Ancient Sumer, September 10, 2012

1. Ancient Sumer, September 10, 2012

2. Preview: 5, complete in notebook page Scientists sometimes describe a society or a group of humans as “highly civilized.” Explain what you think it means to be highly civilized, and provide specific examples. Complete your preview in your notebook, page

3. Preview: 5 “Highly Civilized” “highly civilized” share your answers with the person next to you, turn and talk, 3 minutes

4. Preview: 5 “Highly Civilized” “highly civilized” share your answers with the class

5. Connection between Preview and Chapter 5 Although you may have different opinions about what it means to be “Civilized,” historians use specific characteristics to determine whether a society is “civilized” In this chapter, you will learn about the characteristics of civilization and then examine how these characteristics determine why historians consider ancient Sumer a “civilization.”

6. Working in Pairs, act as Archaeologists Suppose you are archaeologists who have just unearthed this “artifact” and know nothing about it. List all the things you observe about this artifact, below your preview

7. Working in Pairs, act as Archaeologists Share with the class On the board, list your observations and group them in 7 columns

8. The Characteristics of Civilization Government religious system Culture Technology written language stable food supply social structure

9. The Characteristics of Civilization, think of one or two visuals for each • Civilizations need a stable food supply. A complex society can thrive only if its members have the food they need to survive. • Civilizations have a complex organization, or social structure. A social structure includes different jobs and social levels. People at higher levels have greater status than others. • All civilizations have a system of government to direct people’s behavior and make life orderly.

10. The Characteristics of Civilization, think of one or two visuals for each • All civilizations have some kind of religious system. A religious system includes both a set of beliefs, usually in a god or gods, and forms of worship. • All civilizations have a highly developed culture, including the arts. Arts include creative forms of expression such as painting, architecture, and music. • All civilizations create new forms of technology(application of tools and methods) • A final characteristic of civilizations is a highly developed written language.

11. The Essential Question Why do historians classify ancient Sumer as a civilization?

12. Reading For Understanding • Read the Introduction 5.1 and 5.2 • Notice in every section 5.3 – 5.9, the first couple of sentence in the first paragraph define each characteristic

13. Create a set of vocabulary cards On each card, write one of the seven characteristics of civilization, define it, and draw a picture to depict the meaning

14. Re-Read Section 5.2 Complete the spoke diagram, 1. Write the title of the section in large center circle 2. In each small circle, write one of the characteristics of civilization 3. Next to each small circle, draw a picture or symbol that represents that characteristic