At a Glance:
| Grades: | 6 |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Social Studies |
| Topic: | Human-Environment Interaction |
| Lesson Length: | 55 - 60 mins |
Standards / Framework:
What will students learn in this activity?
Students will explore the interaction inhabitants of river valley civilizations had with their surrounding environments and how they adapted and innovated to meet their needs.
What should students know before this activity?
Students should be familiar with the location of the early river valley civilizations (China, Indus Valley, Mesopotamia, and Egypt).
How can teachers introduce this lesson?
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Ask students to brainstorm all the ways we use water today. Prompt with questions such as “who uses water?”, “why is it important?”, “what is made with water?”.
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Read and discuss the sample comic, focusing on the development of early civilizations near water sources.
What will students do?
- Introduce the following vocabulary:
- irrigation
- terrace farming
- environment
- adapt
- domesticate
- innovate
- modify
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Have students choose one of the four river valley civilizations (Indus Valley, Ancient China, Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt).
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Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a three-panel comic illustrating in what ways water was important to the civilization and how the inhabitants interacted with the water in their environment.
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Describe the innovation that came from this interaction, e.g., terrace farming, irrigation.
How can teachers wrap up the lesson?
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Discuss the different innovations that resulted from early civilizations interacting with their environments to meet their needs.
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Discuss how civilizations still use these innovations today.
How can teachers differentiate this activity?
- 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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Give students a fact sheet with information about each civilization.
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This activity can be done in groups, pairs, or independently.
Ancient China
Ancient Egypt
Suggested Story Starters:
