Scott Wilson

Lesson: Geography of Ancient Greece

Date: Monday, March 21st , 2016
Geography
6th Grade, 20-25 Students, 40 Minutes
1. Lesson Rationale
a. This lesson will introduce and teach the students the about the major
geological landforms, and political structuring that makes up and affect the
daily life and history of ancient Greece. The lesson will allow students to
utilize both physical and political maps of ancient Greece. This opening
lesson of the unit on ancient Greece will allow the students to create a
mental as well as a physical representation of Greece as we move through
the unit.

2. Essential Question
a. Why did people first settle in ancient Greece?
b. Why is Greece different from the Early River Valley Civilizations throughout the
world?
3. Standard:
a. NJ Social Studies Standards 6.2.8.B.3.b
i. Explain how geography and the availability of natural resources led to both
the development of Greek city-states and to their decline.
b. NJ Social Studies Standards 6.2.8.B.2.a
i. Determine the extent to which geography influenced settlement, the
development of trade networks, technological innovations, and the
sustainability of early river valley civilizations.
c. NJ Social Studies Standards 6.2.8.B.2.b
i. Compare and contrast physical and political maps of early river valley
civilizations and their modern counterparts (i.e., Mesopotamia and Iraq;
Ancient Egypt and Modern Egypt; Indus River Valley and Modern
Pakistan/India; Ancient China and Modern China), and determine the
geopolitical impact of these civilizations, then and now.

4. Objectives: Students Will Be Able To (SWBAT):

a. Understand, comprehend, and apply geographic concepts of the Ancient
Greece to the classroom.
b. Apply their skills and new knowledge to create a map of the Ancient Greek
Peninsulas from a scientific standpoint and political one.

5. Lesson Opener
a. Another River?: Ask students about the past four units we have discussed
and what they have in common (Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China have
all started by surrounding a river). Show maps of the four past civilizations

and ask what differences and similarities they expect to see while we study
Greece.
6. Procedure: Day #1
a. Step #1 - 5 Minutes
i. Another River?
b. Step #2 - 5 Minutes
i. Wait, where is the river!? Project image on board of map of Greece.
Ask the students what they notice about the area of Greece:
mountains, size, surrounding water, peninsula, many islands, etc. If
students do not notice that there is no major river, use leading
questions to bring them to that point. Ask students how they think this
may have affected life in ancient Greece.
c. Step #3 15 Minutes
i. Have student pass out Greek Assignment #1: Greek Geography. Assign
half the class to complete Part #1 while the other half of the class
completes Part 2 of the activity.
d. Step #4 10-13 Minutes
i. Project a copy of Part #1 of the assignment. Have students fill out
sections of the map one by one while the group that was assigned Part
#2 has a chance to observe and reproduce the map onto their own
sheets. Repeat step with Part #2 on the board. Assign Part #3 for
homework.
e. Step #5 Remaining time, Minimum 2 Minutes: Lesson Closure
i. Ask students to take out index card and answer the question: What are
two benefits and drawbacks of setting up a civilization in Ancient
Greece? Students must hand in their card in order to leave the room.
7. Assignment
a. Assignment #1 Completion, Geographic exit slip
8. Assessment
a. Closing Inquiry, Geography Part 3, Future Exams, Teacher Observations,
Question and Answer, Peer Assessment, Participation.
9. Materials
a. Whiteboard/chalkboard, marker/chalk, projector, map packet, slideshow

Name:

Date:

Period:

6th Grade Social Studies: Ancient Civilizations

Unit #6: Ancient Greece
Mr. Wilson
Essential Questions: Why did people first settle in ancient Greece? What role did religion have on the culture
of the people of Greece? What was the impact of government on the people living in Ancient Greece? How did
technology improve the lives of the people of Ancient Greece?
Objectives: Determine how geographical characteristics were ideal for development of a civilization in
Ancient Greece. Determine physical and political features of the Ancient Greece. Describe how people living
in Greece used technology and trade to improve their lives. .
Assignment #1: Ancient Greece Landscape Geography
Part 1: Basic Comprehension & Critical Thinking (symbols and mapping)_________________________

Directions: Label and/or draw the following features on the Map #1 of the packet. Use page 301 in your
Orange Book. Create a Map Key to explain the colors and symbols that you decided to use. Shade all water
the same color.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Ionian Sea
Aegean Sea
Mt.
Athens
Sparta
Troy
Crete
Rhodes

MAP KEY

Mediterranean Sea (Label)

(Label)
(Label)
Olympus (Create a symbol for and Label)
(Create a symbol for and Label)
(Create a symbol for and Label)
(Create a symbol for and Label)
(Label)
(Label)
Peloponnesian Peninsula (Outline and Label)

Ancient Greece: Map #1

1. Looking to past units, near which landforms would you assume that these ancient people would have
settled near?
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2. Speculate: Do you think Greece is a good place to settle and start a civilization? Explain why or why
not.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Part Two: Reading Comprehension

Directions: Using pages 300-301 in your Orange Book answer the following questions.
1

Was there originally a country of Greece in ancient times? Explain. _________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
What Two continents did Greece split? _______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
What is a peninsula and what is the largest in Greece? ___________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________
When and where did the original Greek settlers come from? _______________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
How much of the Greek land could be used for farming? Why? ____________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
What did the landscape cause between communities? ____________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
What did the Greeks become very skilled in? ___________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
What kind of climate exists in Greece? ________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
What does this mean? _____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
10 What became very important trading goods for the Greeks? ______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

Part 3: Critical Thinking

Directions: Use pages 300-305 in your Orange book to answer the following questions.
1 Most travel and trade in Greece was most likely done by: ___________________________________
2 Which civilizations that we have studied could the Greeks have easily traded with? _______________
__________________________________________________________________________________
3 What did most Greeks share even though they remained separated and often hostile?_______________
4 Greeks were often very scattered around their land, why might this be? ________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

5 What may the Greeks have learned to do in order to make themselves seem useful to other
civilizations?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
6 Greeks were separated by city-states also referred to as _____________________________________
7 Who ruled the polis? What was this called? _______________________________________________
8 Do you feel this is more or less effective than past government styles we have learned about? Explain.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
9 What were the three types of people who were given rights in Greece? _________________________
10 The Polis was the center of Greek life, they were often expected to die for their polis if the time came.
Do you feel that we should still live by this mentality today? Explain why or why not.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ways to look at features of a landscape:

1. Mountain: a large natural elevation of the earth's surface
rising abruptly from the surrounding level
a. ( , montona, Berg, , montagna, )

b.

2. Peninsula: a piece of land surrounded mostly by water

a. (, pennsula, Halbinsel, penisola, )

b. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Island: A piece of land completely surrounded by water
a. (, isla, Insel, Isola, , )