Early Civilizations ~ Grade 5

Unit Objectives

Students will be required to choose an ancient culture that interests them and do an Ancient Civilizations Project.
Students will be expected to use a Kid-Safe Search Engine to find articles about their civilization on the Internet.
Students can learn what the countries they are studying are like in the present by going to sites such as Oxfam and Unicef
Students will become familiar with National Geographic Magazine as a current source of historical events through the discoveries made by archaeologists.
Students will explore how myths and legends are the oral history passed down from long ago by many cultures. They are encouraged to read myths, creation stories and legends to learn how cultures and religions are different yet the same. They will be required to learn a myth or legend from a long time ago (not Fairy Tales - they are from Medieval Europe - gr. 4) and retell the story to the class. They will develop story telling skills.
Students are encouraged to explore subject-related recreational reading. History is like a story, except it really happened. This could be in the form of:
- National Geographic Magazines
- Historical fiction novels
- Developing readers might enjoy the Magic Tree House Series.

Early Civilizations

Early Civilizations took place all over the world. Generally they are described as civilizations long before The Middle Ages (which were studied in grade 4) By geographic regions, some of the most well known ones are:

Europe Ancient Europe, Vikings, Celts, Ancient Greece, Phoenicians, Balkans, Minoans, Myceneans, Troy, Ancient Rome, Mediterranean / Middle East, Byzantine, Aegean, Etruria, Spartan, Macedonia, Constantinople
Africa Nile Valley, Egypt, Kush, Ethiopia
Southwest Asia Akkadians, Mesopotamia, Sumerians, Akkadians, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persian Empire, Maccabees, Parthians, Phoenicians, Ottoman Empire
Asia South Asia Aryan, India Gupta Southeast Asia Khmer China Dynasties North Asia Huns, Genghis Khan, Mongol Northeast Asia Ancient Japan, Korea, Taiwan
Australia & Oceania Maori, Polynesia, Australian Aborigines
North America Anasazi Mesoamerica Mayan, Olmec, Aztec , Toltec South America Peru Incas, Moche, Ancient Americans
The Dawn of Humans
Some other web sites to check out:
- History for Kids http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/westasia/history/persians.htm
- History of Costume http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/COSTUME1_INDEX.HTML
- Near East, Egypt, Greece, Rome & Africa Odyssey Online http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/MidElem_Home.html
- Mythology http://www.windows.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/tour_def/mythology/mythology.html
- Secrets of Lost Empires http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/
- Mr. Don's Ancient History http://members.aol.com/donnandlee/

National Geographic Magazine Articles

National Geographic Magazines have some of the world's best photographs in them. The magazine specializes in things relating to the world - especially archaeology - which lets us get a glimpse of what life must have been like along time ago. Studying the pictures & reading the captions in the magazines teach us a lot. The following issues have articles related to our course of study.

Ancient Europe	Aug. '68 Land of the Ancient Basques p. 240 Nov. '77 Ancient Europe is Older Than We Thought p. 615 Oct. 88 Art Treasures from the Ice Age Lascaux Cave p. 482 (France)
Vikings	Mar. '85 Viking Trail East p.278 May '00 In Search of Vikings p. 2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/vikings/ http://history.cbc.ca/histicons/games/viking.swf http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/
Celts	May '77 The Celts - Europe's Founders p.582 Mar. '80 Treasures from a Celtic Tomb p. 428 http://www.ibiblio.org/gaelic/celts.html http://www.uidaho.edu/student_orgs/arthurian_legend/welcome.html
Ancient Greece	Oct. '64 Again the Olympic Challenge p. 488 Aug. '67 Ancient Aphrodisias and Its Marble Treasures p. 280 Jan. '68 In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great p. 1 (Macedonia) Oct. '68 Journey into Golden Greece and Rome p. 550 July '73 Homeward with Ulysses To The Ionian Isles of Greece p.1 July '78 Seeking the Tomb of Philip of Macedonia p. 55 (Macedonia) Aug. '86 The Quest for Ulysses p. 197 Nov. '94 When Ancient Greeks Went West p. 2 Dec. '99 Ancient Greece p.54 (Troy) Feb. '00 Ancient Greece II p. 108 Mar. '00 Ancient Greece III p. 42 http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/ http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/ Greek Mythology Greek Myths, Legends & Gods A fabulous site made for children with information on Greek Gods, Pandora's Box, Narcissus, Theseus & the Minotaur, The Labours of Herakles, King Midas, The Trojan Horse, The Story of the Odyssey, Perseus and Medusa, Orpheus and Eurydice, Daedalus and Iccarus, Jason and the Golden Fleece http://www.mythweb.com/index.html
Ancient Rome	Oct. '68 Journey Into Golden Greece and Rome p.550 May '84 The Dead Do Tell Tales at Vesuvius p. 587 June '88 Etruscans July '97 The Power and the Glory of the Roman Empire Aug. '97 Roman Legacy p.54 Apr. '98 Roman Shipwrecks p.32 http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/romans/ http://www.salariya.com/web_books/gladiator/index.html
Mediterranean / Middle East	Oct. '68 June '72 Aphrodesias - Awakened City of Ancient Art p.766 Dec. 83 Empire - Rome of the East p. 709 (Byzantine), Gifts of Golden Byzantium p.722 Feb. '87 Herod the Great's City on the Sea p. 261 (Judaea) June '88 The Eternal Etruscans p. 696 July '88 The Day the World Ended at Kourion - Reconstructing an Ancient Earthquake p.30 (Kurian, Cyprus) May '91 Mesopotania Jan. '01 Ancient Ashkelon p. 66
Egypt	May '69 Abu Simbel's Ancient Temples Reborn p.724 Nov. '70 Computer Helps Scholars Re-Create an Egyptian Temple p.634 Mar. '77 Egypt - Her bedazzling past p.293 Apr. '88 Finding a Pharaoh's Funeral Bark p.513, Riddle of the Pyramid Boats p. 534 Jan. '95 Egypt's Old Kingdom p. 2 Sept. '98 Valley of the Kings p. 4 Nov. '98 Abusir Tomb p. 102 Oct. 99 Valley of the Mummies p. 76 Nov. '01 Pyramids - Who Built Them? p. 78 Jan. '03 Inside Egypt's Secret Vaults p. 74 Nov. '03 Guardian of the Sun God's Treasure http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/ http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/games/brainteaser/egypt/egypt.html http://www.iwebquest.com/egypt/ancientegypt.htm http://www.salariya.com/web_books/mummy/index.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/
Ottoman Empire	Nov. '87 Suleyman the Magnificant p. 552 (Ottoman Empire) July '00 Wrath of the Gods - Catastrophe Haunts A Cradle of Civilization p.32 (Turkey)
Persian Empire	Oct. '85 Arabia's Frankincense Trail p. 474 May '91 Iraq: Crucible of Civilization p. 102 http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/westasia/history/persians.htm
Phoenicians	Aug. 74 The Phoenicians - Sea Lords of Antiquity p. 149
India	Apr. '85 When the Moguls Ruled p. 463 June '00 Indus - Clues to an Ancient Civilization p. 108
Ancient Japan	Dec. '03 Japan's Way of the Warrior http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0312/feature5/ http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/nagano/atlas/a-8.html http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/kitora.htm http://www.prettypop.net/photos/1998/19980212_nara/
China	Apr. '78 China's Incredible Find p. 440 Oct. '96 China's Terra-Cotta Warriors p. 68 July '03 China's Bronze Age Recast p.56 Feb. '04 A Chinese Empire to Rival Rome p. 2 The Han Dynasty http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0402/feature1/
Asia	Feb. '77 May '82 Khmer Sept. '96 Scythians p. 54 (Black Sea) Dec. '96 Genghis Khan p. 2 Feb. '97 The Great Khans p.2 Viet Nam http://www.viettouch.com/pre-hist/ http://www.ichiban1.org/html/history/bc_1964_prewar/chinese_invasions_500bc_1427.htm http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/world/viet_nam/viethist.htm
Mayan Civilization	Apr. '86 Rio Azul - Lost City of the Maya p. 420 Sept. '87 Exploring a Vast Maya City, El Mirador p. 317 Oct. 89 La Ruta Maya p. 472, Copan - A Royal Tomb Discovered p. 480, City of Kings and Commoners p. 488 Sept. '92 Murals of Ancient Cacaxtlap p. 120 Feb. '93 Violent Saga of a Maya Kingdom p. 95 Feb. '95 Maya Masterpiece Revealed at Bonampak p. 50 Dec. '97 Royal Crypts of Copan p. 68 May '03 Maya Royal Treasure p.110 Oct. '03 Watery Graves of the Maya p.82 Maya http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/maya/eg_maya_intro.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/maya/ http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/bureau/ http://www.costumesupercenter.com/mayancivilization.html
Aztec	Oct. '68 Nov. '93 Olmec Dec. '95
Incas, Moche	Feb. '71 Titicac, Abode of the Sun p. 272 Mar. ''73 Peru's Ancient City of Kings p. 318 Dec. '73 Lost Empire of the Incas p. 729 May ''75 Mystery of the Nazxa Lines p. 716 (Nazcas) Oct. '88 Discovering the New World's Richest Unlooted Tomb p.510 (Moche) June '90 New Moche Tomb: Royal Splendor in Peru p.2 Master Craftsmen and their Work June '96 Peruvian Mummies p.62 Jan '97 Peruvian Mummies p. 36 July '98 Inca Mummies p. 128 Nov. '99 Inca Sacrifice p.36 Sept. '00 Peru's Lost Tombs - Ahead of the Looters p. 64 Feb. '04 Lost Outpost of the Inca p.66 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/peru/ http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/games/brainteaser/inca/inca.html
Ancient Americans	Apr. '96 The Anasazi p. 86 (Pueblo Indians) Oct. '97 Ancient Americans p. p.92 Dec. '00 Hunt for the First Americans (The Dawn of Humans) p.40
Dawn of Humans	Nov. 85 In Search of Our Ancestors p. 560 Oct. '88 The Peopling of the Earth p.434 In Search of Modern Humans p.438 Sept. '95 The Dawn of Humans p.38 Jan. '96 Neandertals p.2 Mar. '96 The Dawn of Humans p.96 Feb. '97 The Dawn of Humans p.72 May '97 The Dawn of Humans p.84 Sept. '97 The Dawn of Humans p.92 Aug. '98 Dawn of Humans p.90 May '00 Dawn of Humans p.76 July '00 Wrath of the Gods - Catastrophe Haunts A Cradle of Civilization p.32 (Turkey) Dec. '00 Dawn of Humans p.90, Hunt for the First Americans (The Dawn of Humans) p.40