symbols, illustrations.
___
carefully/skillfully drawn, shows thought and effort.
___
colorful
___
used space effectively
___
Participation
HISTORIAN (Content)
___
one fact for each letter.
___
accurate information
___
adequate explanation (2 sentences)
___
topic variety
___
Participation
PUBLISHER (Ready for Print)
___
attractive Cover Page/Names/Title
___
pages are bound together/in correct order
___
all pages neat/presentable
___
Essential Question answered (on cover)
___
Participation
Rubric 3: Ready for the museum
2: Ready for the Refrigerator
1: Ready for the Recycling
Bin
Presentation


Neat
Colorful


Somewhat neat
Some use of color


Messy or sloppy
No color
Information



Accurate
Clear
All important details
included



Attempts to be accurate
Somewhat clear
Some important details
included



Inaccurate information
Not clear
Missing important
details
Requirements

All requirements
included

Most requirements
included

Many requirements
missing
Participation

Active member of the
group
Always helped others,
listened to group and
used class time

Somewhat active
member of the group
Sometimes helped
others, tried to listen to
other members, usually
used class time

Inactive member of the
group
Prevented other group
members from
completing their work,
did not use time
appropriately


