Social Studies 6: Ancient Civilizations
Learning Targets
Students are expected to demonstrate their abilities to:
- recognize textual evidence from primary and secondary sources to support analysis
- describe how a text presents itself (sequentially, comparatively, and causally)
- distinguish between facts and opinions in a text
- identify an author's point of view and purpose through evaluating relevant parts of a text
Students will know or be able to do the following things at the end of the teaching cycle: (subject to revision)
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First 3 Week Cycle
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Class Procedures
Review of Geography
Chapter 1: Recovering the Past
Chapter 2: The Stone Ages & Early Cultures
Ø Historians use many kinds of clues to understand how people lived in the past.
Ø Physical geography and human geography contribute to the study of history.
Ø Prehistoric people learned to adapt to their environment to make simple tools, to use fire, and to use language.
Ø As people migrated around the world they learned to adapt to new environments.
Ø The development of agriculture brought great changes to human society.
Key Vocabulary:
history
artifacts
prehistory
domestication
geography
culture
ancestors
agriculture
archaeology
migrate
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Second 3 Week Cycle
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Chapter 3: Mesopotamia
Ø The valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were the site of the world's first civilization.
Ø Sumerians developed the first civilization in Mesopotamia.
Ø Sumerians made many advances that helped their society develop.
Ø After the Sumerians, many cultures ruled parts of the Fertile Crescent.
Key Vocabulary:
Hammurabi's Code
silt
city-state
empire
irrigation
polytheism
canals
ziggurat
cuneiform
monarch
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Third 3 Week Cycle
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Chapter 4: Ancient Egypt
(Section 1 and 2)
Ø The water and fertile soils of the NileValley allowed a great civilization to develop in Egypt.
Ø The Egyptian government and religion were closely connected during the Old Kingdom.
Key Vocabulary:
Cataracts
delta
pharaoh
dynasty
Old Kingdom
nobles
afterlife
mummies
elite
pyramids
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Fourth 3 Week Cycle
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Chapter 4: Ancient Egypt
(Section 3 and 4)
Ø During the Middle and NewKingdoms, order and greatness were restored in Egypt.
Ø The Egyptians made lasting achievements in writing, architecture, and art.
Key Vocabulary:
New Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
King Tutankhamen
Queen Hatshepsut
trade routes
Rosetta Stone
hieroglyphics
sphinxes
obelisk
papyrus
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Fifth 3 Week Cycle
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Chapter 6: Ancient India
Ø Indian civilization first developed on the IndusRiver.
Ø Hinduism, the largest religion in India today, developed out of ancient Indian beliefs and practices.
Ø Buddhism began in India and became a major religion.
Ø The Mauryas and the Guptas built great empires in India.
Ø The people of ancient India made great contributions to the arts and sciences.
Key Vocabulary:
reincarnation
karma
meditation
missionaries
Buddhism
subcontinent
inoculations
Sanskrit
caste system
Hinduism
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Sixth 3 Week Cycle
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Chapter 7: Ancient China
(Sections 1 and 2)
Ø Chinese civilization began with the Shang Dynasty along the Huang He.
Ø Confucius and other philosophers taught ways to deal with political and social problems in ancient China.
Key Vocabulary:
Xia Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
oracle
jade
lords
peasants
ethics
Daoism
Confucius
Legalism
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Seventh 3 Week Cycle
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Chapter 7: Ancient China
(Sections 3-5)
Ø The Qin dynasty unified China with a strong government and a system of standardization.
Ø The Han dynasty created a new form of government that valued family, art, and learning.
Ø Trade routes led to the exchange of new products and ideas among China, Rome, and other peoples.
Key Vocabulary:
Shi Huangdi
Great Wall
sundial
acupuncture
seismograph
silk
Qin Dynasty
Silk Road
diffusion
Han Dynasty
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Eighth 3 Week Cycle
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Chapter 8: The Hebrews & Judaism
Ø Originally desert nomads, the Hebrews established a great kingdom called Israel.
Ø The central ideas and laws of Judaism are contained in sacred texts such as the Torah.
Ø Although they were forced out of Israel by the Romans, shared beliefs and customs helped the Jews maintain their religion.
Key Vocabulary:
Torah
Exodus
Passover
monotheistic
Moses
Judaism
rabbis
prophets
Ten Commandments
Diaspora
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Ninth 3 Week Cycle
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Chapter 9: Ancient Greece
Ø Greece's geography and its nearness to the sea strongly influenced the development of trade and the growth of city-states.
Ø The people of Athens tried many different forms of government before creating a democracy.
Ø The ancient Greeks created great myths and works of literature that influence the way we speak and write.
Key Vocabulary:
fables
polis
democracy
Homer
Aesop
oligarchy
acropolis
classical
tyrant
mythology
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Tenth 3 Week Cycle
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Chapter 10: Ancient Greece
Ø Over time the Persians came to rule over a great empire which eventually brought them into conflict with the Greeks.
Ø The most powerful city-states in Greece, Sparta and Athens, had very different cultures and became bitter enemies in the 400s BC.
Ø Alexander the Great built a huge empire and helped spread Greek culture into Egypt and Asia.
Ø Ancient Greeks made lasting contributions in the arts, philosophy, and science.
Key Vocabulary:
Socrates
Parthenon
Plato
alliance
phalanx
cavalry
Cyrus the Great
Persian Wars
Alexander the Great
Peloponnesian War
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Eleventh 3 Week Cycle
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Chapter : 11 and 12
Ø Rome's location and government helped it become a major power in ancient world.
Ø Rome's tripartite government and written laws helped create a stable society.
Ø The later period of the RomanRepublic was marked by wars of expansion and political crisis
Ø Julius Caesar and Augustus led Rome's transition from Republic to Empire.
Ø After Augustus became emperor, the Roman Empire grew politically and economically, and life improved for the Roman people.
Ø Many features of the Roman culture were copied by later civilizations and continue to influence our lives today.
Key Vocabulary:
dictators
plebeians
patricians
Pax Romana
Roman Senate
veto
Latin
provinces
Punic Wars
Augustus
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Final 3 Week Cycle
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Chapter 13 and 14: Rome and Christianity
Ø The Roman Empire accepted many religions, but it came into conflict with Judaism.
Ø Christianity, based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, spread quickly after his death.
Ø Within three centuries after Jesus' death, Christianity had spread through the empire and became Rome's official religion
Ø Problems from both inside and outside caused the Roman Empire to split and the western half to collapse.
Ø The Roman Empire split into two parts, and the eastern Roman Empire prospered for hundreds of years after the western empire fell.
Key Vocabulary:
Christianity
Messiah
crucifixion
Resurrection
disciples
Apostles
persecution
bishops
martyrs
pope
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