Subject: Social Studies
Lesson Length: 35 - 45 mins
Topic: Cultural Comparisons in Ancient Civilizations
Grade Level: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Standards / Framework:
Brief Description: Students will be able to compare and contrast cultural aspects of different ancient civilizations that developed around the same time.
Know Before You Start: Students should have a basic understanding of where ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, China, Egypt, and Greece were located and why they developed there.
Hook:
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Show pictures of popular food items, slang, current clothing trends, and other items that are representative of current culture. Why do these represent our culture?
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Discuss what people will think 1,000 years from now when they see images of these items or watch videos from our time.
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Read and discuss the sample comic.
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How were these ancient cultures the same?
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How were they different?
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How were they like our present day culture?
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Activity:
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Have students select two ancient civilizations to compare and one cultural aspect to showcase. For example, recreation, communication, trade, etc.
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Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a three-panel comic describing a cultural aspect of two civilizations and similarities to our present-day lives.
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Panel 1: Civilization 1 and Cultural Aspect.
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Panel 2: Civilization 2 and Cultural Aspect.
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Panel 3: Similarities to our present day lives.
Closure:
- Have students share their comics with the class and compare and contrast the similarities and differences among the ancient civilizations and their own.
Differentiation:
- Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
- Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
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Use Think-Pair-Share strategy during whole group discussion.
Life in Ancient China
Life in Ancient Egypt
Life in Ancient Greece
Life in the Aztec Empire
Life in Ancient Rome
Life in Feudal Japan
