Unit of Study: UNIT 1: In the Beginning: Understanding the Ancient World
Lesson Overview
Lesson Title:
Lesson Description
It’s Time to Settle Down: Migration, Geography, and the Development of Civilization
Learning Outcomes:
(Describe what you want students to take away from this lesson)
Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the 5 themes of geography, the importance of wants and needs, and the role of the physical environment in civilization through research and the creation a continued learning tool.
Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of why people migrate through research, the creation of a learning tool, and answers within a response journal.
This is the introductory lesson for this unit. It is intended to expose students to elements which we will be discussing throughout the course, beginning with the 5 themes of geography discussed within the context of early civilizations. Students will create a ‘book’ that begins to explore civilization, migration, and geography that will be updated throughout the unit and the year. Questions to be addressed in this lesson include how the distribution of resources impact human life, the role of wants and needs in driving migration, how physical features and natural resources affect the movement of people, goods, and ideas and what role geography plays in shaping a place. Ultimately, students will gain an understanding of migration, geography, and settlement in preparation for the next lesson, which goes into the 5 key aspects of civilization. The tools used and developed in this lesson will be built upon in the next one.
Clarifying
Objectives:
Approximate Time
Needed:
Content:
6.G.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).
6.H.2.1 Explain how invasions, conquests, and migrations affected various civilizations, societies and regions (e.g., Mongol invasion, The Crusades, the Peopling of the Americas and Alexander the Great).
6.E.1.2 Explain how quality of life is impacted by economic choices of civilizations, societies and regions.
Skills:
6.H.1.1 Construct charts, graphs, and historical narratives to explain particular events or issues over time.
6.G.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.
6.G.2.2 Construct maps, charts and graphs to explain data about geographic phenomena
(e.g., migration patterns and population, resource distribution patterns).
Approximately 300 minutes, depending on pace and student need. This lesson should be broken up over a number of classes.

Generalizations and Guiding Questions ( What Students Should Understand)
Generalization 1: People may migrate to meet their basic needs.
 How does the distribution of earth’s resources impact human life?

How do the physical features and natural resources of a region affect movement of people, goods and ideas?
Generalization 2: The physical characteristics of a place shape the development of a civilization.

What are the physical characteristics of select historic civilizations and regions?

What role does geography play in shaping a place?

How do river valleys contribute to the success of a civilization?
Essential Content Knowledge and Skills
Content Knowledge (what students should know) Skills (what students should be able to do)
6.H.1.1 Construct charts, graphs, and historical narratives to explain particular events or issues over time.
5 themes of geography
Difference between needs and wants
The physical characteristics of various places/regions.
Examples of civilizations.
The elements that define a civilization.
Why people migrate.
The connection between civilization and geography.
Key terminology
The importance of farming.
6.G.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.
6.G.2.2 Construct maps, charts and graphs to explain data about geographic phenomena (e.g., migration patterns and population, resource distribution patterns).
Assessment Plan
Learning Experiences Assessment Type Instructional Strategies
Interpret/Construct a map.
Crafted map and student responses(student work); teacher observation
Use a map and make predictions about civilizations, responding to guiding questions.
SEE METHODS AND PROCEDURES
Use and ask question relating to a timeline.
Research and make predictions about specific location or civilization.
Crafted timeline and student responses(student work); teacher observation
Introduce a timeline that explores the development of civilization.
SEE METHODS AND PROCEDURES
Graphic organizers and question responses (student work); teacher observations
Use a computer to learn about a civilization on a map.
SEE METHODS AND PROCEDURES
Collaboration on brainstorming and question responses.
Student response journals
(student work) and teacher observation.
Variety of activities. Small group collaboration.
SEE METHODS AND PROCEDURES
Using/creating a graphic organizer.
Graphic organizers (student work)
Use a graphic organizer to learn about 5 themes of geography, lenses of social science
SEE METHODS AND PROCEDURES
Lesson Details and Procedures

Learning Targets
(should be derived from assessments)
I can create a map that illustrates the physical characteristics of a location.
I can create a timeline that illustrates significant historic and geographic events within a specific civilization.
I can research information relating to migration, history, and geography relating to a specific civilization.
I can create a graphic organizer that demonstrates the results of guided research.
I can work successfully with peers when responding to questions and completing research.
Day One:
1.
Introduction questions:
Anticipatory Set/Hook
Have you ever moved to a different town, city, state, or country? If you have, why? If you haven’t, what might cause you and/or your family to move?
-Use ball to call on a number of students. Be sure to give your own experience. WRITE REASONS ON
BOARD/SCREEN/CHART. Ask students what these reasons may have in common. Should connect to wants and needs!
2.
What are wants? What are needs? find out if students understand the difference! a.
ACTIVITY: Using a list of modern wants and needs, have students decide if the thing is a want or a need. Move across the room accordingly. Justify decisions.
Items on the list might be: cellphone, Internet, automobile, McDonald’s, water, soda, food, clothing, J.Crew, etc. BE SURE TO DISCUSS AND HAVE STUDENTS
JUSTIFY! IMPORTANT! b.
Taking students back, have them share from their reasons whether people are moving as a result of a want or a need . Justify their responses, and point out that there may be no clear distinction between a want and a need.
Methods and
Procedures
(Teacher Input
Guided Practice and
Independent Practice)
3.
Think back to the reasons you said you moved, or didn’t move, or would move. What can you say about why people move?
Students should again get toward wants and needs.
We move from place to place to get what we want, because we have to, because things change where we are. But it’s important to know where we are going. So let’s take a look at the objectives for this set of lessons, so we know where WE are going!!
(Go over objectives)
Explain to students that this lesson is the first in a series that will begin to explore the development of civilization, the rise of community, and the connections between geography and the rise of civilizations!
4. So let’s begin to explore this, and to consider the way that geography affects our movement and choices! You are already in your thinking groups. We need one person in each group to have their computers open and on. Make sure everyone can see it, and that the volume is turn up just high enough for your group to hear. Each group is going to use the ‘5 themes of geography’ graphic organizer and collaborate on completing it together!
Is everyone clear on what we are doing in this part?
Point out to students that they are to work TOGETHER on completing the graphic organizer.
They will be exchanging the GO with other students for feedback!
So let’s begin! When you are ready, click on the video link that has been provided on our class resource page!
Students view a ‘5 themes of geography’ video

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op7ZIZmyOdI )
Now, think back to the question that we started with: Have you ever moved to a different town, city, state, or country? If you have, why? If you haven’t, what might cause you and/or your family to move? Think about these questions as you watch the video. Was your moving influenced by any of the 5 themes that you will look at now?
4.
Students view a ‘5 themes of geography’ video
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op7ZIZmyOdI )
As they view the video, collaboratively summarize in graphic organizers each of the themes.
Once this is complete, have students exchange GOs with another group and review what their peers wrote. Is it accurate? Does it reflect what you wrote? If it doesn’t, suggest corrections to your peers! Once students have provided peer feedback, return GOs.
5.
Pair/Group Chat: Respond to the following.
(a) You have just summarized the 5 themes of geography. With your partner, give one example in your journals of each theme in action, from what you know about history or your own life. How might these themes apply to you now or in the future? Was your moving, or not moving, or future move, influenced by any of the 5 themes that you will look at now?
Replay video. Discuss with students the summary that they created of the 5 themes. Choose one from each group to share out summary. Provide feedback on their examples from 6a.
Was the example related to a want or a need? Point out to students that these themes play a large role in history, and will constantly be referred to as we work together to explore history, culture, and society together. Remind students that some of these have come up in elementary school! a.
Location is where we are on the earth. Absolute and relative location. b.
Place refers to physical and human characteristics. This is the natural environment and how people live in and use the area. c.
Human-environment interaction addresses how people rely on, modify, and adapt to the environment. d.
Movement refers to how people, things, and ideas move from place to place. e.
A region is a defined geographic area that can be based on human or physical characteristics.
6.
Now is an opportunity to remind students of the different lens of social studies thinking (or disciplinary literacy, if they are ready for that term!) they were introduced to in elementary school and in their orientation to sixth grade social studies. It is important that they begin to see through different lenses (historian, geographer, political scientist, economist, cultural anthropologist).
7.
Review the different lenses. Have them put them in their own words using the other side of the graphic organizer ! Check for understanding!

8.
So, it is time for us to really start digging deep and using the lenses! You ALL have the geographer thinking card. Using your thinking card as a guide, rotate as a thinking group around the room and write one way a geographers might use each of the five themes to expand their knowledge. What questions would they ask? What would they want to know relating to that theme? Each group should come up with something different than what is already there! (THERE SHOULD BE ONE THEME ON EACH CHART.)
9.
Review/Share out.
10.
So does everyone feel like they can get a sense of how a geographer might consider the five themes? Now, let’s go deeper. Let’s do the same thing for the other four lenses!
Using the thinking cards, ask students for examples of what each role might choose to look at when studying the 5 themes. Each thinking group has been given a different role, where possible.
Using our TRICIDER TOOL, state your role and how your role might look at TWO of the themes of geography, just as we did with the geographer lens! Provide each other feedback on Tricider! (note: this idea has been introduced in elementary school and as part of their orientation to sixth grade social studies and will be expanded on throughout the unit)we will start to explore and use the lenses today)
11.
Share out/provide feedback. Each of the 5 themes will play a role in the beginnings of our discussion today, as will each of the different ways in which we can think and look at things in the social studies. Let’s start with movement. Take a moment with your partner and, using the thinking card that you have been given by your teacher, try to come up with as many different reasons as possible for why people might move, from the perspective of your card.(what would be a reason related to the historian lens? Economist lens? Cultural anthropologist lens? Political science lens?) Post your reasons on_________________
(chart paper, sticky note online tool, Penzu, etc)
12.
Share out reasons. Students should have focused on reasons such as jobs, money, better life, religious beliefs, natural disasters, persecution, etc. Create a list of these reasons.
13.
What do we see in these reasons? What do many of these reasons have in common?
Connect students back to what we started the day with: wants and needs! People are moving to fulfill their desires or meet a want or need!
14.
Wrap up question: Now think about it like this: How might the geography of a place impact whether people, including yourself, choose to leave or stay there?
Responses should, but may not, be connected mainly to ability to meet wants or needs. use graphic organizer and thinking on wants and needs to facilitate thinking. THINKING ABOUT ALL FIVE
THEMES AS YOU THINK ABOUT THIS QUESTION. —students should touch on the resources in a place and how they can be used to address wants and needs. Might also address how the physical features of a place impact the decision to live somewhere.
Day One Closure:

Answer the following question in your exit journal:
Have you ever thought about the connection between where you live and how you live? What impact might your location have on your ability to have a good life?
Day 2:
1.
Warm up: Remind them of the objectives. Share out student responses to the previous day’s closing journal entry. DO STUDENTS HAVE EXAMPLES THEY ARE WILLING TO
SHARE?
Have you ever thought about the connection between where you live and how you live? What impact might your location have on your ability to have a good life? Additional question for thinking: what would you want to change or improve in a place for you to want to live there? (for example, Plymouth!) . Point out that this brings us to our today’s discussion: people have ALWAYS moved to meet their wants and needs! Today we are going to seek out new life and new civilizations and discuss why people settled where no one had settled before! (Option: play Star Trek monologue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTuU4a9jOqw )
2.
People have always moved. Movement from place to place has a particular name. Does anyone know what that name is? Migration-to migrate.
Connect back to previous day and student close from the previous day: why did people move into larger communities?---geography and economics! Remember our thinking cards!
People needed resources, and physical environment helped determine what resources were
available. What are some examples of resources? Connect back to discussion of wants and needs from previous day!
3.
So we have discussed possible reasons that people move. We have touched on the differences between wants and needs. Let’s use our historian lens and consider now the dawn of civilization. Everybody up! Move students to back of room. On chart/board paper, have each question listed. a.
What do you think of when you hear the term civilization? b.
Why would people want to settle in cities? c.
How might people have lived before they settled in one place?
4.
Share out and discuss. What do these answers have in common?
5.
Write down the following questions: What factors contribute to people settling down in one area? How do the location of resources impact human life? Respond to the question in your journals after we watch the following clips : SHOW VIDEO ONCE. PAUSE AND
EXPLORE A SECOND TIME. Exploration questions are below.
Play the farming video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu9-7ZJ1h1g )
Ask: why might the farmer decide that he does not want to hunt anymore?
Ask: What sort of geography might be necessary for farming to be successful?
Play the Cities Video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doQG-uAzun8 )

Ask: What does the clip suggest about the benefits of living in a city?
Ask: what might be necessary for a city to run effectively?
Now, in your thinking groups, use your graphic organizer with the lenses and use your assigned lens to answer these questions! why might the farmer decide that he does not want to hunt anymore? what sort of environment is necessary for farming to be successful?
What does the clip suggest about the benefits of living in a city?
what might be necessary for a city to run effectively?
6.
What connection might be made between the farming video and this video/between the rise of farming and the rise of cities? point out to students that this is connected to something important, AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION, which they will explore more of later. Answers should suggest that farming had to come before cities. Why????
7.
Is this true?
Does farming come first? Share the timeline. If necessary, have students explain how timelines help us study the past.
What does the timeline concerning the Agricultural Revolution suggest about the connection between farming and the rise of cities? http://www.bneater.com/apworld9/ChapterResources/content/Chap1/chap1%
20maincontent%20images/timeline.jpg
What questions does the timeline raise for you and your thinking team, based on your lens?
8.
So, based on what we have seen today, respond in your journals to the original prompt:
What factors contribute to people settling down in one area? How do the location of resources impact human life?
9.
Share out.
Day 2 Close
Paired brainstorm on the board: How might the location of resources and the characteristics of the physical environment impact the location of cities and the movement of people?
Day 3 Open:
Review the brainstormed responses from the close of the previous day. Remind them of the objectives.
We have discussed the importance of geography a great deal. So now, you are going to take what you have thought about and go deeper! It’s time for some fun with maps!
1.
Pass out physical map of Fertile Crescent.

2.
Remind students that they were exposed to these sorts of maps in our opening discussion on social studies in the sixth grade. What kind of map is this? USING YOUR THINKING
CARDS: What kind of things can you learn from this map, based on your role?
3.
With your thinking partner, do the following in your response journals: ( approx. 30 minutes ) a.
Go back to your graphic organizer. Look at the five themes. What is a region? b.
Break down the name of the region (one of our 5 themes!). What does the name suggest about the region? c.
Describe the physical characteristics of the region. What type of region are you seeing here? d.
Brainstorm possible reasons for people choosing to settle in this region. Think about how this region may have met the needs and wants of people. e.
What prediction can you make about the connection between river valleys, migration, and civilization? f.
Looking at your thinking cards and graphic organizer, how would each lens use this map? g.
Intro to ‘research’: Select two of the places on the map. Using a Venn Diagram, compare and contrast the physical characteristics of the environment of each place. What do they have in common? What is different? Note to teacher: this is a chance for you to see how your students do on the Internet when asked to find information. What are their sources? What problems do you observe? How do they approach the ‘research’. You MUST address any concerns PRIOR to last
part of this extended lesson (Performance Task).

Closing/Assessment
4.
Share out. Students will share what they came up with.
Day 3 Close:
Stand and share out: how can maps help us learn about civilizations and locations?
Day 4 Open:
Warm up: Review student response to previous day’s work. What commonalities do we see across civilizations?
Performance Task: Following the discussion of reasons for migration and the role of geography, students will transition into the library for the following piece of the lesson. (suggest one class period of library exploration and then outside of class)
1.
Exploration: On the map that you have been provided are a number of locations and associated civilizations: a.
Egypt b.
Phoenicia c.
Assyria d.
Akkad e.
Assyria f.
Catal Huyuk
With your thinking partner, do the following: a. Select a location. b. ‘Explore’ the location using the tool of your choice. You may use books from the library, encyclopedias, or the internet.
Note for teachers: You may use this as an opportunity to integrate the information and technology standard expectations! This is an opportunity for you to see where your students are in relation to effective internet research . It may be a good idea to collaborate with the media specialist (if available) to provide an overview of internet research. Possible tool: view the linked powerpoint and complete the linked worksheet to ensure that you are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of internet research.
This must be done and turned in to the teacher BEFORE beginning your research.
Powerpoint: http://readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson983/presentation.ppt
Worksheet: http://readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson983/student.pdf
In your exploration, address the following questions:
1. What is the name of the civilization or location that you are researching?
2. When was your civilization or location settled?
3. What physical characteristics of the location drew settlers? How did it help people meet their wants and needs?

4. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the location? (for example, it had access to water, but also suffered from flooding) How did human beings interact with these strengths and weaknesses?
5. Did it have any interactions with other locations, people, or civilizations? How and why?
6. Connect your location/civilization to each of the 5 themes of geography as described within your graphic organizer (this may be done as a part of other questions or separately).
a. Location: How does the importance of your location change over time? Where exactly on the earth is your location? What is your civilization’s location in relation to others?
b. Place: How would you describe your location physically, and what are the natural resources?
What type of human characteristics are evident (land use, housing, industry, etc)?
c. Human-Environment Interaction: how do people in your civilization/location depend on, modify, or adapt to the environment?
d. Movement: what examples of movement of people, goods, or ideas do you see? What connections to other locations/civilizations do you see?
e. Regions: what region is your location/civilization in. Remember that regions can be based on physical characteristics OR human characteristics.
7. Create a timeline of the location or civilization that shows important events in its history and geography.
8. Create a map of your location that illustrates the physical and human characteristics of the location.
What makes the location a good place for settlement?
9. Develop at least one to two questions relating to each of the lenses. What kind of questions might a historian ask? Geographer? Political scientist? Cultural anthropologist? Economist?
*10. Create a list of questions for further exploration later in the unit. These questions should center around things that you discovered in your research that you would like to learn more about and relate to history, geography, culture, technology, institutions, or other features of civilization. (THIS IS AN
OPTIONAL PIECE, BUT MAY SERVE AS A GUIDE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH AS
STUDENTS MOVE DEEPER INTO THE UNIT).
Students will complete chart that addresses each of the questions, and include their map and timeline.
These charts will be compiled into a ‘quick reference’ book for each student to use and build on throughout the unit. In the next lesson within the unit, students will learn about the 5 key aspects and then use their selected civilization/location as a ‘case study’ illustrating how each one demonstrates the 5 key aspects. These will be added to the student ‘books’.
11. Teacher should compile charts and return to students. Provide class feedback on what was observed within compiled graphic organizers. Address issues of concern and lingering questions.
Students review the compiled books and move into small groups. Each student will teach their ‘page’ of the book with the group, and readers have the opportunity ask the creators questions about what was found.
Additional:
1. Teacher observation throughout each day. (O)
2. Student journals and share out. (P, WS)
3. Discussion with students throughout each day. (D)
4. Student ‘exploration of civilizations’ book (WS).
5. Student map (WS)
6. Student timeline (WS)

Accommodations for Differentiated
Instruction
Review the ‘book’ and the information that each thinking pair has provided about their locations and civilizations, and respond to the following questions in your response journals:
( approx. 20 minutes ; may be assigned as homework )
1. Based on what you have learned, how does the distribution of earth’s resources impact human life? (generalization 1)
2. Based on what you have learned, how do the physical features and natural resources of a region affect movement of people, goods and ideas? (generalization 1)
3. What role does geography play in shaping a place? (generalization 2)
*4. What features, which could be physical, human, or historical, do the location and civilizations provided in your ‘book’ seem to have in common? (generalization 2) (Note: this last question may also serve as a wrap-up homework opportunity to prepare students for the next lesson. See below.)
*Review the compiled graphic organizers. What features, which could be physical, human, or historical, do the location and civilizations provided in your ‘book’ seem to have in common?
Lesson 2 preview: Begin discussion of 5 key aspects of civilization. Students will learn about the 5 key aspects and then use their selected civilization/location as a ‘case study’ illustrating how each one demonstrates the 5 key aspects. These will be added to the student ‘books’.
Daily exits, if the suggested exits are not used (within collected response journals):
What is one thing that you learned today and one question that you still have? Teacher may provide written feedback within each journal, address at the start of class, or address individually with student.
All students are expected to ask at least one question by the end of the lesson!
All accommodations will be provided based on the requirements of IEPs and 504 plans.
Additional accommodations and enrichment is provided below.
1.
Thinking pairs. Thinking pairs should ensure that students are not isolated in their work and are able to build on the thoughts and work of each other.
2.
Graphic organizers will be used throughout the lesson.
3.
Questions: questions can be leveled up or down based on student ability and need.
Enrichment: a. Students may choose to craft graphic organizers for more than one location or civilization.
If this is done, craft a Venn Diagram that compares the two civilizations. b. Complete the following webquest (note: use only the British museum link: http://questgarden.com/52/41/5/070613164641/process.htm
In addition to the expectations, presented in the webquest, respond to the following question in your presentation: |
How did the physical characteristics of Mesopotamia impact its development as a civilization and the rise of the city states?

Material/Resources
Needed
Projector
Computer with Internet access
Graphic organizers
Access to media center, relevant books, and encyclopedias.
Graphic organizers