1
Critical Content/Concept Web
Unit Topic:
This unit of study will begin with the existence
of humans and will end around 4000 BCE.
Students will focus on the transition from
prehistoric living to civilizations. Teachers
could identify climatic changes which lead to
migration. Teachers could identify the river
valleys where the first civilizations developed.
Teachers could reference the “Iceman Saga”.
Beginnings of Human
Conceptual Lens:
Grade:
Unit Overview
Survival/Adaptation
6th
social and political order
Vocabulary
People
Duration:
Unit Topic:
Beginnings of
Human Society
ECONOMICS
•
•
•
•
Hunter-Gatherers
Shepherd/Nomadic Life
Division of labor
Development of small
Farms
GEOGRAPHY
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Physical Features
Climatic Change
Migration
Civilization
Region
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CULTURE
Artifacts
Agricultural
inventions
Complex society
Religion
Written language
(pictographs to
cuneiform)
Migration
Fertile Crescent
HumanEnvironmental
Interaction
Mesopotamia
City-state
Civilization
Social structure
Merchant
Artisan
Scribe
Ziggurat
Cuneiform
Pictograph
technology
“Lucy”
“Iceman”
Sumerians
Hammurabi
Assessments
Formative:
1. Map
2. Responses to
map activity
3. Cave man
comic strip
4. Foldable –
vocab
5. Compare/cont
rast foldable –
neo and paleo
Summative:
1. Chapter tests
– History alive
2. Era 1 Exam
2
Grade: 6th
Subject: Social Studies
Unit: “We’ve Only Just Begun”
Lens: Survival/Adaptation
Enduring Understandings
Guiding Questions
Global Perspectives
1. The needs of mankind result in the development of
technology.
2. Artifacts are evidence of cultural change over time.
3. Change affects cultures.
State Standards 6-9 WHC
1.6.1
Describe types of evidence used by anthropologists, archaeologists, and other scholars
to reconstruct early human and cultural development.
1.6.2
Using archaeological evidence, describe the characteristics of early hunter-gatherer
communities.
1.
a. How is culture defined?
b. What tools/artifacts were used by Paleolithic man?
c. What tool/artifacts were used by Neolithic man?
2.
a. How do artifacts reflect time, place, and human condition?
b. What is the difference between a fossil and an artifact?
3.
a. How is change beneficial/detrimental?
b. What kinds of change affect cultures?
What defines the change from the Paleolithic to Neolithic
periods?
Economics
4. Revolution of agriculture leads to division of labor.
5. Competition for economic resources and land result in
movement and social conflict.
State Standards WHC
1.7.2
Identify the technological advances developed by Ancient, Greco Roman, Medieval,
Early-Modern, and Modern European societies and civilizations.
2.3.1 Identify main reasons for major migrations of people.
2.5.1 Explain how the resources of an area can be the source of conflict between competing
groups.
3.1.1 Explain how historically people have relied on their natural resources to meet their
needs.
State Standards GEH
2.5.2
Analyze and give examples of the consequences of human impact on the physical
environment and evaluate ways in which technology influences human capacity to modify
the physical environment.
4.
a. How did farming impact prehistoric peoples?
b. How did domestication of animals impact prehistoric people?
c. How did division of labor lead to specialization?
5.
a. How does conflict alter land boundaries?
b. How does the need for resources affect the location of the
people?
3
Geography
6. Resources of a region determine types of food, clothing,
shelter, and tools.
6.
a. How do groups organize to meet their basic needs?
b. What resources were available to prehistoric mankind?
7. The search for resources to meet basic needs determines
migration patterns.
State Standards WHC
2.1.1
Locate places on maps using latitude and longitude systems and compass directions
2.1.2
Locate and label on map or globe major rivers, mountain ranges, gulfs, and seas of
the continents and their countries.
2.3.1
Identify main reasons for major migrations of people.
2.3.2
Explain how climate affects human migration and settlement.
2.4.1
Compare and contrast physical features on the planet
2.4.2
Explain the impact of waterways on civilizations.
2.5.1
Explain how the resources of an area can be the source of conflict between
competing groups.
.3.1.1
Explain how historically people have relied on their natural resources to meet their
needs.
7.
a. Why do groups move?
b. How does geography impact people?
c. What determines areas of settlement?
Civics & Government
8. Governing systems organize citizenry to maintain order and
achieve societal goals.
a. Why do societies create systems to govern society and how
do these systems differ across cultures and through time?
History
9. Civilizations progress socially, economically and politically.
State Standards WHC
1.6.3
Analyze the characteristics of early civilizations.
2.4.3
Identify the characteristics of significant early civilization.
3.2.2
Trace the evolution of hunting-gathering, agrarian, industrial and technological
economic systems.
State Standards GEH
1.8.4
Recognize historical perspective by identifying the context in which events occurred.
a. What is the difference between Paleolithic man and Neolithic
man?
b. How did Neolithic society develop from Paleolithic people?
c. What is the timeline for prehistoric man?
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Grade:
Subject:
Unit:
Lens: Survival/Adaptation
Critical Content and Skills
AC = Assessment Code:
Students will Know…
1. Elements of physical geography such as
water, topography, climate and natural
resources affect the location and growth of
ancient civilizations.
2. The history of ancient people is
understood through tools, petroglyphs and
other artifacts.
3. The development of agriculture and trade
changed the way ancient people lived.
4. The worlds earliest people banded
together to provide for their basic needs,
creating the first civilizations.
AC
Q – Quizzes
O – Observations
D – Dialogues
T - Tests
Students will be able to…
P - Prompts
WS – Work Samples
SA – Student Self-Assessment
1. Read and interpret maps.
2. Examine and draw conclusions from artifacts.
3. Compare technologies using artifacts between
Neolithic and Paleolithic civilizations.
4. Identify the factors leading to the change from
hunter/gatherer to agricultural societies.
5. Create, read and interpret timelines.
AC
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Grade: 6th
Subject: Social Studies
Unit: Prehistoric Society: Survival
Lens: Survival/Adaptation
Instructional Plan/Activities
(Correlations)
1. Students will measure and mark equal intervals for grid lines with string and tape in
place. Excavate the “dig-site” carefully using the tools and record findings/locations
on grid paper marked with cardinal directions to match the pan. Students examine
artifacts to draw conclusions about the culture. Assign materials a monetary value
and have students plan a budget for the dig. Write a creative story about the culture
using the found artifacts.
2. Students construct a graphic organizer identifying factors leading to change from
hunter/gatherer to agricultural societies.
Text Resources:
History Alive
1. “From Paleolithic to Neolithic: Identifying Changes in Daily Life”
chapters 1-10
*Additional Suggestions:
Motel of Mysteries by David McCauley
Digging into Archaeology
Ancient History Simulations by Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
1. “Grapes and Nuts”
Unit 1; Ch. 1 Harcourt Brace “Ancient Civilizations”
2
2-3
3-4
3-4
6
Performance Assessment
Subject:
Social Studies
Common Core
Objectives: RH 6, 7
Unit Topic:
Beginnings of Humans (Resource: History Alive
Chapter One)
Grade:
6th
Conceptual Lens:
Survival/Adaptation
What: The students will analyze and answer questions for the continent of Africa.
Students will label and interpret the continent of Africa, including the Fertile Crescent. Students will use a given set of questions in
order to label and interpret information for Africa and the Fertile Crescent.
Why: To have students gain knowledge of the beginnings of civilizations. To have students understand how archeologists, historians,
and geographers interpret and study the past.
How:
*Label and interpret information about Africa.
*Use of reading notes (preview and section notes.
*Create a cave painting
*Students will play the role “detective of the past” and enter a cave that was once inhabited by early hominids (teacher created cave
including student cave paintings, placards of “real” found cave paintings, and answer provided questions based upon the placards).
*Wrap up the activities with a whole group class discussion.
*Students will make a Venn diagram comparing student interpretations of the drawings vs. the intended meaning of the artist
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Performance Assessment:
Task and Rubric
Subject:
Social Studies
Grade:
6th
Unit Topic:
Beginnings of Humans
Conceptual Lens:
Survival and Adaptation
Task 1:
*Label and interpret information about Africa
*Use of reading notes (preview and section notes
*Create a cave painting
*Students will play the role “detective of the past” and enter a cave that was once inhabited by early hominids (teacher
created cave including student cave paintings, placards of “real” found cave paintings, and answer provided questions based
upon the placards)
*Wrap up the activities with a whole group class discussion
*Students will make a Venn diagram comparing student interpretations of the drawings vs. the intended meaning of the
artist
*Chapter One assessment: Multiple choice, open-ended response questions
Rubric:
Exemplary



Extends the concepts and enduring
understanding to include modern day
applications
Illustrations are realistic and creative
representations of pictographs
Unique and creative use of materials and space
Proficient



Illustrated and described the required enduring
understandings or guiding questions
Illustrations are realistic representations of
pictographs/petrographs
No grammar/mechanical errors
Progressing

Does not illustrate and describe enduring
understandings

Illustrations may not be factual or realistic

Grammar and mechanical errors are present
8
Performance Assessment
Subject:
Social Studies
Common Core
Objectives:
RH 1, 2, 7, 10
WHST 2, 4, 9, 10
Unit Topic:
Beginnings of Humans (Resource: History Alive
Chapter Three)
Grade:
6th
Conceptual Lens:
Survival/Adaptation
What: Compare and Contrast the Neolithic Age and Paleolithic Age
Why: Students need to understand adaptations that civilizations made in order to survive
How: Students will create a comic book
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Performance Assessment:
Task and Rubric
Subject:
Social Studies
Grade:
6th
Unit Topic:
Beginnings of Humans
Conceptual Lens:
Survival and Adaptation
Task 1:
Students will create a comic book based upon the comparison of the two ages and the following categories: Creating a stable food supply, making
permanent shelters, establishing communities, developing new jobs, and beginning trade.
Rubric:
Exemplary



Extends the concepts and enduring
understanding to include modern day
applications
Illustrations are realistic and creative
representations of pictographs
Unique and creative use of materials and space
Proficient



Illustrated and described the required enduring
understandings or guiding questions
Illustrations are realistic representations of
pictographs/petrographs
No grammar/mechanical errors
Progressing

Does not illustrate and describe enduring
understandings

Illustrations may not be factual or realistic

Grammar and mechanical errors are present
10
Performance Assessment
Subject:
Social Studies
Common Core
Objectives:
RH 4, 6, 7
WHST 1
Unit Topic:
Beginnings of Humans (Resource: History Alive
Chapter Four)
Grade:
6th
Conceptual Lens:
Survival/Adaptation
What: Students will provide solutions to the following four problems based upon the Mesopotamians: Food shortage, uncontrolled
water supply, building and maintaining complex irrigation systems, a tax by neighboring communities
Why: To describe the development of agriculture and other factors that lead to the emergence of city-states in Mesopotamia.
List the key features of the city-states.
How: Students will be presented with a “problem” and assume the role of a person of an ancient Mesopotamian. Evaluate which
solution is the best and justify. Students will present to the class, as well as read the text to find out how the actual Mesopotamians
problem solved.
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11
Performance Assessment:
Task and Rubric
Subject:
Social Studies
Grade:
6th
Unit Topic:
Beginnings of Humans
Conceptual Lens:
Survival and Adaptation
Task 1:
Students will be presented with a “problem” and assume the role of a person of an ancient Mesopotamian. Evaluate which
solution is the best and justify. Students will present to the class, as well as read the text to find out how the actual
Mesopotamians problem solved.
(Repeat for each of the above mentioned problems)
Rubric:
Exemplary



Extends the concepts and enduring
understanding to include modern day
applications
Illustrations are realistic and creative
representations of pictographs
Unique and creative use of materials and space
Proficient



Illustrated and described the required enduring
understandings or guiding questions
Illustrations are realistic representations of
pictographs/petrographs
No grammar/mechanical errors
Progressing

Does not illustrate and describe enduring
understandings

Illustrations may not be factual or realistic

Grammar and mechanical errors are present
12
Performance Assessment
Subject:
Social Studies
Common Core
Objectives:
RH 4, 6, 7
WHST 1
Unit Topic:
Beginnings of Humans (Resource: History Alive
Chapter Five)
Grade:
6th
Conceptual Lens:
Survival/Adaptation
What: Students will decide if ancient Sumer qualifies as a civilization
Why: Students need to understands the components make up what is considered to be a civilization
How: Students will complete the reading notes, as well as determining whether ancient Sumer artifacts and decide if the artifacts meet
the qualifications. Characteristics: A stable food supply, social structure, government, religion, art, technology, and writing.
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Performance Assessment:
Task and Rubric
Subject:
Social Studies
Grade:
6th
Unit Topic:
Beginnings of Humans
Conceptual Lens:
Survival and Adaptation
Task 1:
Students will complete the reading notes, as well as determining whether ancient Sumer artifacts and decide if the artifacts
meet the qualifications. Characteristics: A stable food supply, social structure, government, religion, art, technology, and
writing
With the use of placards (showing artifacts) answer guiding questions to analyze and how many characteristics does each
artifact show
Wrap up activity: Whole class discussion (teacher lead)
Rubric:
Exemplary



Extends the concepts and enduring
understanding to include modern day
applications
Illustrations are realistic and creative
representations of pictographs
Unique and creative use of materials and space
Proficient



Illustrated and described the required enduring
understandings or guiding questions
Illustrations are realistic representations of
pictographs/petrographs
No grammar/mechanical errors
Progressing

Does not illustrate and describe enduring
understandings

Illustrations may not be factual or realistic

Grammar and mechanical errors are present