The art and artefacts of the earliest civilisations
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the similarities and differences in the art made by some early civilisations.
Key learning points
- The early civilisations that developed in the 'cradles of civilisation' all produced art and beautiful objects.
- They carved statues out of stone or formed them from clay.
- They made pottery and painted or pressed decorative patterns into them.
- When they discovered how to mix tin and copper to make bronze, this was used to make many pieces of art.
- Despite similarities in how they were made these civilisations all had their own styles of art.
Keywords
Art - art is something someone has created to be beautiful, interesting or to make you feel an emotion
Pottery - pottery are items like pots, cups or dishes made from clay that are baked hard in fire
Clay - clay is a type of soil that is useful for making objects
Bronze - bronze is a useful metal made by mixing copper and tin
Common misconception
Art is only drawings or paintings.
Look at lots of different examples of ancient art, such as sculpture, textiles, jewellery, decorated household objects, weapons and armour.
Teacher tip
Encourage students to make their own versions of ancient art, for example, moulding and decorating modelling clay or threading and decorating jewellery made from coloured paper.
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the keywords to the definitions.
Q2.Which ancient civilisation developed in Mesopotamia?
Q3.Match each ancient civilisation to the correct river or rivers.
Q4.What were features of 'cradles of civilisations'?
Q5.All ancient civilisations learned to control the flow of water.
Q6.How did Ancient Sumerians record their writing?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the keywords to the definitions.
Q2.Choose the sentence that is true.
Q3. is made by mixing copper and tin.
Q4.Pottery is made from which is baked hard by fire.
Q5.Ancient artists or pressed patterns into pottery.
Q6.What is different about the art of ancient civilisations?
To help you plan your 3 history lesson on: The art and artefacts of the earliest civilisations, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 3 history lesson on: The art and artefacts of the earliest civilisations, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 history lessons from the Sumer and other early civilisations: what made them similar? unit, dive into the full primary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.