Overview of Ancient History
This lesson plan uses theAtlas of World Historytogive students abroad overview of the Ancient World.
1. Introduction
The idea of this activity is to give students an overview of the history of the Ancient World.
It is not designed to give them an in-depth introduction to any particular civilization or empire (other activities will do this), but it does aim to allow students to place them in their broader historical context. This is important. Knowing about a civilization or empire in isolation from the rest of history is not much more valuable than knowing a myth or a legend.
This activitymight best be done if a teacher wants to give their students the Big Picture of the Ancient World, before studying individual topics in more depth.
Making historical judgements
This activity is also designed to make students think about what developments were significant in the past, and form judgements for themselves about why some developments were more significant than others. It is important for today's students to understand that their world has been shaped by events in the past – some of which happened thousands of years ago. This activity addresses that issue.
Of course, some historical events or episodes do not seem to have a direct bearing on our lives today, but they certainly did on the lives of millions of people who lived through them. Is it important for today's students to know about such things?
Broadeningourvision
It is also true that some events in the past may have more relevance to people in other regions of the world than they do for students in the west (the life and teachings of Confucius, for example, which are still held dear by millions upon millions of people in eastern Asia). Are these less important because they do not impact the lives of our own students?
These are some of the issues this simple activity seeks to address.
For a fuller discussion of what NCSS National Curriculum areas it addresses, please see Appendix 1, below.
2. Instructions:
This is an activity best done in small groups.
Enter the Timemaps Atlas of World Historyhere. You will find yourself in a map of the world dated 3500 BC.
Beneath the main world map you will see a sequence of small map icons. Click on these to move forward through history.
By this means, follow world history from 3500 BC to AD 200.
At eachmap you come to,hover your mouse over the red dots on the regions of Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia. You can viewbrief summaries of what's happening in those regions at that period.
For the purposes of this activity, there's no need to follow the links through to the regions concerned, so do not click on the pointers; just hover the mouse on them.
Read the summaries, and record the historical events and developments they refer to; jot down the developments, the region in which they occur, and the date on the map.
In a class discussion, share your lists and see if you can agree on a "class" list.
[A possible list is given below, section 5]
3. Analysis:
List the civilizations you've noted.
List the empires.
List the technological innovations.
List the individuals who have appeared in your notes.
Classify them according to whether they are:
A: Philosophers / Religious teachers or B: Conquerors and Rulers
Unifythese listsin a timeline of the Ancient World, making sure to place all civilizations, empires, technological developments and people in chronological order.
4. Discussion
Discuss the following questions:
Which region of the world was most significant in the Ancient World?
Which of the events or episodes you've noted directly affect people today, in your judgement?
Which events and episodes were most important for people of the time, do you think?
Select 10 items from your list as being the most significant in terms of their impact upon our modern lives.
Select 10 items from your list which had the most impact upon the lives of the people of the time.
In a class discussion, share your lists.
Supplementary task:Select one of the items you havenotchosen to go in the list of 10 most important in shaping the modern world.
Think about what ways this episode or event mightin factbe important to the modern world.
5. For the teacher:
There is no “correct” list of events and episodes which the students will come up with; it is a matter of judgement. However, they will have to be prepared to justify their choices.
A possible (but certainly not comprehensive) list might include:
From the 3500 BC map:
First civilization (Sumerian) appears; Middle East
From the 2500 BC:
Indo-European migrations: Europe
Indus Valley civilization appears: South Asia
From the 1500 BC Map:
Civilization appears in China: East Asia
Civilization appears in Europe (Minoan and Mycenaean): Europe
Indus Valley civilization: South Asia
From the 1000 BC Map:
First European civilizations (Minoan and Mycenaean) vanish: Europe
Use of iron, alphabet, first major monotheists religion: Middle East
From the 500 BC Map:
Confucius: East Asia
The Buddha: South Asia
Greek civilization has appeared: Europe
Great empires – Assyria, Babylon, Persia: Middle East
From the 200 BC Map:
Rise of the Mauryan empire: South Asia
Appearance of the Romans as a leading power: Europe
Unification of China: East Asia
Alexander the Great: Middle East
From the 30 BC Map:
Growth of the Roman empire: Europe
From the AD 200 Map:
Spread of Buddhism out of India: South Asia
Christianity: Middle East
Jewish Diaspora: Middle East
More lesson planshere
For more teaching resources see ourTopic TimeMaps