Just Like Ancient Times is a dynamic interdisciplinary learning experience that immerses middle school students in the world of ancient river civilizations—Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley, the Indus Valley, and the Yellow River. Through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), students examine how these early societies met their basic human needs (clean water, food, shelter, safety, belonging) and how the challenges they faced mirror the global issues of today.
Blending social studies, science, design, and the arts, students will research, map, and model ancient innovations and societal structures. They will explore how these civilizations adapted to geography and environmental limitations, how they formed complex communities, and how their legacies echo in modern cities. Throughout the unit, students will draw parallels between past and present, and develop solutions that could have helped ancient societies—and can still help us today.
One of the highlights of this experience is the “Future Civilization Exhibition,” where students present their own sustainable civilizations inspired by ancient wisdom and designed to meet modern-day SDG challenges. Projects will include visual models, written histories, civic maps, and creative storytelling that reimagine the 8 Pillars of Civilization through a 21st-century lens.
By connecting historical thinking with innovation and empathy, Just Like Ancient Times empowers students to apply lessons from the past to shape a more sustainable, inclusive future.