Understanding by Design:

Rise of Ancient Civilizations

Stage 1 - Desired Results

Established Goals:
Students will be able to explain contributing factors that influenced the development of civilizations in North
Africa and the Middle East as well as the characteristics of those civilizations leading to an argumentative
writing assignment on a justifiable and ideal location for a new civilization.

1.1 Enduring Understandings 1.2 Essential Questions

Students will understand that . . .
● The physical environment affects the
settlement and population patterns of a region.
● The study of the past requires specialized
reading, writing, and analytical skills.
● Knowledge of the past helps one understand
the continuum of human civilization.
● History involves interpretation of primary and
secondary sources, photographs, timelines, and
artifacts.
● How has geography influenced the settlement
and population patterns of the Middle East?
● What are the significant characteristics and
achievements of a civilization in the Middle
East?
● How do historians use key events, documents,
dates, and people to interpret the past?
● How does historical evidence provide an
understanding of past, present, and future time
and related decisions?

1.3 Acquisition of Knowledge and Skills

Students will know . . . Students will be able to . . .

● Ancient civilizations required access to fresh
water for irrigation
● Agriculture was required for building the
ancient civilizations
● Mankind started as hunters and gatherers
developed gradually into farmers, craftsmen,
and traders
● A civilization is made up of many
characteristics including government, writing,
religion, job specialization, etc.
● Many of these civilizations were credited with
major achievements
● There is a specific methodology to analyzing
sources about the past
● Identify agriculture and irrigation as leading
components to civilization
● Differentiate hunters and gatherers from
farmers
● Analyze a variety of thematic maps and infer
● Analyze a variety of primary sources
● Contextualize a variety of primary sources
● Corroborate a variety of primary sources
● Identify and define characteristics of a
civilization

Adapted from Understanding by Design (p. 22), by G. Wiggins and J. McTighe, 2005, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Copyright 2005 by ASCD.
 Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence

Performance Tasks: Other Evidence:

● Illustrate how mankind went from hunters and ● Exit Ticket

gatherers to creating a civilization ● Discussion
● Present examples of civilization characteristics ● Observation
in Ancient Mesopotamia and modern day ● Presentation self reflection
United States through a medium of the
students’ choice followed by peer review
● Argue the location for a new successful
civilization through an argumentative writing
assignment

Stage 3 - Learning Plan

Learning Activities:

Lesson 1 (1 Day)
● Introducing concepts of irrigation, agriculture, and civilization.
● Watching video clip of agriculture from history.com
● Analyzing the locations of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt on a physical features map- Find similarities
and determine how geography influenced these civilizations
● Discussing how geography influenced the location of these civilizations
● Applying the locations of early civilizations to modern day population maps and explain how civilizations
of the past may have shaped today

Lesson 2 (1 Day)
● Reading on the rise of civilizations and early society of mankind
● Illustrating a comic strip of the stages of man’s progress toward civilization

Lesson 3 (3 Days)
● Modeling the final product of a presentation on a civilization characteristic presentation
● Organizing students into heterogeneous groups based on ability and assign civilization characteristics
● Collaborating to define the group’s civilization characteristic and identify an example of it in
Mesopotamian society and American society
● Analyzing primary sources on Mesopotamian society- Provided by the teacher
● Creating a google slide presentation to inform the class on their definition and examples
● Peer questioning after each presentation

Lesson 4 (1 Day)
● Review how civilizations began and what makes a civilization
● Evaluating a chosen location in the atlas and justifying why it would make a good location to start a
civilization through an argumentative writing piece

Adapted from Understanding by Design (p. 22), by G. Wiggins and J. McTighe, 2005, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Copyright 2005 by ASCD.