**Though not addressed in 1 particular lesson, the study of each civilization begins with an examination of geography - its region, climate, landforms, etc.
How does a location of a region influence its climate?
How do environmental factors affect where people choose to live?
4201 - Characteristics
of Civilization
15-19 (why people settle where they do; how does it impact a civilization?)
How can maps, charts, and graphs be used to represent features of physical geography?
“What is Geography?”
add-on lessons
“What’s It All About?” -
(difference between physical and cultural geography)
How can maps, charts, and graphs be used to represent features of human geography?
How do environmental factors influence the
ways that human societies organize themselves?
4201 - Characteristics
of Civilization
31-34 (research a civilization to determine how environment and other factors impact a civilization)
What features define a group of people as a
civilization?
4201 - Characteristics
of Civilization
10-14 (characteristics of a civilization) Also use the chart on pgs. 8-9 to record examples of characteristics over Units 3-7)
How do civilizations maintain political order?
4201 - Characteristics
of Civilization
35-38 (government/law)
44-49 (social order/hierarchy)
How do civilizations help people to get what they need and want?
4201 - Characteristics
of Civilization
50-55 (barter and trade)
Extra Content Lessons Pertaining to Ancient Civilizations (for intro unit):
Geographical Theme - Human Environmental Interaction
“What is Geography?”
add-on lessons
“Changing Places”
Geographical Theme - Movement
“What is Geography?”
add-on lessons
“Let’s Move”
Role of religion in development of civilization (basic concept - not specific to one specific civilization)
4201 - Characteristics
of Civilization
56-60 (religion comes from a need to explain the world; students research to compare and contrast a myth from 2 different ancient civilizations)
Importance of culture and traditions in a civilization (basic concept - not specific to one specific civilization)
65-69 (compare languages over several civilizations - students determine if each is pictographic, syllabic or alphabetic)
What can we learn from ancient cultures from artifacts?
4201 - Characteristics
of Civilization
70-75 (examine artifacts from Indus Valley, Mesopotamia, Egypt, China - Shang and Qin- Greece and Rome to make inferences)
What causes civilizations to decline and fall?
4201 - Characteristics
of Civilization
82-86 (warm up examines the Shang, students write a short story based on decline and fall of a civilization
Unit 2: Early Humans
Essential Question
InspirEd Unit:
Pages/Notes:
What are the markers of change over time in the development of prehistoric man?
4100 - Pre-Colonial Africa
16-20 (discoveries of Leakeys and Donald Johanson - discuss prehistoric man/artifacts/etc.)
How did life in the Neolithic period compare to life in the Paleolithic period?
4100 - Pre-Colonial Africa
30-34 (compare and contrast Paleolithic Era and Neolithic Era)
How were tools/artifacts used by Neolithic man
more advanced than those used by Paleolithic man?
What inventions made it possible for man to
farm?
How did the invention of agriculture relate to the
beginning of civilization?
**4201 - Characteristics
of Civilization
**31-34 (this lesson pertains to lesson 1 but agricultural revolution is discussed in lesson warm-up)
What are the characteristics of a civilization?
**4201 - Characteristics
of Civilization
**10-14 (same question as in Unit 1 - characteristics of a civilization) Also use the chart on pgs. 8-9 to record examples of characteristics over Units 3-7)
What resources do people NEED in order to survive?
**4201 - Characteristics
of Civilization
**15-19 (lesson warm-up answers this question - this lesson used in Unit 1)
How would the scarcity of resources affect how
and where people live?
4201 - Characteristics
of Civilization
24-30 (how and why civilizations experience scarcity)
Why was Mesopotamia one of the earliest areas of settlement in world history?
8-13 (geography, climate, landforms, how different parts of Greece were isolated from each other)
How did the geography of Greece isolate developing city-states?
How do physical features affect economy?
4104 - Ancient Greece
33-36 (how Greece “made do” with the resources they had - limited farmland, etc. - and trade)
What did Greece need to develop a system of money?
How did city-states develop politically?
4104 - Ancient Greece
23-26 (students research a city-state to compare and contrast to others)
How did Greek government evolve from a monarchy to a democracy?
4104 - Ancient Greece
27-32 (development of democracy in Greece, how the government was structured, rights and responsibilities of citizens, compare and contrast to the U.S.)
What are the characteristics of a democracy?
What are the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a society?
Who was a citizen in Athens and what were their rights and responsibilities?
What are the cultural characteristics of Ancient Greece?
4104 - Ancient Greece
44-47 (literature)
48-53 (philosophy)
54-56 (mythology)
57-62 (Olympics)
63-67 (architecture)
86-89 (culture project)
How did Alexander the Great unify Greece?
4104 - Ancient Greece
82-85 (unification under Alexander the Great, building of an empire, achievements, preservation of Greek culture, legacy)
How did the conquests of Alexander the Great spread Greek culture?
Why did Alexander the Great’s empire not last?
Extra Content Lessons Pertaining to Ancient Greece:
*** Persian Wars and Golden Age
4104- Ancient Greece
37-43 (causes, events, outcomes; includes story of the “marathon” and Pericles)
*** More Achievements of the Ancient Greeks
4104- Ancient Greece
68-72 (medicine, math, etc.)
*** Peloponnesian Wars
4104- Ancient Greece
73-79 (includes description of Spartan soldiers and causes/events/outcomes)
Unit 7: Ancient Rome
Essential Question
InspirEd Unit:
Pages/Notes:
How does the myth of Remus and Romulus explain the foundation of Rome?
64 - 68 (feudal pyramid, how feudalism emerged in Japan, classes in feudal society)
69 - 73 (warring over limited land, need for protection from invaders, 1st shogun, rise and fall of feudal families and their contributions)
74 - 79 (Shinto, Confucian and Buddhist influences, Bushido, kamikaze warriors, Mongol invasions)
How did the geography of Japan create a reverence for
nature?
What are the basic beliefs of Shintoism?
How did Shintoism affect family structure and
Japanese traditions?
How did control of resources influence the social structure
of Japan?
How did a feudal social structure impact the lives of the Japanese people?
How did conflict over resources affect control of power?
Unit 13: Medieval Europe
Essential Question
InspirEd Unit:
Pages/Notes:
What were the causes and effects of Viking invasions?
4108 - Medieval Europe
8-12 (Germanic invasions)
41-44 (Viking invasions)
How did the value of land lead to the creation of the feudal system?
4108 - Medieval Europe
13-19 (manor system)
20-26 (feudalism)
27-33 (knights)
What were the roles of the feudal system and why did they accept those roles?
How did the feudal system affect quality of life for people in each class?
How did the Magna Carta influence change in the quality of life?
4108 - Medieval Europe
45-50 (also includes William the Conqueror/Battle of Hastings)
How would the feudal system compare to modern society?
What was the role of the church and why was it so powerful?
4108 - Medieval Europe
34-40 (power and wealth of the Church, power of the Popes, how the Church unified Medieval society, etc. Also compares the power of the Church with that of the Holy Roman Empire)
What influence did the church have on the different classes?
How did the Pope use his resources to influence the king?
What issues created conflict between the church and state?
What impact did the church have on cultural expression?
4108 - Medieval Europe
71-76 (Romanesque and Gothic art and architecture)
What were the causes of the Crusades?
4108 - Medieval Europe
51-55 (causes, main events and outcomes of the Crusades)
56-60 (examines the legend of the Children’s Crusade of 1212)
What were the effects of the Crusades?
How did the increased global contact through trade foster the spread of the Black Death?