Sumer and other early civilisations: what made them similar?
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Why this why now
This unit uses and builds on pupils' knowledge about archaeologists that they developed in the unit about ancient Egypt. Having studied one Bronze Age civilisation in depth, the ancient Egyptians, pupils' access to and interest in this unit will be secure. This unit prepares pupils for future units on other early civilisations such as the Indus and the Shang dynasty in China. It also prepares pupils for later units that make reference to city-states and provides background geographical knowledge for the year 4 unit on Alexander the Great and Persia.
Prior knowledge requirements
- An awareness of artifacts and archaeologists.
- An awareness of distinctive ancient cultures as introduced in 'Bronze and Iron Age Britain and Ireland: how did life change during this time?'
- Stories from EYFS and KS1 Religious Education about gods and goddesses.
- An awareness of what civilisation means, especially in the context of 'ancient civilisations'.
Threads
Why this why now
This unit uses and builds on pupils' knowledge about archaeologists that they developed in the unit about ancient Egypt. Having studied one Bronze Age civilisation in depth, the ancient Egyptians, pupils' access to and interest in this unit will be secure. This unit prepares pupils for future units on other early civilisations such as the Indus and the Shang dynasty in China. It also prepares pupils for later units that make reference to city-states and provides background geographical knowledge for the year 4 unit on Alexander the Great and Persia.
Prior knowledge requirements
- An awareness of artifacts and archaeologists.
- An awareness of distinctive ancient cultures as introduced in 'Bronze and Iron Age Britain and Ireland: how did life change during this time?'
- Stories from EYFS and KS1 Religious Education about gods and goddesses.
- An awareness of what civilisation means, especially in the context of 'ancient civilisations'.
Sumer and other early civilisations: what made them similar?
This unit analyses the similarities and differences between early civilisations. Pupils learn about Mesopotamia as a 'cradle of civilisation' and compare it to other civilisations, such as the Shang and the Indus Valley civilisations.
6 lessons in unit
slide decks, worksheet PDFs, quizzes and lesson overviews. You can select individual lessons from the Sumer and other early civilisations: what made them similar? unit and download the resources you need, or download the entire unit now. See every unit listed in our primary history curriculum and discover more of our teaching resources for primary history programmes.
