This research-based activity is designed to help students identify and compare the ways in which people in various early civilizations interacted with and used the natural environment. Students are asked to create a poster or a play and make a group presentation to explore this question. Group discussions will identify how past inventions influence how we live today.
Expectations:
English Language – Reading: 5e22, 5e25, 5e26, 5e34, 5e44 – Oral and Visual Communication: 5e45, 5e48, 5e49 – Use of Words and Oral Language Structures: 5e55 – Group Skills: 5e60, 5e61
Social Studies – HC: Early Civilizations: 5z1, 5z2, 5z3 – Knowledge and Understanding: 5z4, 5z5, 5z6, 5z10, 5z11 – Inquiry Research and Communication Skills: 5z12, 5z13, 5z17 – Application: 5z19, 5z2
Global
Water Stats
Canadian
Water Stats
Materials:
drawing materials
poster size paper
Teaching
strategies
Share with students that the purpose of this activity is to identify and compare ways in which people in various early civilizations interacted with and used the natural environment, with a particular focus on use and interaction with water.
Divide students into small groups and either assign or allow them to pick a period in time / early civilization (e.g., Mediterranean, African, Asian, North/Central/South American)
Ask each student/group to research their civilization of choice and its relationship with water. Students should be able to answer the following:
What were the civilization’s major and minor sources of water? (i.e. Egyptians on Nile River Valley).
How did they use water? Describe water in terms of irrigation/agriculture, hygiene and sanitation, health, food, recreation/sports, transport, getting drinking water and technological advances (i.e. Haida canoes, Roman aquaducts).
Ask each group to develop a poster board using drawings, pictures, magazine cut outs, etc., to illustrate the answers to the above questions. Alternatively, ask students to create a short play using clothing and props to illustrate the answers to the above. Students should be encouraged to be as creative as possible.
Students should present their poster/play to the class and explain what they learned about the relationship of their early civilization with water. Ideally, the groups should present chronologically.
After all the presentations, hold a group discussion to identify what was similar in the way water was used throughout the various time periods and geographic locations. Secondly, ask students to discuss ways in which the technological advances and inventions of past civilizations influence how we live today.
