1. Ashley Redcay
EDU485
Mr. Beeson
Due Date
Subject/Course, Grade, and Lesson Title
AP World History, 11, To Civilize or Not to Civilize…
PA State Standards & PA Core Connections, NCSS Themes
8.4.W.C. Evaluate how continuity and change have impacted the world today. • Belief systems
and religions • Commerce and industry • Technology • Politics and government • Physical and
human geography • Social organization
8.4.W.A. Evaluate the role groups and individuals played in the social, political, cultural, and
economic development throughout world history.
CC.8.6.11-12.C. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and
style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
NCSS Themes: People, Places, and Environments
Enduring Understanding(s)
People need certain resources to survive. Civilizations are born based off of these needs.
Materials (Teacher & Students)
Whiteboard, markers,projector, powerpoint, interactive map
Lesson Objectives
TSWBAT define what makes a civilization based off of questions answered correctly that are posed by
the teacher.
TSW consider how civilizations were created to supply the basic needs of people and how people
organized to meet these needs through reflections written in class.
TSW analyze how civilizations evolved into what we see today through a short essay to be written for
homework that will be graded by the teacher.
Lesson Context Explanation & Rationale
This is the first lesson in a unit on ancient civilizations. It will go over what is required of a group of
people for it to be considered a civilization, as well as what geographical resources worked best to create
an ancient civilization. This will bleed into the next lesson when students begin to specifically look at
certain ancient civilizations and see how these ideals of civilization play out in these cultures.
Essential Question(s)
What makes a civilization? What do people need to survive? What does it mean to be civilized? (Childe
essay)
Activation & Time Gauge
1. I will do a form of a KWL on the whiteboard. I will ask students to come up to the board and
write in the first two columns what they already know and what they want to learn concerning
ancient civilizations.
2. Then, I will have them sit down and we will together create a list of things we think of when we
hear the word “civilization”. This should help us begin to create our own definition of what a
civilization is. Then, I will have each student come up with a definition of what they think a
civilization is. (10 minutes)
Concept/Skill Development & Time Gauge
3. Students will take notes as I give a lecture on what is considered a civilization. (20 Minutes)
(What exactly will be said can be found in the notes of the powerpoint)
Processing & Assessment Time Gauge
4. Students will get into groups and consider why civilizations developed the way they did. They
will write a short reflection. (5 minutes)

2. 5. Students will also decide if the definition of ancient civilizations can still apply for today’s
civilizations. They will also consider how civilizations could have possibly evolved to what we
know today. (5 minutes)
Closure & Time Gauge
6. I will discuss the homework for the evening. The students will consider discussion of point 5 and
write a short essay on how they see the evolution of civilization into what it is known today. If
they believe that the definition of a civilization we came up with for ancient civilizations does not
apply to today, they will be asked to write a new definition of what it means to be civilized. If
they do believe that this is a proper definition of civilization, they will be asked to defend their
reasoning. This will help prepare them to consider how each civilization evolved considering
different definitions of civilization. I will also introduce our overview of each civilization as part
of why we are doing this assignment. (5 minutes)
Resources Used and/or Consulted for This Lesson (use proper MLAformat)
"Map of the Ancient World." Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
<https://www.ancient.eu/map/>.
Greenblatt, Miriam, and Peter S. Lemmo. Human Heritage: A World History. Teacher Wrap Around
ed. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2001. Print.
Mazour, Anatole Gregory, and John M. Peoples. World History: People and Nations. Annotated
Teacher's ed. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1993. Print.