Sixth Grade: Ancient Civilizations

Examine a variety of scientific methods used by archaeologists, geologists, historians, and anthropologists to determine the dates of early human communities.

Investigate the approximate chronology and sequence of early hominid evolution in Africa, from the Australopithecines to Homo erectus, in order to understand how humans changed and adapted over time.

Identify current and past theories regarding the processes by which human groups populated the major world regions.

Discuss possible social, cultural, and/or religious meanings inferred from late Paleolithic cave paintings.

Compare and contrast the relationship among various groups of people (e.g., peasants and aristocracy, dictators and common people, monarchs and subjects, men and women, Christians and Muslims), and how it may have characterized the societies in various regions of Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Describe the developments and achievements of Roman civilization, and analyze the significance of the fall of Rome.

Identify the roots of Greek civilization, and recognize its achievements from the Minoan era through the Hellenistic period.

Analyze the evolution of human rights throughout the history of various civilizations (e.g., Hammurabi’s Code and Plebeians of Rome).

Identify the significant individuals and achievements of ancient Roman, Greek, Mesopotamia, Egyptian, and Mesoamerica.

Explain the fundamental social, political, and cultural characteristics of Chinese society under early imperial dynasties.

Define history and the concepts of cause and effect, time, continuity, and perspective.

Analyze and interpret primary and secondary sources to compare views, trace themes, and detect bias.

Define the themes of society, technology, economics, politics, and culture, and relate them to the study of history.

Trace major themes in the development of the world from its origins to the rise of early civilizations.

Examine the indicators of civilization, including writing, labor specialization, cities, technology, trade, and political and cultural institutions.

Examine the significant events, actors, and trends among early Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek, Roman, Chinese, and Indian cultures.

Identify the emergence of civilizations in Southwest Asia, the Nile Valley, India, China, and Eastern Mediterranean; identify how they represented a decisive transformation in human history.

Investigate and summarize how the introduction of technology affected the relationship between civilizations (e.g., Egyptians and the Hittites).

Trace the development and assess the achievements of early river civilizations, including, but not limited to, those around the Huang-He, Nile, Indus, and Tigris-Euphrates rivers.