Early Civilizations Project

Unit’s Essential Question – Why did early civilizations begin in river valleys?

As a group, you will be responsible for researching one of the following ancient civilizations:

Early Egypt – Nile River

Mesopotamia – Fertile Crescent

Early South Asia – Indus River

Early China – Huang He River

Your task is to prepare a presentation that relays information, centered on the essential question, about your assigned civilization to the class. Use your textbook, other nonfictions books, encyclopedias, primary sources, and the internet as your resources. You will be expected to devise a lesson plan to get the material across to the class (you are the teacher).

You may use the chalkboard, overhead projector, etc., but your presentation must include a PowerPoint element to assist your classmates in learning about your civilization. To check for understanding, you must create an activity or game which requires classmates to utilize the information you have presented.

You will assign your classmates a homework assignment to be completed the night before your presentation.

You will have three class periods to work on this in class – two of which will be spent in the media center. At the end of the second day of research, you will hand in ten questions (true/false, fill in the blank, matching, multiple choice, etc.) that will be compiled with the other groups’ questions to generate the chapter test.

Any time needed for the assignment besides the three class periods, must be on your own time. I suggest that your group exchange e-mail addresses and/or phone numbers to help facilitate your project.

Global Civilizations Study Guide – Chapter 2 Quiz

Terms, ideas, etc. (this list is not all inclusive)

· Polytheism

· Theocracy

· Cuneiform

· Pharaoh

· Hammurabi

· Hieroglyphics

· Pictographs

· Ziggurat

· Pyramids

· Monarchy

· Dynasty

· Oracles

· Sargon I

· Indus River

· Huang He

· Cultural diffusion

· Oracle bones

· Harappan

· Mummification

· Sumerians

· Irrigation systems

· Hinduism

· River nicknames

· Be able to locate all 4 river civilizations on a map