Mystery Civilization Project
This project is a great review of the key aspects of ancient river civilizations.
Curriculum/State Standards
From the Ohio Academic Content
Standards:
6th Grade History-Early Civilizations 4ae: Compare the geographic, political,
economic and social
characteristics of the river civilizations in
the Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia),
Nile (Egypt), Huang Ho and Indus valleys
before 1000 B.C. including: a. Location; b.
Government; c. Religion; d. Agriculture; e.
Cultural and scientific contributions.
Overview
The project requires students to create
an artifact that represents one aspect
of an ancient river civilization and write
an essay to describe the artifact. The
civilizations selected from are: Ancient
Mesopotamia, India, China, and Egypt.
The topics covered are city/government,
religious beliefs, river uses, and
contributions to later societies. At the
end, students display their artifacts and
have to guess what civilizations other
artifacts represent.
Objectives
The students will create artifacts to
represent important aspects of life of one
of the ancient river civilizations.
The students will describe the importance
of their artifacts and how it relates to their
assigned civilizations.
The students will construct essays that
appropriately describe their assigned
civilizations and identifies the importance
of the artifacts to their civilization.
Materials
Based on what the teacher wants the
students to create, materials may vary.
The following was offered to students
for use in constructing their artifacts:
markers, colored pencils, glue, scissors,
Popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, paint, paint
brushes, containers for holding paint,
feathers, toilet paper rolls, construction
paper, and some clay. Some students
brought in additional materials on their
own to complete their artifacts.
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GRADE LEVEL
Readiness Activity
Since this is a culminating project, we
reviewed the four ancient civilizations
and the important characteristics of each
before beginning.
Strategies/Activities
1. Students were placed in groups of four
and each group was given a “Top Secret
File.”
2. Inside the file was a card with the
name of the groups’ assigned civilizations
(India, China, Egypt, or Mesopotamia).
Also inside were cards with each child’s
name on it, as well as what aspects of
the civilizations they were to represent.
3. Students filled out approval sheets,
which required students to write out
what they were going to create, how
they would create it, what materials they
would need, and why it represented
their assigned civilizations and topics
(Example: Why/how a mummy
represents Ancient Egypt’s religious
beliefs).
4. Once approved, students have four
classes to work on their two-paragraph
essays and final artifacts.
5. On the final day, students put their
artifacts on display. Students move from
group to group, guessing what artifacts
are, what they represent, and what
THIS WINNING PROJECT IDEA SUBMITTED BY:
Erin Eiser
White Oak Middle School
Cincinnati, OH
6
5
PERIODS
$500
TOTAL BUDGET
Mystery Civilization Project
....continued....
civilizations they are from.
6. Students share answers and
present artifacts to the class.
Culminating Activity
Students displayed their projects
in groups. Each group was given
a number and each artifact was
given a letter. Students traveled
around the room and took
notes on each artifact, trying to
determine which civilization each
group represented and what
characteristic of the civilization
each artifact represented.
Evaluation Method
___/10 points for the artifact
accurately representing assigned
civilization and topic
___/5 points for neatness/effort
___/5 points for creativity
___/ 20 TOTAL
Essay Rubric:
___/5 points for thorough
description of how the artifact
represents the assigned
civilization
___/1 point for artifact and
civilization being described
___/1 point for describing why
this artifact was made
___/1 point for the essay being
free from most grammatical/
spelling errors
___/2 points for effort/neatness
___/10 TOTAL
Students also filled out a
worksheet as they traveled
around the room and matched
each artifact up with their
assigned civilizations.