Amy Payne
6th grade
Geography

PURPOSE:
Students will learn about the geography of Egypt, and they will study in depth the Nile River, pharaohs, pyramids, writing, and different leaders in Ancient Egyptian society.  The main goal is for students to gain knowledge and apply it, and they should be able to use tools such as maps and the internet to achieve these goals.

CONNECTION TO THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS:
1.  Knows and understands how to use maps, globes, and other graphical tools to acquire, process, and report information.  This standard applies because throughout the unit students will use and apply map skills.
4.  Knows and understands the physical and human characteristics of place.  In order for students to understand life in Ancient Egypt, they must apply this national standard.
7.  Knows and understands that physical processes shape patterns on the earth’s surface.  The Ancient Egyptian life was dependent on the Nile, which went through the stages of both flood and drought.
12.Knows and understands the process, patterns, and functions of human settlement.  They will have knowledge of why they Ancient Egyptian civilization was formed, why it grew, and how it functioned.
14.  Knows and understands how the earth’s physical and human systems are connected and interact.  This will apply as they study the Nile’s importance to survival.
17.  Knows and understands how to apply geography to interpret the past.  They will use geography skills to interpret what they learn about Ancient Egypt.

APPLICABLE TEXAS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:
The student uses maps, globes, graphs, charts, models, and databases to answer geographic questions.  One focus of the lesson is gaining and applying knowledge of the geographical location on the map.
The student understands the characteristics and relative locations of major historical and contemporary societies.  This lesson will give a basic understanding of the historical society of Ancient Egypt.
The student understands how geographic factors influence the economic development, political relationships, and policies of societies.  By studying maps as the material is presented, students will make the connections referred to.
The student understands the impact of physical process on patterns in the environment.  This applies directly to the Nile and how it effected the land of Ancient Egypt.
The student understands the impact of interactions between people and the physical environment on the development of places and regions.  Students will understand that the civilization formed around the Nile because it was what sustained the life of the inhabitants.

OBJECTIVES LIST:
1.  Describe how floods enriched and fertilized Egypt’s land.
2.  Explain Egyptian interaction with the Nile.
3.  Explain the unification of Ancient Egypt.
4.  Describe the pharaoh’s role.
5.  Describe hieroglyphics.
6.  Analyze the Egyptian economy.
7.  Analyze how cultural horizons were broadened through trade and war.
8.  Describe how Hatshepsut expanded trade.
9.  Identify major achievements of Middle and New Kingdoms
10.  Understand map use.
11.  Analyze the "social pyramid" of Ancient Egypt.
12.  Explain the role of slavery.
13.  Describe the work and home life of ordinary Ancient Egyptians.

OVERVIEW OF PRESENTATION:
Lesson One:   Geography of Region
Lesson Two:   The Nile
Lesson Three:  Pharaohs
Lesson Four: Pyramids
Lesson Five: Writing
Lesson Six: Expansion
Lesson Seven: Hatshepsut
Lesson Eight:  King Tut
Lesson Nine: Advances in Math, Medicine, and Science
Lesson Ten: Daily Life

SPONGE ACTIVITY:   Have a word search with words dealing with Egypt on each student’s desk when they arrive in class.  In "Kids Discover Pyramids" on page 18 there is a word search with the following words:  Egypt, hieroglyphs, Mastabe, mummy, Nile, papyrus, pharaoh, pyramids, Sphinx, temple, and tomb.  They will work on this for the first few minutes.

OPENING:  Ask students what comes to mind when they think about Egypt.  Put a map of Africa on the overhead and find Egypt.

GUIDED PRACTICE:  Give basic facts about the geography of the region.  Look at a map and talk about the geographical borders that kept foreigners away from Egypt.  Talk about droughts, floods, and give basic facts about the Nile, since society in Ancient Egypt was developed around this river, beginning about 5,000 B.C.  Recognize that it is in northeastern Africa, and that it floods during certain times of the year.  It carries silt (a mixture of tiny bits of soil and rock) as it rushes north.  It is about 4.000 miles long, and it flows North, emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.  The landscape of the Nile region is cliffs, desert sands, fertile soil, and a delta (very fertile, flat land made of silt left behind as a river drains into a larger body of water). Since the river flows from south to north, the southern portion of Egypt is upstream and the northern portion is downstream.  This means Upper Egypt is the area upstream, to the south; Lower Egypt is downstream, to the north. Review the elements  necessary to form a civilization, and identify the elements that were present in Ancient Egypt, which include settled communities, surpluses, specialization, trade and the first signs of religion and government.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE: Divide students into groups of four.  Hand out maps of Egypt that are not labeled.  Have groups label Upper Egypt, Lower Egypt, the Nile, and the Mediterranean Sea.

EVALUATION:  Assign a project that will be completed by the end of the unit.  Pass out a printed sheet instructing students to create a map of  the Nile River Valley in Egypt.  They should decide what materials will be used, and it should be some sort of three-dimensional model.  It must show portions of at least two countries with each one labeled appropriately, at least two major cities (labeled), the capital city, at least one body of water, a transportation route of the ancient peoples, signs of economic activity (show on the map how they made a living), major lines of latitude and longitude, scale of miles, legend, compass rose, names of famous or important places, labels for  any major landforms, and a title.

MATERIALS:  Overhead projector

SPONGE ACTIVITY:  Write in your journal about a time you have been to a river.  What did you do?  Where was it?

OPENING:  Ask the students about their experiences around rivers.  After several responses , turn on the overhead with a transparency of Africa and locate the Nile River.  Review the facts learned yesterday about the Nile.  Talk about why it is called the "Gift of the Nile".

GUIDED PRACTICE:  Explain that the Nile was important for three main reasons:  fertile soil, water for irrigation, and transportation.  Talk about irrigation, and if possible, take class outside.  Dig a small "ditch" with several branches dug to the sides.  Pour water at the beginning, and watch how it flows to the other branches.  Go back inside, and discuss the three stages of the Nile:  inundation, or the flood stage, where the land was covered with water and silt was deposited, making it fertile, emergence, when the land began to dry and crops were planted (irrigation now came into use to water crops), and drought, when the crops were ready to be harvested.  Flood season was the busiest time for travel on the Nile.  The 600-mile journey between Upper and Lower Egypt would take over a month to walk, but only half that time if traveled in a reed boat.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:  Divide students into groups of four.  Have a transparency with these questions:  What made Egypt a good place for farming?  Would farms be more productive in Upper or Lower Egypt?  Why were the crops grown necessary for survival?  How was the Nile like a modern day interstate highway?  After they have had time to discuss these questions, go over them as a class.

ASSESSMENT:  Have students make a calendar that shows the times of  drought, flooding, and planting for the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt.

MATERIALS:  Overhead projector, spoon or other digging tool, pitcher of water

SPONGE ACTIVITY:  Write in journal about what qualities a good ruler of a civilization will possess.

OPENING:  Discuss leaders of nations, such as our President or a king or queen.  In Egypt, the leader was called a pharaoh.

GUIDED PRACTICE: Explain that Egypt’s civilization was doing really well, but there were wars between villages.  To protect themselves, people banded together into two kingdoms.  They were united around 3100B.C.  The first pharaoh(name given to all the rulers of Egypt which actually means "great palace", referring to where they lived) of Egypt was Menes.  He became pharaoh when the towns in Upper Egypt who supported a king who wore a white crown united with the towns in Lower Egypt who followed a king who wore a red crown.  This occurred in 3100 B.C., and Menes wore a red and white crown to symbolize the unification (joining of separate parts into one).  This was called the Old Kingdom, and it lasted from about 2686B.B. until 2181 B.C. Discuss the role of pharaohs in the Old Kingdom.  The pharaoh was an absolute leader, meaning he or she answered to no one.  In government, the pharaoh decided how Egypt’s affairs should be run at all levels.  The second most powerful official was called a vizier.  The pharaoh appointed governors called nomarchs who reported to him.   He also appointed scribes, who gave written records.  He taxed all goods produced as well as the time of the people.  In the economy (the way people manage money and resources for the production of goods and services), all things belonged to the pharaoh.  All of his wants and needs were paid for by taxes, which also fed his family and friends.  The surplus of food fed the lower people.  Taxes were paid in goods and services, as they did money did not exist.  In religion, the pharaoh was worshipped as a child of the sun god Ra.  They were polytheistic, meaning they had many gods.  Pyramids were built as a tomb for the afterlife.  Believed in life after death and spent much of life preparing for the afterlife.  The capital of the Old Kingdom was Memphis, in Lower Egypt.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:  Have students make a chart with the pharaoh at the center.  Stemming from that should be three blocks, one for government, one for religion, and one for the economy.  They should then fill in the sections with his impact on that section of society.  This could be checked to make sure students are comprehending the information being covered.

MATERIALS:  Overhead projector

SPONGE ACTIVITY:  Have two open boxes of sugar cubes at the front of the classroom, and they will use these to build a pyramid as a group as they come in.

OPENING:  Use LCD display and overhead to show pictures from the internet of pyramids.  One good resource is http://www.tiac.net/users/ccstar/egypt/  There are great pictures of the outside and inside of pyramids.  Browse through these to motivate students to learn more about pyramids.

GUIDED PRACTICE:  Explain that pyramids are huge stone structures built as tombs for pharaohs.  The Egyptian dead were mummified and many things were put into their tombs to help them in the afterlife.  The Great Pyramid is the biggest, and it was built for the pharaoh Khufu.  It took 20 years to build and as many as 100,00 people were involved.  The average weight of each block of stone used is 2.5 tons.  The total number of blocks is 2,300,000, with about 285 added each day.  The blocks were brought higher and higher as the pyramid grew taller by ramps, and the blocks had to be pushed or pulled up them.  The pyramids had a huge impact on the economy and the people.  Local governments began to rebel, and leaders in Upper Egypt got a new pharaoh.  They based their new capital in Thebes, and the Old Kingdom ended.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:  Each student will build a pyramid that is a scale model of the Great Pyramid at Giza.  Using a piece of paper cut 8 ½" square.  Mark the midpoint on each side, and draw a line connecting opposite center points. Measure 3 ¼" out from the center on each of the four lines.  Draw a line from each corner of the paper to each point you just marked.  Cut along these lines to see what to throw away.  Draw four lines connecting the points 3 ¼" from the center.  Fold along these lines, and tape the edges together. (Pattern is in Kids Discover Pyramids on page 19) Then each student will write a paragraph describing what they would want inside the pyramid if they had been a pharaoh.

MATERIALS:  overhead projector, sugar cubes, paper to fold into pyramids, tape, LCD monitor, computer

SPONGE ACTIVITY:  Have a hieroglyphic word hunt for the students to work on. This can be found in Kids Discover Pyramids on page 18.

OPENING:  Talk about writing and its importance in our society, and encourage students to share their thoughts.  Write notes on the chalkboard as they share ideas.

GUIDED PRACTICE:  Use LCD monitor and overhead to show the website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/hieroglyph/hieroglyph4.html.  This covers the basic information of hieroglyphs and provides the hieroglyphic alphabet with the letters the symbols stand for.  Emphasize that Egyptians needed a written language to keep records and to communicate.  Hieroglyphics were developed, which were made up of about 800 symbols called hieroglyphs.  We know so much about the lives of ancient Egyptians because of these pictures.  The writers were called scribes, and they traveled through Egypt.  They were respected because so few were taught to write.  They used papyrus as paper, and sharpened reeds as pens.  By 400A.D. hieroglyphics were no longer used and their meaning was lost.  In 1799 a soldier digging in the Nile Delta town of Rosetta found a stone that had a passage written three times:  in hieroglyphics, Greek, and demotic.  Jean Francois Champollion decoded hieroglyphics by comparing the three languages.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:  Have students write messages in hieroglyphics, then trade and decode them.

MATERIALS:  Chalkboard, overhead projector, LCD monitor, computer

SPONGE ACTIVITY:  Write in journals about something they would like to have from a foreign country.

OPENING:  Read an article about trade going on in the world today, and it should be easy to find one in a newspaper.  You could even cut out advertisements.  Talk about things that are traded, and have kids participate by naming things that are traded on a local level and things that are traded on a larger scale.

GUIDED PRACTICE:  Introduce the Middle Kingdom, which lasted from about 2100B.C. to 1700B.C.  Egypt’s contact with the outside world increased.  Egypt was interested in Nubia’s gold.  Trade with cities in western Asia increased, and people from Asia came to live in the Delta region.  These people, the Hyksos, challenged the pharaoh and won.  They  ruled lower Egypt for about 100 years.  Egypt rallied behind Pharaoh Ahmose and defeated the Hyksos, beginning the period called the New Kingdom.  During this time Egypt became an empire (a group of lands and peoples ruled by one government).  They now had valuable resources from the lands they had conquered.  The Egyptian ships took gold, jewelry, linen cloth and papyrus and sailed to what are today Lebanon and Syria.  They returned with timber, silver, and wine.  The most important trading was from Kush.  In order to protect themselves as they traded, Egypt developed a large military and Navy.  Have a transparency of a map, and write what goods came from what countries.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:  Have students answer these questions in groups:  Why would expanded trade create the need for a stronger military?  How did the expanded trade change Egypt?  What bodies of water became important to Egyptian trade besides the Nile?  After they have had time to discuss these questions, discuss them as a class.

MATERIALS:  Overhead projector

SPONGE ACTIVITY:  In your journal, draw a diagram showing the descendants of  your family from your grandparents to you.

OPENING:  Talk about how the pharaoh’s throne was passed from generation to generation.

GUIDED PRACTICE:  Focus on Hatshepsut, who was one of Egypt’s few female rulers.  She came to power when she took over for her stepson after her husband died.  When she died, her stepson became pharaoh and had her name erased from wall inscriptions and all of her statues destroyed.  Hatshepsut expanded trade with Punt.  Locate Punt on a map.  She arranged an expedition (group of people who go on a trip for a set reason) which lasted two years.  They traveled to the Red Sea then sailed south to Punt.  They took jewelry, papyrus and bronze weapons to trade for gold, perfume, ivory, leopard skins, live apes, and incense trees.  Scribes recorded the details of the journey, and when the Egyptians returned from Punt, they brought several leaders from Punt with them to visit.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:  In groups of four, have students design a brochure about Punt, inviting the Egyptians to visit.  Have them include directions for travel and descriptions of available goods.  Then have them write a letter from the visitors from Punt to the people there about what they are experiencing in Egypt.

MATERIALS:  overhead projector, map

SPONGE ACTIVITY:  Have students take out a piece of notebook paper, and write the endings to statements you have written on the board such as  "My favorite food is…, My best friend is…"  Take them up, and tell them you will return them later in the year.  This will show how details about a person’s life can be revealed through ideas and objects.  In a sense, King Tut’s tomb was a time capsule.

OPENING:  We are going to use the internet, so we will log on to the first web site which has a picture of King Tut’s  golden coffin.  It is http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/2815/tut.html.

GUIDED PRACTICE:  Talk about the location of The Valley of the Kings, which  is the resting place of 30 New Kingdom pharaohs.  It is West of Thebes in the Egyptian desert.  Tutankhamun (King Tut for short)  was a young pharaoh who ruled from age nine until his death at the age of 19.  Tut’s tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter who worked for Lord Carnarvon of Britain.  When Carter found the tomb, it was the first time it had been opened in 3,000 years, and inside were over 5,00 treasures.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:  Internet worksheet (Appendix A) will be completed by students.

EVALUATION:  Have the class make a time capsule.  What would you include today that would tell someone about our society 3,000 years later?

MATERIALS:  Computer, LCD screen, overhead projector

SPONGE ACTIVITY:  Write in your journal about the last time you were sick and went to the doctor.

OPENING:  Play the game gossip by rows. You tell the first student a phrase, and he or she whispers it to the next student, who whispers it to the next, and so on.  The last person says the phrase out loud, and it is fun to see what actually gets around.  Just as this phrase was spread from one person to another, ideas are spread.

GUIDED PRACTICE:  Explain to the students that as trade expanded and spread, so did ideas and knowledge.  The Egyptians were very advanced in medicine, math, and science.  Doctors were priests who learned medicinal skills in temple schools.  Scribes recorded different injuries and illnesses that priests observed and what the most effective treatment was.  They knew how to cure some illnesses, stitch cuts, set broken bones, and measure the heart rate.  They also used medicine such as the herb chamomile, and would treat wounds with moldy bread, similar to the antibiotics of today.  They were advanced in mathematics, which were necessary to build the pyramids.  They used mathematical knowledge to understand the stars.  They identified five planets, and they understood eclipses were caused by the crossing paths of the moon and the sun.  They had a calendar based on the star Sirius.  All of these ideas had an impact on the rest of the world as well as the civilization of Egypt.

 INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:  Have groups discuss the following questions:  How do societies learn from one another?  How would a knowledge of math be necessary to build the pyramids?  Discuss these as a class, and talk about the impact it had on the rest of the world.

MATERIALS:  Overhead projector

SPONGE ACTIVITY:  Write in journal about what activities you usually do every day.

OPENING:  Talk about daily activities in America today, and social classes.

GUIDED PRACTICE:  A person’s position in society depended on what he or she did for a living.  As you discuss the social pyramid, draw it on the overhead or chalkboard.  In the social pyramid, the pharaoh was at the top, followed by government officials.  Next were soldiers, then scribes.  Merchants were next, then artisans, farmers, and finally slaves.  Slavery is when one person owns another.  The slaves mined gold, worked by free farmers in the floodwaters of the Nile, dug canals, prepared land for planting, and some worked as house servants.  Slaves were bought and sold, but they did have the right to be treated fairly and to own property.

Most Egyptians lived on large farms owned by people high on the social pyramid.  They were run by scribes.  Each farm produced most everything the people there needed.  Farming was a hard job.  They dug up large fields with wooden plows and hoes, then dug irrigation canals and hauled water.  Farmers also helped build things for the government.  At harvest time, men, women, and children helped, and they often sang as they worked.  The cut stalks were taken to separating areas, and then the grain was separated.  The scribes would measure what was claimed by the pharaoh and the farm owner and take it away.  Harvest was a time of celebration, and they made offerings to the gods of harvest.

In cities, most lived in small, mud-brick homes that were crowded on narrow, winding streets.  A house in Memphis has been uncovered, which gave archaeologists clues to life during the New Kingdom.  The entrance was a workshop, and behind it was a small living room with a fireplace and two tiny rooms.  There were stairs up to the flat roof.  Everyday the women would go to the canal to get water and bake bread.  The family would go to market to buy and sell wheat, grapes, olives, fresh fish, beef, pork, and chicken.  The people liked to have fun, and they found evidence of board games.
Children made cloth dolls, played games, wrestled, and ran for fun.  They had pets including dogs, cats, and monkeys.  They played in the canals that ran through the farms and villages.  Farmers’ children often were needed to work in the fields, and children of craftworkers worked by their sides to learn the trade.  Sons of government leaders were assistants to their fathers, and sons of scribes would be scribes.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:  In groups, make a chart comparing life today to life of the Ancient Egyptians.

CLOSURE:  Have students present their maps that were assigned at the beginning of the unit.  The presentations should serve as a review of the material covered and learned.

EXTENSIONS:
Language Arts:  There are numerous writing topics that could be expanded on in this unit.  Word origins can also be discussed with the word delta, which looks like the delta from the Greek alphabet.  Also, papyrus looks like our word for paper.
Math:  As pyramids are discussed, it is easy to compute weight and discuss angles.  The water in the Nile was measured using a nilometer, and the measures could be computed and graphed.
Art:  Egyptian hieroglyphics are a great way to incorporate art, as well as the paintings on the walls of tombs and the jewelry and sculptures that have been found.
Science:  Weather patterns, how papyrus is made, advances in medicine and science.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Banks, James A., Barry K. Beyer, Gloria Contreras, Jean Craven, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Mary A. MacFarland, Walter C. Parker.  Teacher’s Multi-Media Edition World, Adventures in Time and Place.  New York:  Macmillan-McGraw Hill, 1997.

Bishop, Darlene and Diana Eggers.  "Ancient Egypt."  November 18, 1996.
    http://www.kent.wednet.edu/curriculum/soc_studies/Egypt/tut.html (April 14, 1998).

Encyclopedia Brittanica, Inc.  "King Tut’Ankh-Amun."  1995.
    http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/2815/tut.html (April 14, 1998)

"Flags of the World." 1997. http://fotw.digibel.be/flags/iso3166.html (April 14, 1998)

MacCauley, David. Pyramid.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin company, 1975.

Nicholson, Robert and Claire Watts.  Ancient Egypt.  New York:  Scholastic, Inc., 1991.

Reeves, Nicholas.  Into the Mummy’s Tomb.  New York:  Scholastic, Inc., 1992.

Sand, Stella.  Kids Discover Pyramids.  New York:  Kids Discover, 1992.

Web Image Experts.  "Egyptian Pyramids Homepage."
    http://www.tiac.net/users/ccstar/egypt/ (April 14, 1998)

Westrop, Hugh.  "Amazing Tomb Holds Pharaoh’s Sons."  Current Science 81.2
    (9-22-95):  8-11

WGBH and PBS.  "Nova On-Line Adventure Pyramids."  1997.
    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/hieroglyph/hieroglyph4.html (April 14, 1998)

Wilcox, Charlotte.  Mummies.  New York:  Scholastic, Inc., 1993.

 APPENDIX A:

Log onto this web site. http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/2815/tut.html

1.  What is King Tut’s full name?

2.  When did he reign?

Log onto this web site. http://www.kent.wednet.edu/curriculum/soc_studies/Egypt/tut.html

3.  Who discovered his tomb?

4.  When?

5.  What were in the rooms?

6.  How many coffins were found in the tomb?

7.  What was the last one made of?

8.  What was unique about the discovery of this tomb?

9.  Click on at least 3 pictures and describe what you see.

Created April 17, 1998

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