Unit Components

School District: Clark
Unit of Study Title: Technologies of Egypt
Grade Level: 9-12
Time Frame: 2 weeks
Key Words: Technologies of Egypt

Unit Designer Name: Todd Jenkins (TJ007)
Unit Designer E-mail: Todd.Jenkins@k12.sd.us

Topic Areas: Social Science

Brief Summary of Unit:
This unit is set up in the area of Social Studies for 10th grade World History and is called Technologies of Ancient Egypt. The focus of the unit will be on Egyptian advancements, why they came about and their affect on today’s society. A key topic in this unit is the word… Technology, what it means and what it was in its earliest form. Students will need to describe Egypt’s advancements/technologies and why they were developed. Students will better understand Ancient Egypt through a series of activities, in which they will work in groups of two. These activities will include the use of the Internet for research and Microsoft Office (specifically Microsoft Word and PowerPoint) for the creation of a booklet and a PowerPoint, which will be turned in for a grade. Students will also participate in a critique type format and describe some of the Internet sites that they will visit. A wireless lab would make this project accessible from any where in the school and will make the project much more convenient for the students. It also fits in very well with the idea of technology which a key in this unit.

Technology: Handheld Computer

Desired Results

What enduring understandings are desired? Students will understand that...
The objective or challenge for this unit is to make students better aware of the time period of Ancient Egypt and effects that ancient Egypt has had on civilization. Ancient Egypt in relation to our society (United States) was in existence over a very large time period and students will need to determine some of the advancements that have carried over and are still used today. Students will understand what technology is, what it was during early Egyptian times and how technology then is important today. Through looking into the many the advancements of Egyptian times students will learn that technology has always been with us, just at different levels.

What essential questions will guide this unit and focus teaching and learning?
Students must keep these general thoughts in mind at all times.
• What are and describe four advancements in Egyptian society.
• Why did these advancements come about?
• How are these advancements represented in today’s society?
These questions will be the root of the project and will be what the report and Power Point will be based on. These questions will guide the students into what technology really is, technique of skills.

Link to Standards #1
Content Area: Geography
Source: SD Content Standards
Goal (SD Content Standards):
Students will understand the interrelationships of people, places, and the environment and the tools they created and used to advance there culture.

Indicator:
Analyze information from geographic representation, tools, and technology to define location, place, and region.

Benchmark(s):
a. evaluate and select resources, data services, and geographic tools to generate, manipulate, and interpret information.
b. analyze location, direction, size and/or shape to develop and refine complex mental maps.
c. analyze multiple criteria to distinguish various locations, places, and regions.

Standards: (South Dakota Grade level standards are preceded with an *)
1. use maps, globes, and other geographic tools to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective by selecting appropriate maps, map projections, and other graphic representations to analyze geographic problems; constructing maps using fundamental cartographic principles including translating narratives about places and events into graphic representations; interpreting maps and other geographic tools through the analysis of case studies and using data; and using geographic tools to represent and interpret the earth’s physical and human systems.
2. know the changes that occur in the meaning, use, location, distribution, and importance of resources by analyzing how technology affects the definition of, access to, and use of resources; describing why people have different viewpoints with respect to resource use; and evaluating policies and programs for resource use and management.
3. know how to apply geography to understand the past by analyzing how differing perceptions of places, people, and resources have affected events and conditions in the past; and analyzing the fundamental role that places and environments have played in history.
4. know how to apply geography to understand the present and plan for the future by evaluating a contemporary issue using geography knowledge, skills, and perspectives; and comparing and contrasting how different viewpoints influence the development of policies designed to use and manage the earth’s resources.

Link to Standards #2
Content Area: Geography
Source: SD Content Standards
Goal (SD Content Standards):
Students will understand the interrelationships of people, places, and the environment and how the technology then is still has an affect on today and the relationships that can be made.

Indicator:
Analyze the relationships among the natural environment, the movement of peoples, and the development of societies.

Benchmark(s):
a. analyze the impact of natural environment and characteristics of particular locations on settlement patterns.
b. analyze how humans modify and/or are impacted by the natural environment.
c. analyze how past and present trends of human migration worldwide impact politics, environment, and societies.

Standards: (South Dakota Grade level standards are preceded with an *)
1. know how to analyze the dynamic spatial organization of people, places, and environments by analyzing geographic information using a variety of scales - local, national, and international (e.g., growth issues in Sioux Falls, New York City, and Southeast Asia); analyzing patterns of distribution and arrangement of settlements; and analyzing patterns and processes of the diffusion of human activities.
2. know the physical and human characteristics of places by analyzing human and physical characteristics that give a place meaning and significance, and describing the changing human and physical characteristics of places.
3. know how and why people define regions by applying the concept of regions to organize the study of a geographic issue using multiple criteria, and analyzing changes in regions and recognizing the patterns of those changes (e.g., the Middle East has become a region of economic importance to the United States).
4. know how culture and experience influence people’s perceptions of places and regions by analyzing why places and regions are important to human identity, comparing and contrasting how and why different groups in society view places and regions differently, and analyzing the ways places and regions reflect cultural change (e.g., the change in the use of the South Dakota prairie from grazing to cultivated crops).
5. know the characteristics, location, distribution, and migration of human populations by analyzing reasons for variation in population distribution, analyzing the causes and types of human migration and its effects on places, evaluating trends and effects of world population numbers and patterns, and analyzing the physical and cultural impact of human migration.
6. know the patterns and networks of economic interdependence by comparing and contrasting the characteristics and distribution of economic systems; analyzing factors influencing economic interdependence of countries, including world trade; analyzing connections among local, regional, and world economies (e.g., transportation routes, movement patterns, and market areas); and analyzing how and why levels of economic development vary among places.
7. know the processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement by explaining the causes and effects of urbanization (e.g., rural-to-urban migration leads to urbanization), comparing and contrasting the differing characteristics of settlement in developing and developed countries, and examining how and why large cities grow together.
8. know how cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of the earth’s surface by describing how cooperation and conflict among people contribute to political, economic, and social divisions of the earth’s surface; describing the forces and processes of cooperation that unite people across the earth’s surface (e.g., the nations of Western Europe have joined together in the European Union); and analyzing how differing points of view and self-interests play a role in conflict over territory and resources.
9. know how human actions modify the physical environment by analyzing ways that humans depend upon, adapt to, and affect the physical environment; and evaluating ways in which technology has expanded human capacity to modify the physical environment .

Link to Standards #3
Content Area: Geography
Source: SD Content Standards
Goal (SD Content Standards):
Students will understand the interrelationships of people, places, and the environment and how the type of land and climate influenced the technology of the time period.

Indicator:
Analyze the impact of Earth’s natural resource processes, patterns, and cycles on various regions of the United States and the world.

Benchmark(s):
a. analyze how changes in the environment can impact people worldwide.
b. analyze the various physical processes which operate in the atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere.
c. analyze the ways in which Earth’s natural processes and cycles alter the patterns of Earth’s surfaces.

Standards: (South Dakota Grade level standards are preceded with an *)
1. develop knowledge of the earth to locate people, places, and environments by drawing a complex and accurate map from memory to answer questions about the location of human and physical features; identifying and locating physical and human features, in the student’s own and nearby communities, in the United States, and in regions of the world (e.g., rivers, mountains, regions, and countries); and analyzing maps of a certain location people have made from memory and compare to determine similarities and differences.
2. know how the physical process shapes the earth’s surface patterns by explaining the various interactions resulting from the earth-sun relationship; explaining the interaction of the earth’s physical systems (e.g., the interaction of climate and ocean water as exemplified by El Nino); and explaining the variation in the effects of physical processes across the earth’s surface (e.g., the effects of wind variations in shaping landforms).
3. know the nature and spatial distribution of cultural patterns by analyzing how cultures shape the character of a region, describing the processes of cultural diffusion, and describing the effect of technology on the development and change of cultures.
4. know how physical systems affect human systems by comparing and contrasting how changes in the physical environment can increase or diminish its capacity to support human activity (e.g., the Sahel), identifying and evaluating alternative strategies to respond to constraints placed on human systems by the physical environment (e.g., the use of irrigation in arid environments), and analyzing how humans perceive and react to natural hazards.

Evidence of Understanding

Performance Task Vignette(s):
– There are three main tasks that the students will be required to perform. 1.) The students will be asked to design a booklet on the technologies of Egypt
using texts, the internet and other resources.
2.) The students will create a Power Point centering on one main technology of Egypt to inform others about a technology your group has found most interesting.
3.) The students will critique the Internet site’s that they have visited on a 10 point scale (10 being very good and 1 being poor).
Role – The roles of the students will also be three-fold.
1.) The students will first be a researcher in finding two technologies each to research. They will then author a booklet, which will inform other about their technologies they have chosen.
2.) The students will then edit a Power Point concentrating on one technology each that they found most interesting and present the Power Point to the class.
3.) Then students will also become a critic when they critique each site they have used to obtain their information.

Audience – The audience will mainly be the others students, teachers and any
visitors we may have for all three tasks.

Situation – Students will be asked to dig deep into finding out what technology is and through the processes of research, authoring, critiquing and presenting. They will inform themselves and others as to what technology really is. It is important that students realize that technology has always been here in one form or another.

Performance –Students will complete Egypt booklets (no less than 6 pages) in
groups of two. Booklets will have a cover and will contain specific instructions of
procedure. The instructions will include the following:
1.) Pick four topics (2 for each student in the group) in the area of
advances (technologies) of the time period.
2.) Define what each topic is (200 words or more).
3.) Describe how the topic is done and why it came about (200 words or
more).
4.) Describe what affect or relation this topic has on today’s society (100
words or more).
Each topic in the booklet must include 3 of the following things; clip art, word art, digital picture, table or a scan. Two pages of additional topic related materials with a puzzle (word search, crossword or maze), time line and a map of Egypt is required.

Each group will also have to give a short presentation through the use of Power Point of one area they found particularly interesting, in front of the class. The students will become presenters in front of the class when the unit is done. The Power Point will also require having at least 3 of the following items: animation, clip-art, digital picture, table or scan.

Student will become critics and critique each site that they used. This will ensure that students spend some time at some of the sites that are available for this unit. It will also encourage the students to dig a little deeper into the material available.

Standards – Specific standards of assessments will be:
Booklet – The booklets will have a cover and will contain specific
instructions of procedure. The instructions will include the following:
1.) Define the word technology (2%)
2.) Pick four topics (two each) in the area of advances (technologies) of
the time.
3.) Define, What each topic is (200 words or more).
4.) Describe how the topic is done and why it came about(200 words +)
5.) Describe, What affect or relation this topic has on today’s society (100
words +).
Inability to complete any of the above requirements will result in a
deduction by percentage.

Power Point- Each group will have to give a Power Point presentation that is at
least 5 slides long, of one area they found particularly interesting, in front
of the class. This presentation must include a process, the processes description,
why it was interesting and how it affects our society today. To prevent one
student from doing the majority of the work on the booklets, students will be
assigned two areas each, for areas of concentration. Students must meet the
following standards for the Power Point:

1.) A cover page
2.) Process/Technology description (25 words +)
3.) Description of how the process/technology came about. (25 words +)
4.) Description of Why? They felt it was interesting (25 words +)
5.) Description of how it affects us today (25 words +)
6.) The Power Point presentation must also contain three of the following tasks on each page: animation, clip art, word art, digital picture, table or a scan

Critique - Students will have to critique each Internet source the have used (at least 5). There will be a 20% deduction for each. Critique must contain the following information.
1.) Name of site.
2.) Brief description of site (20 words -).
3.) A critique of the site (like or dislike, 20 words +).
Description as to why or why not you like the site (20 words +).

Other Evidence: Quizzes, Tests, Academic Prompts and Work Samples:
Students will be asked to complete a worksheet on the unit pertaining to the many various technologies that have been covered and discussed.

Students will have to take a test upon completion of the unit over Egypt.

Each part of the project is worth 100 points making this project worth 300 points altogether (Booklet 100 points, Power Point 100 points and critique 100 points).

A self-assessment (described below) will be worth 25% of the total grade and will be average in with the total grade.

Unprompted Evidence:
I (as the Instructor) will not sit at my desk. It is important that I walk throughout the room to make myself available at any time for any questions. I will also will monitor proper use of the internet and try to keep students interacting with the task at hand.

Self Assessment / Peer Assessment:
Students will also have to fill out two grade sheets for self-evaluation and the
other for partner evaluation. These two grades will be averaged together and then
averaged with the teacher assessments to get the final grade.

Learning Experiences and Instruction

Learning Activities:
Students will know WHERE we the unit is headed and WHY:
How will you help students know where they are headed and why?

• Students will be given a handout/rubric that will have the step-by-step procedure of the project along with the criterion that must be met.
• Student will write down question and answers in their notebook that have to be met throughout the project.

Students will be HOOKED through engaging and provocative entry points:
How will you hook students through engaging and thought-provoking experiences?

• The students will be challenged early in the unit to learn what technology is.
• The students will list and describe several types of modern technology used today.
• The students through the use of the Internet will have to find and describe technologies of the Egyptian time period.


Students will EXPLORE and be ENABLED/EQUIPPED for final performances:
How will you equip students to explore the issues and experience the ideas? What events, real or simulated, can students experience to make the ideas and issues real? What learning activities will help students to explore the big ideas? What instruction is needed to equip students for the final performance?

• Students will learn early about the culture of the Egyptian time period, which will help explain why some of the technologies of Ancient Egypt came about.
• Student will use past experiences to help guide them in the creation of the project. Examples are the use of a time line, which puts thing in chronological perspective for the students.
• Students will also use skills such as research, writing and critiquing to aid them in project.


Students will REFLECT and RETHINK:
How will you cause students to reflect and rethink to dig deeper into the core ideas? How will you guide students in rehearsing, revising, and refining their work?

• Student will be asked to evaluate the interest and importance of different technologies and compare and contrast these technologies to determine which technologies they want to select for their projects.
• Students will also be asked to reflect on how the technologies they selected are used today.


Students will EXHIBIT and EVALUATE:
How will students exhibit their understanding about their final performances and products? How will you guide them in self-evaluation to identify strengths and weaknesses in their work and set in future goals?

• Student will follow the handout/rubric to meet the requirements of the project.
• Student will also have to self evaluated the performance and the performance of their partner as part of the grade.


Unit activities will be TAILORED to meet student needs, interests and learning styles:
How will work be tailored to meet individual student needs, interests and learning styles?

• Student will get to research and determine the technologies that most interest them.
• Upon final assessment students learning styles will be considered.


Instruction and learning activities will be OGRANIZED to be engaging and effective:
How will the instruction and learning activities be organized for maximal engagement and effectiveness?

• Students will be give a base of knowledge that will be inspire students in the area of Egyptian technologies which will hopefully excite the students in the unit.
• Students have the freedom to choose the technologies that most excite them.
• Freedom will be allowed for students to select pictures, word art, and charts and graph to encourage personal creativity.

Learning Sequence:
Students will work in groups of two to get their work done. Oral presentation will allow for total class participation and a more complete form of students to student engaged learning. Use of the World Wide Web will allow for a more broad experience and access to a wider variety of information. Learning will be engaged on a three tier level; individual through the gathering of information for each of their two topic areas, cooperative through working together by putting their information into the booklet and making the information work together and group interaction through the presentation of their Power Point to the entire class.

A specific sequence of events will take place to prompt students. The first point of emphasis will be the introduction of Egypt. Information such as location, climate, culture and economics will be given to the students through the textbook. This will give them a basic background as to what and where Egypt is. The word technology and its definition will be given to the students. It is important that the students write down the word technology and it’s definition in their notes. Students will be asked to list examples of today’s technologies and the list will be will be put on the board so they can put them in there notes. A handout will then be given to each student. This handout will be the plan/rubric that they will need to follow for the project. The handout will be read aloud and explained to the students. Questions should be asked at any point.

The students will then be asked to go to the computers, with their handout and to visit the sites on the handout. This will be a rather in-depth visit, as each site will have to be critiqued as part of their grade. This should take a remainder of the class period.

The second day we will select the two man teams for the project. This can be done in two basic ways. Students will be asked if they want to select their own teams or if we should select teams random as pairs. Once teams have been selected students will get together and again start by looking at the sites they critiqued the day before (this will be turned in for a grade). They must find two technologies each, that they find most interesting. They will follow the handout to create the booklet and Power Point. The next five days will be used to work on and complete the booklet and Power Point.

Resources, Credits, and Additional Comments

Web Based Resources:
Ancient Egypt Webquest http://www.plainfield.k12.in.us/hschool/webq/webq33/aegypt.htm

The Mysteries of Ancient Egypt
http://www.verdenet.com/isis/

Mummies of Ancient Egypt
http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/mummy/demo.html

Ancient Egypt Website
http://www.seas.upenn.edu:8080/~ahm/history.htm

Ancient Egyptian Web Site
http://www.iwebquest.com/egypt/ancientegypt.htm

Daily Life in Ancient Egypt
http://www.anthro.mankato.msus.edu/prehistory/egypt/dailylife/dailylife.html

Guardians Egypt
http://guardians.net/egypt/

Ancient History Lesson Plans and Activities
http://members.aol.com/donnandlee/index.html

Publications and Print Resources:
Publications and Print Resources:
Textbook: “World History- Connections to Today” by Ellis and Esler

Nysrtom’s World Atlas World Atlas

Credits:

Unit Designer Comments:

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