Civilization Characteristics Class Presentation

For this project our class worked together to make a presentation on the characteristics of civilization.  Our group researched and created the slides on.......  Hope you learned something about civilization.

***Example*** EPIC of Gilgamesh and Mesopotamian Beliefs

For this project we spent time learning about the religious beliefs of the Ancient Mesopotamian civilizations. We also read the Epic of Gilgamesh in class, the oldest story in human history. I have included some of what I learned below.

First of all the Civilizations of Mesopotamia had a polytheistic religion. According to dictionary.com polytheism is "the doctrine of or belief in more than one god or in many gods."

The people of Mesopotamia worshiped many gods, but each city had a patron or main god that they believed looked out for the people of their city especially.  The different god, monsters, and demons were in charge of different things such as the sun, water, war, and death.  

When regular people wanted to get help from the gods they would visit a temple.  Temples in Mesopotamia were called Ziggurats these were tall mud brick buildings that looked a bit like small mountains.  At the temple priests would communicate and pray to the gods for you.  People made sacrifices to the gods of things that were valuable to them including food.  

According to Mesopotamian Mythology the reason the gods created humans is....

In class we read through the Epic of Gilgamesh which is the oldest written story in human history.  The Epic of Gilgamesh tells us about the world of the Ancient Mesopotamian peoples, what they valued, what they feared, and what they thought about.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the story of Gilgamesh king of strong walled Uruk..... 

After reading the Epic of Gilgamesh we created multiple choice questions based on what we learned.  Here are my three favorite questions...

1. What was Gilgamesh's final quest?
A. To defeat the demon Humbaba
B. To marry the goddess Ishtar
C. To tame the bull of heaven
D. To find the secret of immortality

https://youtu.be/2pGhEu9elnA

Sources:

British Museum for Kids Mesopotamian Gods Site

Epic of Gilgamesh Video 

Middle School Translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh 

Polytheism Definition 

Ziggurat Picture 

Life in the Paleolithic era Hunting and Gathering for the Win

Our class learned about what life was like during the Paleolithic Age, a time when humans had to hunt and gather all of the food and resources they needed to live. For this project we read an article and watched two video clips to learn more about this interesting time. Please enjoy my blog post on what I learned.

What is a Hunter-Gatherer?
A Hunter-gatherer was a person that survived by hunting wild animals and gathered wild plants and other foods and resources in order to survive. These people were usually nomadic because they had to follow food and other resources around as they moved or ran out in the place that they lived.

Where and When Did they Live?
At one time hunter-gatherers lived all over the planet. Homo Sapiens, our species, began in Africa and spread to every continent except Antarctica. People stopped hunting and gathering after they adopted a farming life. Different people adopted farming at different times all over the world. Some people refused to give up the hunting and gathering life for many years even after their neighbors became farmers. Even to this day a few isolated tribes continue the hunting and gathering way of life!

Sources:

Hunter-Gatherer Article from History

Primitive Technology Hunter Gatherer Youtube Video

Before We Ruled the Earth Mastering the Beasts DVD Clip

Stone Chopping Tool Podcast

For this assignment Mr. Rothemich asked teams to research information about the fossils and artifacts that tell us about where humans originated.  Our team took the research and created a podcast on Lucy to show what we learned.

Sources Used:

British Museum

CNN 10

Top Five Sites of Ancient Egypt

For this project our class researched the top five places/artifacts that tourist have to visit in Egypt.  We limited our sites to a list of ancient Egyptian sites given to us by Mr. Rothemich.  We created a video and ranked the sites, please enjoy.

Resources Used:

Pyramids Wikipedia

British Museum Pyramid Info

Etc. (Should have 10-20+ Resources)

*(*Example*** Civilization Class Presentation Post

For this project Mr. Rothemich had our class divide and research the characteristics of civilization and create a class presentation on them.  Our slides are on the topic of ______.  Please enjoy.



Sources included in the show. 

*Example Post Project# 5* The Drawn of Civilization in a Picture!

For this project Mr. Rothemich had us draw an image showing the relationship between Agriculture, Settlement, Population Growth and how that Connects to Civilization.  Here are my pictures please enjoy.

In this picture students showed how agriculture led to permanent settlements
and how these two things led to population growth and eventually to civilization.

Sources:
Crash Course History: Agriculture Revolution Video
Agricultural Revolution Lecture Video 
NPR Population Growth Video