| Materials Needed: Explore Geography
Picture Dictionary (one per student or student group) and Explore
the Ancient World Activity Sheet : "Good for Settlement?" |
| Teacher Directions: Ask students
to name the civilizations, settlements, towns, or cities they have
studied (e.g., the Indus Valley civilization, the New Kingdom in Egypt,
the Shang Dynasty in China, Athens, Mycenae). Review with students
the location of each place. Is it located in a river basin? Is it
on a peninsula? Is it on an island? Discuss with students ways in
which the location was significant to human settlement. Ask them to
analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each location. |
| Organize the class into pairs or groups of three. Assign one place
to each group. Give each group a copy of Explore America Activity
Sheet: "Good for Settlement?" Review the directions with students.
Have students identify the geographical features associated with each
place and look up the features in the Explore Geography Picture Dictionary.
|
| Then ask them to analyze the significance of the location of the
place for human settlement. For example, is the place in a river basin?
What are the advantages and disadvantages associated with the place?
Allow time for students to share their work with the rest of the class.
Encourage students to be creative and make their presentations interesting.
They could present the information in the form of a fun fact, a news
briefing, or a geography quiz. |
 |
Make it Easier: List
on the board the settlements the students have studied, as well as
the geographical terms. Give suggestions for the advantages (e.g.,
close to a river for transportation) and disadvantages (e.g., easy
to attack, lack of available water) of the places. |
 |
Make it Quicker: Choose
one settlement or city and do the activity with the whole class. |
 |
Make it More Fun:
Ask groups to present to the class reasons why their place would be
the best place to settle. A panel of students or the teacher can decide
which group was the most convincing. |
 |
Make it More Challenging:
Ask students to choose a place and then write a paragraph describing
the physical characteristics that made it a good place for settlement. |
