Grade 6 Lesson 2
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Page
Lesson Plan
Page 2
Student Activity Handout 1
Cultural Diffusion Practice
Page 5
Marlins Think Tank: Sixth Grade Social Studies
Lesson Plan #2
OBJECTIVE.
KEY POINTS.
What is your objective? 
What knowledge and skills are embedded in the objective? 
Student will be able to:
1. Civilization began to appear 5,500 years ago
in North Africa and the Middle East.
2. Cultural diffusion is the spreading out of
culture, culture traits, or a cultural pattern from a
central point.
3. Cultural diffusion occurs through:
 Travelers, such as merchants, soldiers,
and diplomats carry ideas and
techniques from one people to another;
 Peoples on the fringe of civilization
admire and imitate their more advanced
neighbors, often adopting military
techniques first;
 Invasion and conquest; often a less
civilized but more warlike people
conquers their neighbor and then adopts
and spread its culture.
VISION-SETTING
SS.6.G.2.6: Explain the concept of cultural
diffusion, and identify the influences of different
ancient cultures on one another
ASSESSMENT.
Describe, briefly, what students will do to show you that they have mastered (or made progress toward) the objective. 
Students will create their own cultural handbook, documenting the twelve aspects of their own culture.
OPENING (10 min.)
MATERIALS.
How will you communicate what is about to happen?  How will you communicate how it will happen? 
How will you communicate its importance?  How will you communicate connections to previous lessons? 
How will you engage students and capture their interest? 
DETERMINING METHODS
Students will enter class and immediately respond to the following prompt on the
board: “What is your definition of culture? What creates a group’s culture? To which
cultures do you belong?
After students have been given five minutes to write, the teacher will begin: Okay, all,
what do you think? Would anyone like to share? (Calls hands) Today, we are going to
learn a little bit about cultures and how they spread. How many people feel like they
are part of a culture? What defines culture to you? Today we will get to watch an
interview of a Miami Marlin, and we will have the opportunity to create our own cultural
handbooks!
Student
notebooks
INTRODUCTION OF NEW MATERIAL (10 min.)
How will you explain/demonstrate all knowledge/skills required of the objective, so that students begin to
actively internalize key points? 
Which potential misunderstandings do you anticipate? How will you proactively mitigate them?  How will
students interact with the material? 
Students will follow along on their “Marlins Think Tank: Sixth Grade Cultural Diffusion
Practice” handouts, popcorn reading about the beginnings of civilization and the
impetus for cultural diffusion:
Civilization began to appear about 5,500 years ago in the river valleys of the Nile
(North Africa) and the Tigris-Euphrates (the present-day Middle East); slightly later,
Civilization appeared in the Indus Valley (present-day Pakistan, ca. 2400 BC) and in
the Yellow River Valley in China (ca. 2000BC). Other civilizations developed
independently and considerably later in the Americas. From these original Cradles of
Civilization, civilization spread outward in a series of stages over the course of the next
3,000 years. Each of these early peoples bequeathed to those who came after them a
rich tradition of civilization and culture, one that belongs to present as well as to the
distant past.
“Marlins
Think Tank:
Sixth Grade
Cultural
Diffusion
Practice”
Handouts
Between about 1750 and 800BC, the institutions, techniques, and ideas formed in the
river valleys of the Tigris-Euphrates and the Nile began to spread outward. For the
next 1,000 years, the major theme of ancient Near Eastern history is the process of
Cultural Diffusion, the process by which the zone of higher civilization expanded and
new peoples joined the ranks of the civilized. The process of cultural diffusion is
complex, and it occurs in various ways:
Travelers, such as merchants, soldiers, and diplomats carry ideas and
techniques from one people to another;
Peoples on the fringe of civilization admire and imitate their more
advanced neighbors, often adopting military techniques first;
Invasion and conquest; often a less civilized but more warlike people
conquers their neighbor and then adopts and spread its culture.
GUIDED PRACTICE (10 min.)
How will students practice all knowledge/skills required of the objective, with your support, such that they
continue to internalize the key points? 
How will you ensure that students have multiple opportunities to practice, with exercises scaffolded from
easy to hard? 
Teachers may elect to pull the website up on a SmartBoard, print a PDF version, or
have students utilize the classroom computers to analyze the Miami Marlins Roster:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/roster/_/name/mia/miami-marlins
Even today, cultural diffusion is happening. Travelers, or people who move here and
bring their culture with them, create most of the cultural diffusion that is taking place in
Miami. The Miami Marlins, our very own team, have a very diverse roster. Diverse
means: “made of distinct qualities, characteristics, or elements.” Let’s look at the
roster together. How many players are from Florida? How many are from the United
States? How many are from a country in South or Central America? Do you see
examples of cultures from outside of the United States in Miami?
After five minutes considering the roster, students may watch an interview of a Miami
Marlin discussing his job and his culture!
“Marlins
Think Tank:
Sixth Grade
Cultural
Diffusion
Practice”
Handouts
Miami Marlin
Interview Clip
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE (25 min.)
How will students independently practice the knowledge and skills required of the objective, such that they
solidify their internalization of the key points prior to the lesson assessment? 
Think about what culture you think that you most represent. It might be the culture of
Miami, Cuba, or just your family. Generally, culture is depicted by twelve categories:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Food
Clothing
Recreation
Government
Education
Language
Religion
Transportation
Economy
Environment
Culture
Arts
You will have twenty-five minutes to create a cultural handbook that represents the
culture that you think that you most represent. For each aspect of culture, you should
include at least ONE sentence and ONE drawing showing how your culture reflects
that aspect.
Some of the most confusing aspects of culture might be economy, culture, and arts.
Economy: What kinds of jobs do people have? Culture: Think of adjectives that you
think best describe your culture (i.e. lively, calm, smart, etc.). Arts: Where do you see
art present in your culture? Through music? Paintings? Murals?
You will be given the supplies required to make this assignment beautiful. This many
include pieces of paper (to make an actual book), markers, crayons, and rulers. Good
luck!
Lesson Assessment: Once students have had an opportunity to practice independently, how will
they attempt to demonstrate mastery of the knowledge/skills required of the objective? 
The lesson assessment will be the product of the time utilized during independent
practice.
CLOSING (5 min.)
How will students summarize and state the significance of what they learned? 
If we have time, at least three students will share their cultural handbooks. What we
did today can help us think about how interesting our world is; it is a world filled with
unique and special cultures, many of which are spreading across the globe! Great job
today!
“Marlins
Think Tank:
Sixth Grade
Cultural
Diffusion
Practice”
Handouts
Blank sheets
of computer
paper
Markers
Crayons
Rulers
Name: ________________________________
Marlins Think Tank: Sixth Grade Cultural Diffusion Practice
Ancient Civilizations to 300 BC
Introduction: The Invention and Diffusion of Civilization
Civilization began to appear about 5,500 years ago in the river valleys of the Nile (North
Africa) and the Tigris-Euphrates (the present-day Middle East); slightly later, Civilization
appeared in the Indus Valley (present-day Pakistan, ca. 2400 BC) and in the Yellow
River Valley in China (ca. 2000BC). Other civilizations developed independently and
considerably later in the Americas. From these original Cradles of Civilization,
civilization spread outward in a series of stages over the course of the next 3,000
years. Each of these early peoples bequeathed to those who came after them a rich
tradition of civilization and culture, one that belongs to present as well as to the distant
past.
The Diffusion of Ancient Near Eastern Civilization, ca 1750-800 BC
Introduction
Between about 1750 and 800BC, the institutions, techniques, and ideas formed in the
river valleys of the Tigris-Euphrates and the Nile began to spread outward. For the next
1,000 years, the major theme of ancient Near Eastern history is the process of Cultural
Diffusion, the process by which the zone of higher civilization expanded and new
peoples joined the ranks of the civilized. The process of cultural diffusion is complex,
and it occurs in various ways:
Travelers, such as merchants, soldiers, and diplomats carry ideas and
techniques from one people to another;
Peoples on the fringe of civilization admire and imitate their more
advanced neighbors, often adopting military techniques first;
Invasion and conquest; often a less civilized but more warlike people
conquers their neighbor and then adopts and spread its culture.
Independent Practice: Your Own Cultural Handbook
Think about what culture you think that you most represent. It might be the culture of
Miami, Cuba, or just your family. Generally, culture is depicted by twelve categories:
1. Food
2. Clothing
3. Recreation
4. Government
5. Education
6. Language
7. Religion
8. Transportation
9. Economy
10. Environment
11. Culture
12. Arts
You will have twenty-five minutes to create a cultural handbook that represents the
culture that you think that you most represent. For each aspect of culture, you should
include at least ONE sentence and ONE drawing showing how your culture reflects that
aspect.
Some of the most confusing aspects of culture might be economy, culture, and arts.
Economy: What kinds of jobs do people have? Culture: Think of adjectives that you
think best describe your culture (i.e. lively, calm, smart, etc.). Arts: Where do you see
art present in your culture? Through music? Paintings? Murals?
You will be given the supplies required to make this assignment beautiful. This many
include pieces of paper (to make an actual book), markers, crayons, and rulers. Good
luck!