Ancient Egypt

2.1 The student will explain how the contributions of ancient China and Egypt have
influenced the present world in terms of architecture, inventions, the calendar, and
written languages.
2.3 The student will identify and compare changes in community life over time in
terms of buildings, jobs, transportation, and population.
2.4 The student will develop map skills by:
a. Locating China and Egypt on world maps
c. Comparing the climate, land, and plant life of these regions

Essential knowledge:
Egypt is located in Africa
Ancient means long, long, ago
Egypt is hot and dry. Part of the Sahara desert is here, which is the hottest
desert.
The Nile River is located in Egypt. It flows south to north, from Upper Egypt
to Lower Egypt. Grasses grow along the Nile River. The flooding of the Nile
River causes the three seasons in Egypt.
Egypt is mainly desert.
Architecture is the design of buildings. The Egyptians designed and built a
variety of pyramids as well as statues such as the Sphinx.
The Egyptians developed a written language called hieroglyphics.
Contribution means the act of giving or doing something.
The Egyptians contributed a clock, calendar, and papyrus paper to the
modern world.

Essential understandings:
The way people live today is different than the way people lived a long time
ago.
The Nile River was essential for the survival of the Egyptians.
Ancient Egypt differs in many ways from modern Egypt.
Without the Egyptians our lives today would be very different.

Essential questions:
How would your life be different without the ancient Egyptians and their
contributions?

Day 1: Introduction
Google maps: find Egypt
Introduce topic with PowerPoint: Egypt (What Do You Know about Egypt).
Show map of the world. Name continents. Find Egypt on world map. (This is
modern Egypt not ancient!)
Show brain pop: Ancient Egypt
PowerPoint modern vs. ancient Egypt
Exit ticket in packet: Ancient Egypt Geography
Record climate and land in chart in the front of the packet.

Day 2: Importance of the Nile River
Show PowerPoint on Nile River
Make foldable to take home (in their packet)
Read page in packet about location of the pyramids. Tomorrow we will talk
about the pyramids.
Exit ticket: Name three things the Nile River brought to ancient Egyptians
Record plant life and occupations in the chart in the front of the packet.

Day 3: Pharaohs and Pyramids
Read about pharaohs from packet
Show pictures of headdresses and allow students to draw their own
What law would you make if you were a pharaoh?
Read about pyramids.
Hand out pyramid templates
Draw what you would put in your pyramid on the inside. What would you
take with you?
Build pyramids
Fill-in-the-blank Pyramids of Egypt
Record architecture in the chart in the front of packet.

Day 4: Mummies
Start with mummy read-aloud. Each student gets a part. Help students with
unfamiliar words.
Read once through than encourage students to act out their part.
How is a mummy made website:
http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/interactives/history/egy
pt/makeamummy/
http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/mummy.html
Sarcophagus writing assignment (or move this to writing time if I run out of
time in social studies).
Apple mummy experiment: Use 8 different cups and put a piece of duct tape
on them for labels. Use ingredients salt, baking soda, and sand. All three
ingredients are said to the ability to dry out and preserve things, so we will
see how the apple will change while buried in them.
Cut the apple into 8 chunks and bury in different possible mummifiers:
baking soda, salt, sand, baking soda and salt, salt and sand, sand and baking
soda, all three, none.
Have students record their predictions regarding which apples would be the
best preserved, mummified, and set the cups in a safe spot for the rest of the
week.
If time draw pictures for each step of how a mummy is made.

Day 5: Contributions
Review the word contribution: the act of giving or doing something. Explain
that the ancient Egyptians made many valuable contributions to the lives of
people today.
Imagine how different your life would be without a clock or calendar. How
would you know when your birthday, thanksgiving or summer was? How
would you know when to switch classes or wake up?
Show PowerPoint on calendar and clock.
Have students draw a picture of a calendar and clock.
Bring in and show an example of a water clock.
Egyptians also had their own writing. It was called hieroglyphics.
Talk about the paper they used: process of making papyrus.
Read in packet about hieroglyphics then allow students to write their name
in hieroglyphics on the cartouches in their packet.
If students finish early they may crack the code in their packet using
hieroglyphics.
Record contributions on chart in front of packet.

Day 6: Assessment
Use a smart notebook to review before test.
Ask students to get out privacy folders and cover sheets.
Pass out assessment and read aloud.