Lesson video

Hello everyone, how are you today? Hope you're doing really well.

My name is Ms Afzal, and I'll be your teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling really pleased about that because we have such an interesting topic.

We are getting into the history of Mesopotamia.

Our lesson is called, "The Growth of Trade, Construction and Writing in Mesopotamia." It comes from the unit of work, "Sumer and other early civilizations, what made them similar?" So I hope you have some questions.

I hope you have some curiosity, and if you have got energy, focus and enthusiasm for this lesson, I think we'll begin.

The outcome for today's lesson is, "I can explain how farming in Mesopotamia led to the growth of trade, writing and building." I hope that sounds interesting to you.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

I'd like us to go through them one at a time saying them out loud.

My turn, your turn.

Are you ready? Trade.

Record.

Cuneiform.

Ziggurat.

Good to hear those keywords.

And now I'd like you to turn someone nearby and tell them have you heard of any of these keywords before? Do you even know what any of them mean? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's find out what these keywords mean.

People trade by buying or selling items they need or want.

People write or draw to record ideas, events and memories.

A type of ancient writing, invented in Sumer, was called cuneiform.

A ziggurat is a large religious building made from stone during Mesopotamian civilizations.

So these are our keywords, trade, record, cuneiform and ziggurat.

Let's be on the lookout for them.

Let's listen out for them.

Let's think carefully about these keywords that will be coming up in our lesson today.

Our lesson is called, "The Growth of Trade, Construction and Writing in Mesopotamia." And it has three learning cycles.

How did farming affect Mesopotamia? What was writing like in Mesopotamia? And what were buildings like in Mesopotamia? Let's begin with how did farming affect Mesopotamia? Let's take a look at the effects of successful farming.

Successful farming led to trade with other people.

It led to inventions and discoveries and to settling and building.

These were all effects of successful farming.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What were three effects of farming in Mesopotamia.

Choose from this selection.

A, building, B, trade, C, rivers, D, inventions.

Pause here while you decide what were three effects of farming in Mesopotamia.

Well done if you selected building, trade and inventions.

These were three effects of farming in Mesopotamia.

Ancient Mesopotamian civilizations traded many different items. The development of trade in Mesopotamia allowed people from many different places to meet together to share ideas and experiences.

Pause here and share with someone what are some of the things that you think were being traded in this image of life in ancient Mesopotamia? Thanks for sharing.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? A surplus of food led to the development of trade in ancient Mesopotamian civilizations.

Pause here while you decide.

Is this statement true or false? Well done if you selected true.

And now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Choose from one of these two statements.

A, Mesopotamian civilizations only traded surplus food.

B, Mesopotamian civilizations would not just trade surplus food, but also animals, pottery, tools and jewellery.

Pause here while you choose one of these statements to justify your earlier answer.

Well done if you selected statement B.

Indeed, Mesopotamian civilizations would not just trade surplus food, but also animals, pottery, tools and jewellery.

This justified your earlier answer.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to match the words to the definitions.

Here are our words.

Trade, build, surplus and invent.

And the definitions.

More than you need.

Buy or sell items people want or need.

Create something new.

Make a house or city.

So pause here while you match the words to the definitions.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task of matching the words to the definitions? Did you match them in this way? Trade is when you buy or sell items people want or need.

Build, make a house or city.

Surplus, more than you need.

And invent, create something new.

Well done if you matched the words to the definitions in this way.

Well done for having a go at this task.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle.

What was writing like in Mesopotamia? Trading in ancient Mesopotamia led to the invention of writing about 6,000 years ago in Sumer.

Writing first began as a way to record what people traded.

Pause here and share with someone.

Can you spot the people writing and recording in this image of life in ancient Mesopotamia? Thanks for sharing.

Writing started as pictures of items and simple counting marks as we can see on the screen.

Over time, writing developed into cuneiform, with symbols for sounds.

Archeologists have found cuneiform being used to write letters or to record stories.

One famous story is about Gilgamesh, an ancient king, and his adventures in Sumer.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? Writing was first invented in Mesopotamia to record stories.

Pause here while you decide.

Is this statement true or false? Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Choose from one of these two statements.

A, the first writing recorded trade.

B, the first writing recorded the story of King Gilgamesh.

Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.

Well done if you selected statement A.

Indeed, the first writing recorded trade.

This statement justifies your earlier answer.

To write cuneiform, a stylus was pressed into a clay tablet to make marks.

And here we can see a stylus that has been used to make these marks on the clay tablet.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Large amounts of cuneiform writing has survived because, choose from this selection.

Complete the sentence by choosing from these options.

A, it is written on clay.

B, it is still used today.

C, the Mesopotamians stored it carefully.

Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected option A.

Let's read the sentence in full.

Large amounts of cuneiform writing has survived because it is written on clay.

Well done if you selected this option.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to use the words below to complete the sentences.

So the words we have are hardens, clay, cuneiform and stylus.

And here are our sentences with some words missing.

Ancient writing is made by pressing a into tablets made from.

Evidence of cuneiform writing has survived to this day because clay over time.

So pause here while you use the words hardens, clay, cuneiform and stylus to complete the sentences.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with completing the sentences? Did you use the words to complete the sentences in this way? Ancient cuneiform writing is made by pressing a stylus into tablets made from clay.

Evidence of cuneiform writing has survived to this day because clay hardens over time.

Well done if you completed the sentences in this way.

Well done for having a go at this task.

And now, we're onto our final learning cycle.

What were buildings like in Mesopotamia? Successful farming meant there was enough food for many people to settle in one place.

Archeologists have discovered ruins of ancient cities in Mesopotamia.

This is some of the earliest evidence of people settling and living in cities.

And here in this image, we can see the remains of a house.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Complete the sentence to explain what you have learned and try to include these words.

Farming, people and settle.

And here's the sentence.

Ancient Mesopotamians built cities because.

So pause here while you complete the sentence, including the words farming, people and settle.

Did you complete the sentence in this way? Ancient Mesopotamians built cities because their farming was so good that they had enough to feed a large number of people who could settle in one place.

This map shows the locations of some ancient cities.

Some of the rivers and coasts have moved since these cities were built.

Let's take a closer look at this map.

One important city was called Ur.

Many clay tablets of cuneiform have been found in Ur and there we can see Ur circled on the map.

Another important city was called Uruk.

Gilgamesh was said to be the king of Uruk.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the following cities were ancient cities in Mesopotamia? A, Ur.

B, Cairo.

C, Uruk.

D, Baghdad.

Pause here while you decide which of these cities were ancient cities in Mesopotamia? Well done if you selected A, Ur, and C, Uruk.

These were both ancient cities in Mesopotamia.

One special type of religious building from ancient Mesopotamia is called a ziggurat.

A ziggurat was a large religious building made from stone.

And there we can see an image of a ziggurat.

Ziggurats were all built in a style called step pyramids.

They have different levels that are flat.

These are called tiers.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which picture shows a religious building from ancient Mesopotamia? Is it A, Colosseum? B, a ziggurat? Or C, a pyramid? Pause here while you decide which picture shows a religious building from ancient Mesopotamia.

Well done if you selected answer B.

Indeed, a ziggurat is a religious building from ancient Mesopotamia.

And now, it's time for your final task.

I would like you to order these sentences to explain how successful Sumerian farming led to cities and buildings.

Let's go through the sentences.

Sumerians could settle in one place.

Sumerian farming was successful.

Sumerians had a surplus of food.

Sumerians built cities for many people and large stone buildings called ziggurats.

So pause here while you order these sentences to explain how successful Sumerian farming led to cities and buildings.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task? Ordering these sentences to explain how successful Sumerian farming led to cities and buildings.

Did you order the sentences in this way? 1.

Sumerian farming was successful.

2.

Sumerians had a surplus of food.

3.

Sumerians could settle in one place.

4.

Sumerians built cities for many people and large stone buildings called ziggurats.

Well done if you ordered the sentences to explain how successful Sumerian farming led to cities and buildings in this way.

And now for the next part of your task, I'd like you to explain to your learning partner how successful farming in Mesopotamia led to the growth of trade, writing and building.

You can use the following in your explanation to help.

Surplus of food, record trade, cuneiform, large populations, cities and ziggurats.

So pause here while you have a go at this task, explaining how successful farming in Mesopotamia led to the growth of trade, writing and building.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

So how did you get on with that task of explaining to your learning partner how successful farming in Mesopotamia led to the growth of trade, writing and building? Your answer could have included something like this.

Successful farming in Mesopotamia created a surplus of food.

This led to the growth of trade, as Sumerian farmers had more food to trade, and the growth of writing because writing first began as people needed a way to record trade.

This writing developed into cuneiform over time.

Successful farming also meant that large populations could settle to live in one place together, which led to the first cities and ziggurats.

Well done if you explained what the success of farming in Mesopotamia led to in this way.

In our lesson, "The Growth of Trade, Construction and Writing in Mesopotamia," we've covered the following.

Successful Sumerian farming led to surplus and more trade with people from far away.

Sumerians invented writing called cuneiform to record and count items they traded.

Successful farming meant many people could settle in one place.

Sumerians built cities, including large stone buildings called ziggurats.

Well done everyone for joining in with the lesson.

It was so great to explore the effects of farming and to find out about early writing in cuneiform.

I hope you enjoyed learning about the Sumerians and about life in Mesopotamia.

I really enjoyed teaching you and I hope you enjoyed this lesson too.

I look forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.

Bye for now.