Stephanie Ziemba; 6th Grade Geography Standards
SS.6.G.2.7
Interpret choropleths or dot-density maps to explain the distribution of population in the
ancient world.
Choropleth maps are a type of thematic map in which areas are colored or shaded to
reflect the value of the mapped phenomenon or to display classes of values. The word
choropleth is derived from Greek: choros (place) and pleth (value). Most people have
seen choropleth maps (think of election night and the evening news), but few people
know them by this name. Choropleth maps can be especially useful for making
comparisons between maps (time series for the same variable or two separate
variables) and when viewing data in geospatial relationships (e.g., adjacency or spatial
autocorrelation). From www.pop.psu.edu/gia-core/pdfs/gis_rd_05-72.pdf
Ex. choropleth
http://my.ilstu.edu/~jrcarter/Geo204/Choro/
Dot density maps, or dot maps, portray the geographic distribution of discrete
phenomena using an arrangement of identical point symbols, most commonly dots. The
dot density technique dates to at least the 19th century and is today accepted as one of
the primary techniques for representing geographic patterns. Dot density maps are
particularly useful for understanding global distribution of the mapped phenomenon and
comparing relative densities of different regions on the map. Retrieval of specific
information from dot density maps is difficult, however, as map users find manual
counting of dots tedious and tend to underestimate dot totals as density increases.
From http://www.personal.psu.edu/rer198/publications/Roth_2009_EG.pdf.
Stephanie Ziemba; 6th Grade Geography Standards
Ex. dot-density
https://www.e-education.psu.edu/natureofgeoinfo/book/export/html/1553
Lesson Ideas:
Depending on the time of year when you study this, you could introduce these maps
during election-time. Then, during this time, hold an election in your class and have the
students created the maps. This will help build background knowledge on the maptypes, prior to fully analyzing from the ancient worlds.
* Then, pulling population maps from the ancient world, categorize the maps by topic
(Health, farming, resources, culture, etc), and have students rotate through these topics
working as a team to solve various problems; Is there an epidemic? How quickly is it
occurring based on the various years of maps? What do you think will change the
current trend and why?
Between created the maps on their own and analyzing pre-printed maps, students will
gain a better understanding of how to interpret these maps while still learning about the
ancient world.
Stephanie Ziemba; 6th Grade Geography Standards
SS.6.G.4.3
Locate sites in Africa and Asia where archaeologists have found evidence of early
human societies, and trace their migration patterns to other parts of the world.
Africa:
Current Africa Map from http://www.travelblog.org/pix/maps/africa.jpg
Ancient Africa Map from uflib.ufl.edu
Stephanie Ziemba; 6th Grade Geography Standards
Asia:
Current Asia Map from guides.library.jhu.edu
Ancient Asia Map From columbia.edu
Some Facts:
Four great floodplain civilizations appeared, first in Mesopotamia, shortly after in the
Nile valley, and from about 2500 BCE in the Indus valley. These three civilizations
Stephanie Ziemba; 6th Grade Geography Standards
mutually influenced one another and came to constitute a single region of
intercommunication and trade. The fourth civilization arose in the Yellow River valley
of northwestern China in the second millennium BCE. As agriculture continued to
spread, urban centers also emerged on rain-watered lands, notably in Syria and on the
island of Crete. Finally, expanding agriculture and long-distance trade were the
foundations of increasingly complex societies in the Aegean Sea basin and western
Europe. During this same era, it must be remembered, much of the world’s population
lived in small farming communities and hunted or foraged. These peoples were no less
challenged than city-dwellers to adapt continually and creatively to changing
environmental and social conditions.
In this era pastoralism--the practice of herding animals as a society’s primary source of
food--made it possible for larger communities than ever before to inhabit the semi-arid
steppes and deserts of Eurasia and Africa. Consequently, pastoral peoples began play
an important role in world history. In the second millennium BCE migrations of pastoral
folk emanating from the steppes of Central Asia contributed to a quickening pace
of change across the entire region from Europe and the Mediterranean basin to
India. Some societies became more highly militarized, new kingdoms appeared, and
languages of the Indo-European family became much more widely spoken.
Information from: http://nchs.ucla.edu
More information at www.historyforkids.org
Lesson Ideas:
Have students watch video on "Lucy" (She's the first hominid- hey! integrate science) 
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/africa/history/index.htm. You could also divide the
students into Group Asia and Group Africa and do some web research on www.
historyforkids.org. Then have the students create a poster for their continent relating
evidence of early society and migration(s).
SS.6.G.1.1
Use latitude and longitude coordinates to understand the relationship between people
and places on the Earth.
Latitude: Latitude is used to express how far north or south you are, relative to the
equator. If you are on the equator your latitude is zero. If you are near the north pole
your latitude is nearly 90 degrees north. If you are near the south pole your latitude is
almost 90 degrees south.
Conventionally latitude is expressed as degrees north or south. For inputting to the
satellite pointing calculator south latitude figures need to be input as negative numbers.
Note that from small regions around the north or south poles you cannot see
geostationary satellites at all. The geostationary satellites are below the horizon and
directly above the equator, in a circle all around.
Stephanie Ziemba; 6th Grade Geography Standards
Longitude: Longitude shows your location in an east-west direction, relative to the
Greenwich meridian. Places to the east of Greenwich (such as Middle East, India and
Japan) have longitude angles up to 180 degrees east. Places to the west of Greenwich
(such as North and South America) have angles up to 180 deg west. For inputting to the
satellite pointing calculator longitude west figures need to be input as negative numbers.
Geostationary satellites are located in orbit directly above the equator and stay in the
same place in the sky since they go around the earth at the same angular speed as that
of the earth as it rotates. Satellite locations may thus be defined by longitude only. The
use of east and west longitudes is popular for public use since the numbers are smaller.
Use of degrees east only (0 to +360 deg, going east from Greenwich) however is my
preference since the satellites go around this way and it makes sense for the numbers
to keep increasing as the satellite moves forwards. Trying to do orbit calculations is bad
enough without having numbers that keep switching forwards and backwards. Many
satellite operators also use the 0 to +360 deg method, but may additionally provide the
"deg west" notation for some output publications.
Notes taken from http://www.dsscentral.info/index.php?c=lat_long
From geographyworldonline.com
Stephanie Ziemba; 6th Grade Geography Standards
From: http://www.dsscentral.info/index.php?c=lat_long
Lesson Ideas:
Great ideas at http://geography.mrdonn.org/latitude.html; "Message in a Bottle"
or http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/01/crackcode.html "Crack the
code"
Have students locate their birthday latitude and longitude.
Use masking tape in your room for latitude and longitude and have students discover
their new seating arrangement. You can also place items in the room for students to
search for based on the coordinates.