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Massachusetts Grade 6:  World Cultures and Geography I

Page history last edited by Robert W. Maloy 2 months, 3 weeks ago

  Grade 6 Content Standards

 

 

Topic 1:  Studying Complex Societies, Past and Present

 

  • Supporting Question:  What do the social sciences contribute to our understanding of the world? 

 

1. Explain how different academic fields in the social sciences concentrate on different aspects of studying societies in the past and present, and how scholars in these fields collaborate to produce knowledge

 

2.  Give examples of ways in which a current historical interpretation might build on, extend, or reject an interpretation of the past.

 

3. Give examples of how archaeologists, historians, geographers, economists, and political scientists work as teams to analyze evidence, develop hypotheses, and construct interpretations of ancient and classical civilizations.

 

LEARNING RESOURCES:  Teaching Geography

 

 

 

 

 

Visualization of a Human Skull, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.1 jp

 

 

Topic 2:  Human Origins, the Neolithic and Paleolithic Eras

 

  • Supporting Question:  How did life on Earth begin and why did humans form complex societies?

 

1. Describe the great climatic and environmental changes that shaped the earth and eventually permitted the growth of human life.

 

HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY: Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution 

 LEARNING PLAN:  Walking Back in Time with Multimodal Learning

 

 

2. Identify sites where archaeologists have found evidence of the origins of modern human beings and explain current theories of how human groups moved from Africa over time into the continents now known as Asia, Europe, the Americas and Oceania.

 

 

 

3. Explain that the term Paleolithic Era refers to the period of earliest human history, beginning c. 2.6 million years ago to c. 11,700 years ago, characterized by the first use of stone tools, fire, hunting and gathering weapons, and about 50,000 years ago, by cave painting, sculpture, tools, and artifacts using diverse materials such as bone, shell, stone, mineral pigments and wood.

 

 

4. Explain that the term Neolithic Era refers to period beginning about 10,000 years ago to the c. 4,500 or 2000 BCE in different parts of the world in which the technologies of  agriculture (the growing of crops and the domestication of animals) and metallurgy (the mining and working of metals) were invented and refined, and in which complex societies begin to appear.

 

 

 

5. Explain how complex societies that practice agriculture may differ, some developing into permanently settled communities. some being nomadic and moving livestock from place to place, some cultivating land temporarily and moving to another location when a plot of land is no longer productive.

 

 

6. Explain that scholars have attempted to define the characteristics of complex societies (sometimes called civilization) since the early 20th century, and although debates are ongoing, many cite these characteristics.

 

 

 

 

7. Explain the ways in which complex societies interact and spread from one region to another (conquest, trade, colonization, religious conversion, adoption of new foreign words into the native language, adoption of new cultural practices).

 

HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY: Alexander the Great and the Spread of Greek Culture

 

 DRAMATIC EVENT: Zhang Qian and the Beginnings of the Silk Road

 

8. Construct and interpret a timeline that shows some of the key periods in the development of human societies in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras.

 

 

Regions of the World
Regions of the World

 

 

Topic 3:  Western Asia, the Middle East and North Africa

 

1. On a physical map, use cardinal directions, map scales, key/legend. and title to locate important physical features of the region.

 

 

2. On a political map of the region, demonstrate map reading skills to distinguish countries, capitals and other cities and to describe their absolute location (using latitude and longitude coordinates) and relative location (relationship to other countries, cities or bodies of water.

 

 

3. Explain how absolute and relative locations, major physical characteristics, climate and natural resources in this region have influenced settlement patterns, population size, and the economies of the countries.

 

 

 

Early Civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Phoenicia, and Ancient Israel, c. 3500-1200 BCE

 

Image shows four types of irrigation in Mesopotamia

 

Image result for types of irrigation in mesopotamia

 

Mesopotamia

 

  • Supporting Question:  What are the best explanations for why writing developed in Mesopotamia?

 

1. Explain how the presence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers contributed to the development of agriculture and ancient complex societies; explain why historians have called the region the "Fertile Crescent."

 

 

2.  On a map of archaeological sites in the region, identify the locations and time periods of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians as successive states and empires.

 

3. Describe how irrigation, metal smithing, slavery, the domestication of animals, and inventions such as the wheel, the sail, and the plow contributed to the growth of Mesopotamian civilizations.

 

 

4. Describe the important achievements in Mesopotamian civilization.

 

 

               INFLUENTIAL LITERATURE: The Epic of Gilgamesh

 

 

 

 

 

Egypt, c. 3000-1200 BCE

 

  • Supporting Question:  How did Ancient Egypt's rigid class structure affect its social and cultural development?

 

1. Identify the locations of ancient Upper and Lower Egypt and  ancient Nubia and explain what the terms "Upper" and "Lower" mean in this context.

 

 

2. Describe the Nile River to ancient Egyptians.

 

 

3. Describe the kinds of evidence that have been used by archaeologists and historians to draw conclusions about the social and economic characteristics of ancient Nubia (the kingdom of Kush) and their relationship to the characteristics of ancient Egypt.

 

 

4. Analyze the role of pharaoh as god/king, describe how pharaohs were represented in painting and sculpture, the concept of dynasties, significant acts of at least one Egyptian pharaoh (e.g., Khufu, Akhenaten, Ramses II, Nefertiti, Cleopatra).

 

HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY: Cleopatra

 

5. Describe the relationships among social classes (e.g., the relationship of the pharaoh to priests, nobles, government officials, soldiers, artisans, farmers, peasants, laborers and slaves).

 

 

LEARNING RESOURCES: The Seven Wonders of the World and the Great Pyramid of Giza

 

6. Describe the polytheistic religion of ancient Egypt with respect to beliefs about death, proper behavior, the afterlife, mummification, and the roles of different deities.

 

 

7. Summarize important achievements of Old, Middle and New Kingdoms.

 

 

 

 

Phoenicia, c. 1000-300 BCE

 

  • Supporting Question:  Why were merchants and traders important in ancient societies?

 

1. On a map of the ancient Mediterranean world, locate Greece, Asia Minor, Crete, Phoenicia, the Aegean and the Red Sea.  On a modern map, locate Greece, Crete, Turkey, Lebanon and Syria.

 

 

2. Explain how the location of Phoenicia contributed to its domination of maritime trade in the Mediterranean from 1000-300 BCE. 

 

 

3. Describe how the alphabetic Phoenician writing system differed from Mesopotamian cuneiform or Egyptian hieroglyphic writing; explain how Phoenician traders contributed to the spread of the use of the alphabetic system, which eventually evolved into the Greek alphabet and then into letter symbols used in other languages.

 

 

 

 

Ancient Israel, c. 2000 BCE-70 CE

 

  • Supporting Question:  What were the consequences of the unification of the tribes for ancient Israel?

 

1. On a historical map of the Mediterranean, locate Asia Minor, Greece and Mesopotamia, the kingdoms of the Hittites and ancient Israel, and ancient Egypt.  On a modern map, locate Greece, Israel, Jordon, Lebanon, the area governed by the Palestinian Authority, Syria, and Turkey.

 

 

2. Trace the migrations of ancient Israelite tribes from Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan and explain the role of Abraham and Moses in their history.

 

 

3. Describe the history of ancient Israel and early Christianity:  a) monotheistic religion; b) the Hebrew Bible's accounts; c) the emergence of Christianity as a distinct religion; d) central features of Christianity

 

 

 

The Ancient Arabian Peninsula

 

  • Supporting Question:  Why is the belief in one God significant to Islam, Judaism, and Christianity?

 

1. On a map of the Arabian Peninsula, identify the Red Sea and the cities of Mecca and Medina as the sites of the beginning of the Muslim religion.

 

 

2. Explain Islam's historical relationship to Judaism and Christianity as monotheistic religions.

 

 

3. Describe the life and teachings of Muhammad (570-c, 632 CE) and the significance of the Qur'an as the primary source of Islamic belief.

 

 

Interactions Among Ancient Societies in Western Asia, North Africa and the Middle East

 

  • Supporting Question:  How did ideas spread across ancient societies in this region?

 

1. Describe the impact of encounters through trade and conquest among the societies and empires in the region; in particular exchanges on land routes of the Silk Roads linking Europe, the steppes of West Asia, East Asia and Africa, and the goods, languages, and cultural motifs exchanged (e.g., gold, ivory from Africa, grain from Western Asia, produce, horses, livestock, wood, furs from the steppes, ceramics, silk, and other luxury goods from China).

 

 

2. Research the contributions of the one of the ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Phoenician, Israelite, Islamic and Eurasian societies to the modern world.

 

 

Topic 4:  Sub-Saharan Africa

 

1. On a map of the world, locate the continent of Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea.  On a map of Africa, locate the northern, eastern, western, central, and southern regions of Africa, the Sahara Desert, Mount Kilimanjaro, the Cape of Good Hope, the Great Rift Valley, Lake Victoria).  Use a map to locate countries and major cities in Africa.

 

 

                    INFLUENTIAL LITERATURE: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

 

2. On a political map of the region, distinguish countries, capitals, and other cities and describe their absolute and relative locations; use knowledge of maps to complement information gained about a city, country or region.

 

3. Explain how absolute and relative locations, major physical characteristics, climate, and natural resources in this region have influenced settlement patterns, population size and economies of the countries.

 

 

Selected Sub-Saharan African States and Societies, c. 100-1000 CE

 

  • Supporting Question:  How did long-distance trade influence the development of early sub-Saharan African states and societies?

 

1. Identify the location, sources of wealth, and importance of the Kingdom of Axum (c. 100-940 CE); explain the role it played in the adoption of Christianity in Ethiopia and the role east African societies played in the spread of Islam to South Asia.

 

 

2. Explain the pivotal role Swahili coastal societies along the Indian Ocean played in linking trade networks between interior Africa and maritime routes along the coasts of Central and South Asia and connecting to China; identify key goods in this trade (e.g., gold, ivory, iron, slaves from Africa, and cloth, glass beads, and porcelain from Asia).

 

 

3. Identify the locations, sources of wealth, and importance of the city of Timbuktu (5th-17th centuries CE), and the empires of ancient Ghana (700-1240 CE), ancient Mali (1230-1670 CE) and Songhai (15th-17th centuries CE).

 

 

4. Explain the pivotal role these societies played in the trans-Saharan trade, the spread of Islam, and trade with North Africa, Europe, West Asia in gold, ivory, and slaves and the contributions of these societies to the modern world.

 

 

 

Topic 5:  Central America, the Caribbean Islands, and South America

 

Physical and Political Geography and Indigenous Populations of Central America and the Caribbean Islands 

 

1. On a physical map of the world, locate Central America and the Caribbean Sea.  On a map of the region, identify important physical features of the region.

 

 

 

2. Demonstrate knowledge of political geography by locating the current countries and cities of Central America and the Caribbean Islands.

 

3. Explain absolute and relative locations, climate, including drought and desertification, and major physical characteristics and natural resources influenced settlement, population size, and the economies of regions and countries in Central America and the Caribbean Islands.

 

4. Describe the culture and way of life of the indigenous populations of the region.

 

Map of the Earth turned and mirrored

LEARNING RESOURCES: History of Zero, Hindu-Arabic Numbers and Mayan Math

 

 

 

 

Physical and Political Geography of South America

 

1. On a physical map, locate South America and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  On a map of South America, locate important physical features of the region.

 

 

2. On a political map of the region, locate countries and major cities of South America.

 

 

3. Explain absolute and relative locations, climate, including drought and desertification, and major physical characteristics and natural resources influenced settlement, population size, and the economies of regions and countries in South America.

 

 

 

Major Ancient Civilizations in Central and South America, c. 1400 BCE-1600 CE

 

  • Supporting Question:  What are the most important contributions of ancient societies in the Americas to the modern world?

 

4. Research and report on one of the major ancient civilizations that existed in Central America (Maya, Aztec and other civilizations such as the Olmec, Toltec and Zapotec) or one of the major preColumbian Andean civilizations (Chavin, Moche, Nazca, Inca, their locations and cultural characteristics.

 

 

 

 

 

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