4.2 Egypt Geography

Defining Success / Objective: What will your students be able to do by the end of class? / SWBAT describe the geography of Egypt
SWBAT explain the importance of the Nile River
Key Ideas: What 3-5 key knowledge or skills will students need to master the objective? / Nile River
Geography of Egypt
Cataracts
River Seasons
Assessment: How will you assess to determine which students mastered the objective?
Exit Ticket
End of Unit Exam
End of Quarter Exam
Lesson Cycle / Do Now: (10 minutes) / Materials:
Attendance & Guess Who
Read about the first Map
What continent is Egypt in? In Africa
Where was Mesopotamia? Current Day Middle East
Introduction of New Material: How will you convey the knowledge and/or skill of the lesson? What will you student be doing to process this information? (10 min)
Students will take these notes on their guided note sheet while power point is being shown.
Imagine you were a person living thousands of years ago (This means that you didn’t have a car, electricity, or any other conveniences) and you had large river right next to you. How would you use this river for survival?? (call on students to get their opinion).
What feature is most important in Egypt?
Nile River
longest river in the world (Runs south to north)
Problem in Mesopotamiaflooding
Why was flooding not a problem in Egypt?
Flooding happened every year at the same time (predictable)
Farmers could prepare for floods and not lose everything
What other “gift” did the Nile provide?
Natural BarriersFor Protection
Guided Practice: In what ways will your learners attempt to explain or do what you have outlined? How will you monitor and coach their performance? 10 min
  1. Pass out article about the Geography of Egypt
  1. Call on one student to begin reading article.
  1. After student reads a few sentences, they will pick on another student in class to continue reading.
Repeat this until all of the article is read.
Students will answer the following questions about the article with a shoulder partner.
  1. How did the Nile give the people of Egypt food?
They provided water to grow crops.
  1. What surrounded the Nile?
The desert surrounded the Nile River.
  1. How did the desert help protect the Egyptians from invaders?
Many did not want to cross the harsh conditions of the desert. Therefore, many avoided Egyptian settlers.
  1. What are cataracts and how did they help people in Egypt?
They are large waterfalls along the Nile River. They made it difficult for people to cross.
Give students 10 minutes to complete questions. Go over questions (5 minutes) on the doc cam. Walk around to make sure students have filled in the write answer.
Independent Practice: In what ways will your different learners attempt the objective on their own? How will you gauge mastery? (10 min)
Draw Egyptian geography and explain protection
PART 1: draw a picture of Egyptian Geography. On the picture, they must label the following
  1. Nile River
  2. Desert
  3. Nearby Seas
  4. Cataracts
  5. Growing crops
PART 2: Write a few sentences explaining the physical geography features that made the Nile River Valley a desirable place to build a civilization.
Closing: How will you have students summarize what they’ve learned? How will you reinforce the objective’s importance and its link to past and future learning? (10)
Exit Ticket:
  1. What was the importance of the Nile River?
  1. What was a problem in Mesopotamia that wasn’t a problem in Egypt?
  1. Which of the following describes the geography of Egypt?
  1. Desert, large hills and greenery
  2. Infrequent rain, infertile land, desert
  3. Desert, fertile soil, consistent rain
  4. Desert, rainforest, cloudy
Preview homework: worksheet on share drive (10 min)
Differentiation: How will you differentiate your instruction to reach the diversity of learners in your classroom?
-using highlighter to highlight the different parts of the VENN diagram to transfer to the parts of the graphic organizer.
-Sentence frames

Geography of Egypt

The most important physical feature in ancient Egypt was the Nile River. Flowing North, the Nile created a long, fertile valley that ended in a delta by the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile provided a source of food as the people could fish out of the river or hunt other animals that lived around the river. Further, it was a great resource for farmers who needed water for their crops. Finally, unlike in Mesopotamia, the Nile flooded every year at the same time and so farmers could plan ahead.

The Nile River was surrounded by the Libyan Desert, the Arabian Desert, and the Nubian Desert. These sandy deserts were extremely hot and dry. Most people avoided them, yet the deserts did play one important role in the settlement of Egypt. They formed a natural barrier that helped protect people living in the Nile River valley. The desert did not support large settlements, and few invaders wanted to cross them.

On the north, Egypt was bordered by the Mediterranean Sea. Settlers could not drink its salt water, but the sea had large amounts of fish and linked Egypt to other civilizations. On the East was the Red Sea which also protected from outside invaders.

Finally, the Nile River was filled with cataracts or large waterfalls and violent rushes of a river. This meant that it was very difficult for invaders to travel up the river and attack.

With the fertile land, plenty of fish and natural protections, Egypt was able to grow into a large and successful civilization.

- How did the Nile give the people of Egypt food?

-What surrounded the Nile?

-How did the desert help protect the Egyptians from invaders?

-What are cataracts and how did they help people in Egypt?

Questions / Main Ideas

/

Notes

Do Now: /
Which continent is Egypt in?
Where is Egypt?
Where is Mesopotamia? / - To the ______of Mesopotamia
-______
What feature is most important in Egypt? / - ______
-______river in the world
-Connected upper and ______.
-Problems in Mesopotamia
-
Why was flooding not a problem? / -Flooding happened ______at the ______
-Farmers could ______for ______and not lose everything
What other “gift” did the Nile provide? / -
-

Travel Points

NAME:

Exit Ticket:

  1. What was the importance of the Nile River?
  1. What was a problem in Mesopotamia that wasn’t a problem in Egypt?
  1. Which of the following describes the geography of Egypt?
  1. Desert, large hills and greenery
  2. Infrequent rain, infertile land, desert
  3. Desert, fertile soil, consistent rain
  4. Desert, rainforest, cloudy

NAME:

Exit Ticket:

  1. What was the importance of the Nile River?
  1. What was a problem in Mesopotamia that wasn’t a problem in Egypt?
  1. Which of the following describes the geography of Egypt?
  1. Desert, large hills and greenery
  2. Infrequent rain, infertile land, desert
  3. Desert, fertile soil, consistent rain
  4. Desert, rainforest, cloudy

NAME:

Exit Ticket:

  1. What was the importance of the Nile River?
  1. What was a problem in Mesopotamia that wasn’t a problem in Egypt?
  1. Which of the following describes the geography of Egypt?
  1. Desert, large hills and greenery
  2. Infrequent rain, infertile land, desert
  3. Desert, fertile soil, consistent rain
  4. Desert, rainforest, cloudy