CURRICULUM MAP-Unit Two

Course: Global 9th Grade Teacher: Carmen Pinto

UNIT TITLE:
Ancient Civilizations
ENDURING UNDERSTANDING (S):
· Students will be able to explain the role of river valleys in the establishments of civilizations
· Students will be able to explain how contributions of early civilizations influenced later people
· Analyze sequence and relationship of events. (Cause and effect)
SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS: / LITERACY STANDARDS:
Standard 2-World History
Use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.
Standard 3-Geography
Use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live—local, national, and global—including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s surface.
Standard 4- Economics
Use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the U.S. and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and nonmarket mechanisms.
Standard 5- Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the U.S. and other nations; the U.S. Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation. / Reading
3. Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or emotional aspects of history / social studies.
7. Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g. charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.
Writing
1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
8. Gather relevant info from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
9. Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection and research.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION(S):
· Why were river valleys the birthplace of great civilizations?
· How did early civilizations leave their mark on World History?
CONTENT:
· The geography of ancient river valley civilizations and the role of rivers in the establishment of cradles of civilizations
· Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as a birthplace of Sumerian Civilization
· Nile River as the birthplace of Egyptian Civilization
· Indus River Valley as the birthplace of ancient Indian Civilization (Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro)
· Hwang He River/Yellow River as the birthplace of ancient Chinese Civilization (Shang Dynasty)
· The achievements of ancient civilizations and their contribution to world history
· Fertile Crescent: lunar calendar, number system based on the number 60, temples and ziggurats, cuneiform
· Egypt: pyramids, calendar, mummification, hieroglyphics,
· Indus River Valley: concept of zero, sewer system, sanitation system, grid-like streets, Sanskrit
· Hwang He River Valley/Yellow: writing system, bronze technology
SKILLS / UNDERSTANDINGS:
· Identifying geographic characteristics that enable the growth of ancient civilizations
· Comparing the contributions of river valley civilizations
VOCABULARY:
Mesopotamia/Fertile Crescent: surplus food supply, ziggurat, cuneiform, levee, irrigation system, dam, dike, number system, lunar
Egypt: silt, pharaoh, scribe, pyramid, hieroglyphics, mummification
Indus River Valley: sewer system, urbanization, urban planning, Sanskrit
Hwang He River Valley: floods, silt, drought, ideograms, bronze, oracle bones
ASSESSMENT / EVIDENCE
· Explain how geography may have hindered or helped the development of a region
· Explain how central governments contribute to the advancement of civilizations
· Describe the contributions of ancient civilizations and explain how they have influenced later people
ACTIVITIES / LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES:
· Study a physical map of Mesopotamia and identify geographic characteristics that affected the development of ancient Sumer
· Explain how the contributions of the Sumerians influenced later people (number system based on the number 60=60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour)
· Assess the fairness/unfairness of the Code of Hammurabi
· Study a physical map of ancient Egypt and explain what the expression “The Gifts of the Nile” refer to after checking on http://egypt.mrdonn.org/geography.html
· Explain how the contributions of the ancient Egyptians paved the way for later advances (medicine, mummification, accurate calendar, engineering, architecture, geometry).
· Study a physical map of the ancient India and explain how the different features affected the development of the region (locate Himalaya Mountains, Indus River, Ganges River, Brahmaputra River, Deccan Plateau, Western and Eastern Ghats, Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and define monsoons).
· Explain why the monsoons were considered both a blessing and a curse.
· Describe the ancient cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa
· Explain how the contributions of the ancient Indus River Valley civilization influenced later people.
· Study a physical map of China and identify geographic characteristics that affected its development (locate Himalaya Mountains, Gobi Desert, Kunlun Mountains, China Sea, Pacific Ocean, Tibetan Plateau, Yellow River, Xi River)
· Explain how the isolation of China influenced its ethnocentric view
· Explain how the Silk Road was the internet of ancient times
RESOURCES:
http://egypt.mrdonn.org/geography.html
http://www.recoveredscience.com/const130egymathcontributions.htm#_edn33
TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION
http://egypt.mrdonn.org/geography.html
http://www.recoveredscience.com/const130egymathcontributions.htm#_edn33

Pinto