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What Did the Ancients Give Us?
Many students are unaware of how much our modern world owes to the ancients. But the innovations of ancient societies gave us things such as concrete, the structure of government, makeup, calendars, geometry, and so much more.
In this lesson, students begin by contributing what they know, or think they know, about ancient societies. Then, the class participates in an article jigsaw to compare a selection of ancient societies. Finally, students respond to a prompt asking them how these ancient societies impact our world today.
Opener
To get students thinking about their preconceptions of ancient societies, ask them to complete this quick ancient-landfill activity:
- Have the class form groups with four to five students in each group, and then tear a piece of scrap paper into three pieces.
- On each piece of paper, have students write one fact or one claim they think they know about ancient societies (c. 6000 BCE to c. 700 CE) or something the ancients gave us.
- Tell students to combine their three pieces of paper into one pile with those of their classmates.
- Each group should now take a turn selecting one fact from the pile that they believe is true, and briefly tell the class why they agree that it’s true. (They can’t select their group’s claim.)
Comparing Ancient Societies
Students read an article and answer a set of questions to help them compare different ancient societies.
- Break the class into small groups of three to four students per group and assign one of these articles to each group:
- “Mesopotamia: The Land of Firsts”
- “Ancient Egypt”
- “China from the Shang to the Han”
- “Worlds Collide: Persians and Greeks”
- “Empire without End: Rome”
- “The Mauryan Empire”
- “Collapse and Resilience: Classic Period Mesoamerica”
- “The Sahel: The Empire of Mali”
- As students read their assigned article, have them answer these questions:
- What were the geographic and environmental characteristics of this society?
- What was the political structure of this society?
- What were the cultural achievements and social organization of this society?
- What led to the decline and transformation of this society?
- Draw a large table on the board or create a shared Google Slide with a column for each society. Have students write their responses in the table.
- After all groups have shared their responses, ask students to look across the table and identify any similarities and differences they notice.
- Finally, have students individually respond to these prompts:
- To what extent were these ancient societies similar?
- To what extent were these ancient societies different?
Closer
As an exit ticket, have students use what they’ve learned in the lesson to answer this prompt: How did these ancient societies impact our world today?
