K12 User ID: jl020
School District: Florence School District 14-1
Unit of Study Title: Ancient Egypt and Nubia
Topic Area: Social Studies
Grade Level: 6th Grade
Time Frame: 2 weeks
Key Words: Egypt, Nubia, Nile River
Unit Designer Name: Joe Lehman
Unit Designer E-Mail Address: joe.lehman@k12.sd.us
Peer Reviewer: Doug Schooley
Peer Reviewer E-Mail Address: doug.schooley@k12.sd.us
Link to SD Content Standards: South Dakota Content Standards
Social Science
Students will understand the emergence and development of civilizations over time and place.
SD Content Standard Indicators:
Indicator #1: Analyze the chronology of various historical eras to determine connections and cause/effect relationships. Indicator #2: Evaluate the significance of interactions among cultures and civilizations and the impact on cultural diffusion. Indicator #3: Evaluate the influence of varying values, philosophies, and world religions on the development of civilizations and cultures.
SD Content Standard Benchmarks:
Analyze the geographic, political, economic, and social structures of Mesopotamia and Egypt with emphasis on the location and description of the river systems, the physical settings that supported permanent settlement and early civilizations, the development of agricultural techniques that increased production which led to economic surplus, the emergence of cities as centers of culture and power, the relationship between religion and the social and political orders in each civilization, the origin and influence of Judaism, the significance of Hammurabi’s Code, the art and architecture of Egypt, the impact of Egyptian trade in the eastern Mediterranean and Nile Valley, the evolution of language and its written forms, and cultural contributions and their effect on modern everyday life.
Other Content Standards:
Mathematics: Number Sense and Geometry
6. model addition and subtraction with integers.
7. use estimation strategies to help solve multi-step problems involving rational numbers.
9. develop two-dimensional representations that demonstrate various perspectives of three-dimensional objects.
Brief Summary of the Unit:
This unit is broken down into three sections. The first three lessons introduce the students to the geography of the Nile and the development of the Nile Valley. We will then move into the relationship between Egypt and Nubia and why a rivalry developed between these two cultures. Within the first three lessons we will also discuss the three kingdoms: the old, the middle, and the new. The next four lessons are broken down into two parts. The first two lessons discuss the key aspects of the Egyptian culture and the development of hieroglyphics. The other two lessons focus on the key aspects of the Nubian culture. These four lessons conclude with the invasion of Egypt by the Assyrians. The final three lessons focus on how Egypt and Nubia have survived and how Nubia still lives today in the country of Sudan.
Students will understand:
The geography of northeast Africa and the Nile River Valley. Students will also understand the development of separate kingdoms of Nubia and Egypt, and the impact the Nile River had on the rate of development. Also how they ruled each other at different times. Students will also understand how Egyptian and Nubain society was organized, and show how religion influenced both cultures. Students will also understand how Egypt and Nubia live on today.
Essential Questions to Guide this Unit and Focus Teaching and Learning:
Key Knowledge and Skills Students Will Acquire:
Assessment Plan:
The students and I will develop a rubric of all the activities to be completed and weigh each project. Each student will also be required to create a powerpoint presentation as well as keep a daily journal. The students will also be required to make a review game for the test, in which they will have to produce three questions relating to Egypt and Nubia.
Learning Activities:
The key activities of this unit will focus on the understanding of the impact of the Nile and the desertification of the Sahara in relationship to the development of the Nile River Valley and ancient Egypt and Nubia.
Students will learn how to prepare and use a powerpoint that will go along with their report created in this unit.
Students will use number sense to determine the length between cataracts located on the Nile and the entire length of the Nile.
Students will create a mummy, paint and decorate it to match an Egyptian mummy.
Students will create a time line on Excel.
Students will write a report on various topics, ranging from papyrus to pharaohs, and report to the class their findings.
Internet Resource Link:
Peer Reviewer Comments: Joe’s unit is well organized, well planned out, and very interesting.