Mesopotamia: The Cradle of Civilization

This WebQuest is designed to enable students to explore more about Ancient Mesopotamia while developing their internet research skills.  Using a familiar prompt of writing for a video game, it tries to pique student's interest to create short one page entries on multiple topics on Mesopotamian civilization.  Students are encouraged to own their education by being allowed to pick out their subjects with scaffolding provided by the teacher generated note pages and website selections.  Additionally, by including a reference sheet in the assignment, students are encouraged early on to keep track of where they obtain their information.

Standards

McRel Standards

World History
�Understands how political factors influenced the civilization of Mesopotamia
�Understands how the natural environment of the Tigris Euphrates shaped the early development of civilization
�Knows the characteristics of urban development in Mesopotamia

Geography
�Understands the characteristics and uses of maps, globes, and other geographic tools and technologies
�Knows the location of Mesopotamia on a map

Common Core Literacy Writing
�Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
�Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
�Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.

Technology
�Knows ways in which technology has influenced the course of history (e.g., revolutions in agriculture, manufacturing, sanitation, medicine, warfare, transportation, information processing, communication)

Credits

Mr. Donn's Site for Kids and Teachers: http://www.mrdonn.org/index.html (Websites, Resources, and Images)
Crash Course World History: Mesopotamia: https://youtu.be/sohXPx_XZ6Y (Content)
University of Chicago The Oriental Institute: Teaching Material and Dig Into History Game: http://mesopotamia.lib.uchicago.edu/teacherresources/article.php?m=Lesson%20Plans (Resources, Ideas, and Images)