Description

Standards

• 4.1 Create and use a chronological sequence of related events to compare developments and describe instances of change and continuity.
• 4.2 Use a variety of primary and secondary sources to:
• 4.2a. Analyze social studies content.
• 4.2b. Explain claims and evidence.
• 4.2c. Compare and contrast multiple sources.
• 4.3 Explain connections between ideas, events, and developments in world history.
• 4.4 Compare and contrast events and developments in world history.
• 4.5 Construct and express claims that are supported with relevant evidence from primary and/or secondary sources, content knowledge, and clear reasoning in order to:
• 4.5a Demonstrate an understanding of social studies content.
• 4.5b. Compare and contrast content and viewpoints.
• 4.5c. Explain causes and effects.
• 4.5d. Describe counterclaims.
• 4.6 Create and use geographic representations to locate and describe places and geographic characteristics, including hemispheres; landforms such as continents, oceans, rivers, mountains, and deserts; cardinal and intermediate directions; climate and environment.
• 4.7 Use geographic representations and historical information to explain how physical geography influenced the development of ancient civilizations and empires.
• 4.11 Explain the effects of the Agricultural Revolution, including the barter economy, food surpluses, domestication of plants and animals, specialization, and the growth of permanent settlements.
• 4.12 Identify and explain the importance of the following key characteristics of civilizations: culture, specialization, infrastructure, stable food supply, government, technology, belief systems, writing, and social structure.
• 4.13 Describe the geographic, political, economic, and cultural structures of the ancient Near East.
• 4.13a. Identify and locate geographic features of the ancient Near East, including the Black Sea, Persian Gulf, Euphrates River, Tigris River, Mediterranean Sea, and Zagros Mountains.
• 4.13b. Explain how geographic and climatic features led to the region being known as the Fertile Crescent.
• 4.13c. Explain how irrigation, silt, metallurgy, production of tools, use of animals and inventions, such as the wheel and plow, led to advancements in agriculture.
• 4.13d. Describe how changes in agriculture in Sumer led to economic growth, expansion of trade and transportation, and the growth of independent city states.
• 4.13e. Identify important achievements of the Mesopotamian civilization, including cuneiform, clay tablets, ziggurats, and the Epic of Gilgamesh as the oldest written epic.
• 4.13f. Describe the significance of the written law in the Code of Hammurabi, and explain the meaning of the phrase “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”
• 4.13g. Describe the achievements of the ancient Israelites.

Framing Question

Why is Mesopotamia often called the “Cradle of Civilization”?

Supporting Questions

1. How did geography affect the development of civilization in ancient Mesopotamia?

2. How and why did a system of writing develop in ancient Mesopotamia?

3. How did religious beliefs affect people in ancient Mesopotamia?

4. Why are early examples of rules and laws important?

5. How did the city-states in Mesopotamia interact with each other, and the wider world?

6. What ideas influenced the culture of the ancient Israelites?

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