Create A Civilization Project

Now that we have learned about many different Ancient Civilizations, you are going to create one of your own.

●Working within a group of 2 or 3, work through the components of the project.

●Your project needs to be completed by May 31st.

●Your team will be presenting your projects on June 1st and June 2nd.

●Your final project will be displayed at Art Showcase on June 1st.

Project Requirements

Introduce your civilization. (10 points)

  1. What is the name of your civilization?
  2. If you were to describe your civilization to the world, what would you say?
  3. Which features of the land make your culture easy to attack?
  4. What defenses does the land provide naturally?
  5. Population-How many people live in your civilization? Hint: between 500-10,000 would be a manageable number.
  6. Geography-Pick a location to build your civilization. You can pick any place on Earth, but make sure that you can explain these two things about your location:

a. How will this location sustain crops and livestock?

b. How will this location be advantageous for defense against attacks?

Map (10 points)

Draw a colorful map with a key that shows what your civilization’s geography looks like.

You should draw an aerial map of your civilization that shows where the following things are:

  1. market
  2. temple
  3. town square
  4. villages (houses)
  5. farmland (see stable food supply for specifics)
  6. roads
  7. government buildings (palace, court, capital)
  8. On your map be sure to include:
  9. Fresh water source(s)
  10. Main cities – including a capital (a total of four cities)

Characteristics of a Civilization (20 points)

  1. Stable food supply
  2. name at least 3 crops you are going to grow
  3. name at least 2 animals that you are going to raise.
  4. Specialization of labor
  5. describe at least 5 jobs that people would need to do in your civilization.
  6. Include the job title (scribe, farm hand, canal digger), job description (what will the person be expected to do in this job?) and salary (what will they receive for their work?)
  7. System of government
  8. What form of government does your culture have?

* Monarchy-government in which a royal family rules the nation

* Oligarchy-government in which a small group of “important” people rule a nation

* Democracy-government in which people make important decisions for their own nation; this is usually done through representatives

  1. How are the leaders selected?
  2. What are the titles of those in power? (Ex. President, king, ruler, almighty one)
  3. What are the responsibilities of those in power?
  4. Laws
  5. Come up with at least 5 laws that your society will have to follow.
  6. Include a punishment to match each law.
  7. Devise a plan to inform every person about the laws (tablets, statue)

Social Levels/Classes (10 Points)

  1. Create a class pyramid or a flow chart that shows the class divisions in your society.
  2. Label the levels of the pyramid.
  3. You can divide it up by jobs, age, or any other way a society might be subdivided.
  4. You need at least 3 different tiers in your pyramid/chart.
  5. It will also explain why you put each group in their position.

Develop a sophisticated culture (10 points) Choose one option

  1. Art- Create a clay sculpture or another piece of artwork that shows something important about your civilization.
  2. Music- Write a song about your civilization. Include some of these topics in your song: -name of civilization -population -geography -names of some crops -names of some animals -type of government—important people -names of gods

Artifacts: (20 points total)

  1. 1st Artifact: Choose something that an archaeologist might discover from your civilization and illustrate it. Your choices might include a major building, a religious figure, cooking materials, or flag, etc…
  2. 2nd Artifact: Create a writing sample that your civilization has created.

Religion (10 points)

  1. Describe the religion of your civilization.
  2. What god(s) is/are worshipped by the people in this civilization?
  3. Is your civilization polytheistic or monotheistic?
  4. How do the people show respect for their god(s)?
  5. Who are the “holy people” of your civilization?
  6. What are the most important teachings, rules, or ideas that your civilization’s religion teaches?

Art of your Civilization: (10 points)

Illustrate or a design a creative model of art used in your civilization. Examples include, but are not limited to:

●Jewelry

● Games

●Dance

●musical instruments

● Weapons

● Architecture

● Clothing

●Sports

●Write a myth from your civilization

●Write about a hero from your history

●Develop a style of poetry that was important to your people

●Develop the alphabet or other writing system of your civilization

●Create a holiday celebrating an important day, person, or quality of your civilization

Work Display (50 points)

Your group will need to display all work work in a creative way. Examples include but are not limited to:

●Slide show

●Prezi

●Website

●Poster Board

●Tri-fold

●Box display

●Diarama

●3-D structure

IMPORTANT: Your written work must be typed or written neatly in pen. Please proofread your final copy. Your illustrations should be on white paper or construction paper. Do not use notebook paper for your illustrations. The illustrations must be in color.

GRADE: This project is worth 150 points. It is a major grade! See point values beside each requirement. No work will be accepted late!

Your group will be presenting these projects to the class on either June 1st or 2nd.