World History - Ancient World: Lesson Plans

Students may be familiar with this famous battle from its depiction in Zack Snyder's movie 300, based on Frank Miller's graphic novel. In this lesson students learn about the historical background to the battle and are asked to ponder some of its legacy, including how history is reported and interpreted from different perspectives.

Some of the most well known, and most important, works of literature in the world are examples of epic poetry. This lesson will introduce students to the epic poem form and to its roots in oral tradition.

Debate the relationship between individual rights and the rule of law with a philosopher condemned to death.

By studying paintings from the Cave of Lascaux and other caves in France, students will discover that pictures can be a way of communicating beliefs and ideas and can give us clues today about what life was like long ago.

Trace similar motifs in the artwork and folklore of India, Africa, the Maya, and Native Americans.

This lesson introduces students to Egyptian pyramids and to artifacts and archaeology in general. Through a discussion of the size, scale, and purpose of pyramids, students learn how these structures tell audiences of today about the peoples of ancient Egypt. An extension lesson allows students to consider what messages modern monuments provide about present-day cultures.

Students will examine the art and history of ancient Egypt through the oldest writing system in the world. This lesson teaches students how to understand and write Egyptian hieroglyphs.

This lesson introduces students to Egyptian art, culture, and history through the ancient tomb paintings and mythological figures of the Book of the Dead.

The famous Great Wall of China, which was built to keep the China’s horse-riding neighbors at bay, extends more than 2,000 kilometers across China, from Heilongjiang province by Korea to China’s westernmost province of Xinjiang. This lesson will investigate the building of the Great Wall during the Ming Dynasty, and will utilize the story of the wall as a tool for introducing students to one period in the rich history of China.

King Hammurabi ruled Babylon, located along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, from 1792-1750 BCE however, today he is most famous for a series of judgments inscribed on a large stone stele and dubbed Hammurabi's Code. In this lesson students will learn about the contents of the Code, and what it tells us about life in Babylonia in the 18th century BCE.

Many English speakers are familiar with the Sanskrit word karma, which made its way into the language during the first half of the nineteenth century. It is often used in English to encapsulate the idea that "what goes around comes around." A more complete understanding of the word is brought to life in the stories known collectively as the Jataka Tales. This lesson will introduce students to the concepts of samsara and karma, as well as to the Jataka Tales.

Enliven your students' encounter with Greek mythology, to deepen their understanding of what myths meant to the ancient Greeks, and to help them appreciate the meanings that Greek myths have for us today.

The epic poem the Ramayana is thought to have been composed more than 2500 years ago, and like the Iliad and the Odyssey, was originally transmitted orally by bards. This lesson will introduce students to the Indian concept of dharma through a reading of the epic, The Ramayana.

The story of the Ramayana has been passed from generation to generation by numerous methods and media. Initially it was passed on orally as an epic poem that was sung to audiences by a bard, as it continues to be today.

Trade was critical to Old Babylonia, where many highly prized natural resources were scarce but agricultural goods were in surplus. A vibrant trading system developed, bringing manufactured goods and raw materials from as far as Turkey, and even India, 1500 miles away. Trade became integral to the economy and the culture. In this lesson, students explore the trade industry in Old Babylonia and its far-flung influence.

This exhibit includes sections on the cultural and historical context of the Games.

Return to ancient Athens for the world premier of Antigone. This is the revised and updated version of the lesson plan.

Find out what ancient maps can tell us about the aspirations of those who made them.

Fables, such as those attributed to Aesop, are short narratives populated by animals who behave like humans, and which convey lessons to the listener. Jataka Tales are often short narratives which tell the stories of the lives of the Buddha before he reached Enlightenment. In this lesson students will be introduced to both Aesop’s fables and to a few of the Jataka Tales, and through these stories will gain an understanding of one genre of storytelling: morality tales.

Curiculum Unit overview. The youngest and newest writers often have a deep interest in the origin of writing itself. These lessons will follow the history of our alphabet.

Lesson 1: The Alphabet is Historic: The Phoenicians and the Beginnings of the Alphabet
Lesson 2: The Alphabet is Historic: The Greek Alphabet: more familiar than you think!
Lesson 3: The Alphabet is Historic: The Roman Alphabet is our Alphabet
Lesson 4: The Alphabet is Historic: The Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans, and Us

The earliest writing systems evolved independently and at roughly the same time in Egypt and Mesopotamia, but current scholarship suggests that Mesopotamia’s writing appeared first. That writing system, invented by the Sumerians, emerged in Mesopotamia around 3500 BCE. This lesson plan is designed to help students appreciate the parallel development and increasing complexity of writing and civilization in Mesopotamia.

This lesson plan uses an EDSITEment-created Greek alphabet animation to help students "decode" the inscription on the Olympic medal. Because the Olympic medal is both a familiar and mysterious object for students, it presents an ideal prompt to build basic literacy in the Greek alphabet. Thus, this lesson uses the Athens 2004 medal inscription as an elementary "text" to help students practice reading Greek and to help reinforce the link between ancient Greek culture and the Olympic games.

Curriculum Unit overview. For many people, Timbuktu is a metaphor for the mysterious, the remote, or the unobtainable. But the Malian city of Timbuktu was, in fact, once a thriving center of commerce and intellectual activity. In the lessons of this curriculum unit, students will learn about the geography of Mali and the early trade networks that flourished there.

Lesson 1: Trekking to Timbuktu: The Geography of Mali — Student Version
Lesson 2: Trekking to Timbuktu: Trade in Ancient West Africa — Student Version
Lesson 3: Trekking to Timbuktu: Timbuktu: A Center of Trade — Student Version
Lesson 4: Trekking to Timbuktu: Mansa Musa Takes a Trip — Student Version
Lesson 5: Trekking to Timbuktu: Timbuktu's Golden Age of Scholarship — Student Version
Lesson 6: Trekking to Timbuktu: The Search for Timbuktu — Student Version
Lesson 7: Trekking to Timbuktu: Restoring the Past — Student Version
Lesson 8: Trekking to Timbuktu: Making The Pitch to Globe Trekker — Student Version

Curriculum Unit overview. For many people, Timbuktu is a metaphor for the mysterious, the remote, or the unobtainable. But the Malian city of Timbuktu was, in fact, once a thriving center of commerce and intellectual activity.

In the lessons of this curriculum unit, students will learn about the geography of Mali and the early trade networks that flourished there. They will study how the spread of Islam influenced the cultures and economies along the Niger River. They will find out about the three kingdoms that evolved in ancient and medieval West Africa. They will discover how Timbuktu rose from a simple watering place to the most important city in Islamic West Africa. And they will find out what is being done today to protect the city’s antiquities

Lesson 1: Trekking to Timbuktu: The Geography of Mali —Teacher Version
Lesson 2: Trekking to Timbuktu: Trade in Ancient West Africa — Teacher Version
Lesson 3: Trekking to Timbuktu: Timbuktu: A Center of Trade — Teacher Version
Lesson 4: Trekking to Timbuktu: Mansa Musa Takes a Trip — Teacher Version
Lesson 5: Trekking to Timbuktu: Timbuktu's Golden Age of Scholarship — Teacher Version
Lesson 6: Trekking to Timbuktu: The Search for Timbuktu — Teacher Version
Lesson 7: Trekking to Timbuktu: Restoring the Past — Teacher Version
Lesson 8: Trekking to Timbuktu: Assessment of Lessons 1-7 — Teacher Version