Grade Level: 7, 8, 9, 10

Subject(s):

• Social Studies/World History/Ancient History

Duration: Two or three 45-minute sessions

Description: This is a game that teaches (in a discovery mode) what the essentials were for early civilizations. Students explore scenarios that leaders of growing villages may have had to encounter.

Goals: New York State Learning Standards (Social Studies):

• Standard 4: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the United States and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and nonmarket mechanisms.

1. Students will learn what early civilizations required for survival.
2. Students will understand how working together in a group is necessary for survival.
3. Students will be able to scrutinize probable early civilization scenarios and attempt to answer them through analysis of the issues.

• large white sheets of construction paper
• crayons, markers, or colored pencils
• pencils
• Scenario List

Scenario List in .pdf format; requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Click the icon to obtain the free Reader.

Procedure:
Divide students into groups of six. Tell them that they are going to play a game regarding early civilization. Have students decide on a name for their group. Each group will also need to elect a leader. The primary responsibility of the leader is to keep the group on task; a secondary responsibility is to speak for the group. After selecting a leader, each group will also need a secretary. The secretary's primary responsibility is to keep a written record of all events, answers, and scores for the group. Explain that this is a game that will not end today. Points will be awarded for the best answers to the given scenarios. Sometimes the answers will be surprising, and sometimes students will discover that there is often more than one answer to a scenario! Groups must allow their leader to speak for them. If another group is not quiet during a presentation, they will lose points (the teacher can decide how many). The goal is for each group to come up with the best answers through discussion and discovery. (Scenarios are provided below along with scoring procedures. A list of only the scenarios can be found in the Materials .)

Scenario 1:
You and another band of hunters have tired of migrating from place to place. You want to settle down and stop moving. Draw a map of the area you choose to settle on. Show all geographic features (ie. ocean, land, mountain, plateau, plains, river, stream, bay, etc.) that you choose to be near.

When students say they are done, award the following points in order:
10 points..................... if near an ocean
20 points..................... if near ocean and river
50 points .................... if near bay/harbor and river

Scenario 2:
Your village is growing faster than your ability to feed the people. What do you do?

Award the following points:
10 points..................... set aside land for farming
20 points..................... offer farmers people to help in the harvest
10 points..................... offer worship to a god.
50 points..................... all of the above

Scenario 3: (Long Project)
This assignment requires each group to draw their idea of the perfect village. Think about what is absolutely essential for people to survive and what you know about early civilizations. Remember we are talking about thousands of years ago, not yesterday. Like before, include as many details as possible in your drawing. Points will be awarded on how realistic your village is compared to the early villages.

10 points..................... next to river or stream.
20 points..................... wall type enclosure
30 points..................... farm land outside village enclosure
40 points .................... marketplace
50 points .................... military compound

Scenario 4:
As your village grows, so does your need for some order. What will you do to maintain the peace? The elders of the village must now meet and decide what are good rules for governing your people.

Award 50 points for each law that could work in early society.

Scenario 5:
The next village requests your military assistance. You must make a decision on whether you will give it, and if so, how this will be done. Be wary if you make a bad decision; your leader will lose his throne.

10 points..................... render assistance
20 points..................... divide your forces
50 points..................... (KEEP YOUR LEADER ONLY IF YOU CHOOSE THIS!) Leave half your forces at home to defend your women, children, and homeland.

Scenario 6:
Your village has been growing because of your good care and watchful eye. People feel safe, they are fed well, they have plenty of goods, but they seem to be lacking something. If you add the right something, you will earn the right to become a city.

City............................. temple to a god, theater, arena

Scenario 7:
Because you have added the right things and have become a city, your village has grown greatly, but now this has created a smelly problem. You must think of a way to deal with two issues in a way that early civilizations did. Your task is to solve the sewage and garbage issues of the day. Choose poorly and people will leave the village, and you may find yourself covered in garbage.

10 points..................... civil servants to tote garbage
20 points..................... designate garbage area and burn it
30 points..................... dredging/cleaning what you have for a water system
50 points..................... aqueducts to bring in clean water pushing out old dirty water

Last Scenario:
Convert your village into a city. Think of all the essentials a city has. What must a city have to survive? If you have played SIMCITY you may have this answer already.

50 points............................... industry
60 points............................... housing
70 points............................... multiple family dwellings
80 points............................... hospitals/firehouses/police stations
90 points............................... entertainment
100 points............................. retail/marketplace, etc.

Assessment: Have students respond to the following questions in writing or verbally:

1. What have you learned about early civilizations?
2. How do early civilizations compare to civilizations today?
3. Did you discover that moments of survival were not as easy as you thought? Why or why not ?